Bucket-Mounted Feed Bunk Cleaner

Bucket-Mounted Feed Bunk Cleaner LIVESTOCK Feeding Equipment 24-3-36 We have about 600 ft. of feed bunks on our farm and had been cleaning dirty feed and snow out of them by shoveling it out by hand. To make the job easier I made my own bucket-mounted bunk cleaner using parts off a Deere chisel plow. The unit mounts alongside the grapple fork and bucket on our Deere payloader. A curved steel plate is bolted to a pair of chisel plow shanks that are attached to a short length of the chisel plow's toolbar. The toolbar slides into a 2-ft. length of sq. steel tubing that's welded to the back of the bucket. To mount the cleaner all I do is insert a pin. To make the cleaner plate I traced the outline of the bunk onto some cardboard, then cut out the cardboard and traced it onto a plate. Then I cut the plate 2 in. smaller so that it fits inside the bunk. It worked better than I expected and took less time to build than it took to shovel the bunks out just once. Springs mounted above the shanks allow the unit to flex up and down. I spent very little to build it. Commercial blowers sell for about $3,000 and can't clean out frozen material like my rig can. I used light gauge steel plate to keep from damaging the cement bunk, and I welded a short length of steel into the middle of the plate to stiffen it up. (Mike Heinze, 11843 14th St. S.E., Dazey, N. Dak. 58429 ph 701 733-2422)

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