Hay Saving School Bus Big Bale Feeder
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Matt Luce, Rockwood, Penn., used an old schoolbus to make one of the niftiest, hay-saving round bale feeders we've ever seen. One of the biggest advantages of the mobile feeder is that Luce can load the old bus with 4 or 5 bales and then drive it to his cattle. When the ground gets muddy around the feeder, he simply moves it ahead a bit which saves hay because if the ground is dry around the feeder, cows can pick up hay that falls out. And because Luce leaves the roof and windows in place on the bus, there's almost no hay loss in the feeder.
To convert the bus to a feeder, Luce simply cut out the side panels below the windows, leaving the vertical struts in place, and removed the seats. He also completely opened the rear end of the bus for loading bales. To load, he puts one bale inside the back of the bus and then pushes the bales ahead as he loads the rest of the bales into the bus. A swinging bar is closed across the rear opening once bales are loaded.
"The feeder works great and takes the place of 4 or 5 conventional round bale feeders," says Luce.
He converted a second bus to use as a bale hauler. "We can easily haul 10 bales on the bottom layer and 13 or 14 if we put a second layer on top. To convert the bus we cut away the top of the bus and left the sides about 12 in. high so bales tip to the center, eliminating the need to strap the bales down for transport. We covered the top edge of the sides with channel iron so bales would slide in and out easily."
Both buses are 1978 models. "We've got $700 invested in both buses and about 2 days work in each to convert them."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Matt Luce, Rt. 2, Rockwood, Penn. 15557 (ph 814 926-4856).
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Hay saving school bus big bale feeder HAY & FORAGE HARVESTING Bale Handling (5) 13-6-16 Matt Luce, Rockwood, Penn., used an old schoolbus to make one of the niftiest, hay-saving round bale feeders we've ever seen. One of the biggest advantages of the mobile feeder is that Luce can load the old bus with 4 or 5 bales and then drive it to his cattle. When the ground gets muddy around the feeder, he simply moves it ahead a bit which saves hay because if the ground is dry around the feeder, cows can pick up hay that falls out. And because Luce leaves the roof and windows in place on the bus, there's almost no hay loss in the feeder.
To convert the bus to a feeder, Luce simply cut out the side panels below the windows, leaving the vertical struts in place, and removed the seats. He also completely opened the rear end of the bus for loading bales. To load, he puts one bale inside the back of the bus and then pushes the bales ahead as he loads the rest of the bales into the bus. A swinging bar is closed across the rear opening once bales are loaded.
"The feeder works great and takes the place of 4 or 5 conventional round bale feeders," says Luce.
He converted a second bus to use as a bale hauler. "We can easily haul 10 bales on the bottom layer and 13 or 14 if we put a second layer on top. To convert the bus we cut away the top of the bus and left the sides about 12 in. high so bales tip to the center, eliminating the need to strap the bales down for transport. We covered the top edge of the sides with channel iron so bales would slide in and out easily."
Both buses are 1978 models. "We've got $700 invested in both buses and about 2 days work in each to convert them."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Matt Luce, Rt. 2, Rockwood, Penn. 15557 (ph 814 926-4856).
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