How To Make A Cheap Square Bale Feeder

How To Make A Cheap Square Bale Feeder LIVESTOCK Feeding Equipment 34-4-26 Karroo Oakey in South Africa recently came up with a hay-saving square bale feeder. It's both cheap and quick to build, and Oakey shared it, complete with step by step photos and instructions, at the website, www.instructables.com. The feeder holds a single square bale on end and is made entirely out of scrap iron. Oakey says vehicle rims make an ideal base. The sides of the feeder consist of old "windpump rods," which are 39 in. long. He used four 3/5-in. dia. rods and eight 1/2-in. dia. rods, but says that thinner rods would also work. He spaced them 5.9 in. apart around the rim, after finding that any spacing greater than 6.3 in. allows the feed to start falling out too easily through the gaps. Oakey initially spot-welded the rods onto the rim, just enough so that they were adjustable and not immobile. He formed a support ring for the top of the feeder by placing the tip of a rod in a wheel rim's valve hole, holding the rim securely, and hammering the rod down while wrapping it around the rim, then cutting the bent tip off later. "It works good to bend a rod around the rim since that was already the right size," he explains. He points out that a support ring half-way down the feeder is also essential. Spot welding the top and middle support rings require either the use of magnets to hold everything in place, or a second pair of hands. Once everything's lined up, he welds everything permanently. The last step is to add stabilizing "feet" made from scrap pipe. The pipe sections have to be slightly notched to fit under the rim's lip. "When filling the feeders with hay, I've found that it's better not to remove the baling twine because then the sheep don't pull huge chunks out. There's also much less pushing and shoving, since they all know the bale will be there longer," he says. "There's still a bit of a mess, but it's far better than just chucking the bale on the ground." Karroo Oakey can be contacted by email through the Instructables website: http://www.instructables.com/id/Bale-Feeders-for-stock-Cheap-Quick/

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