Portable Covered Bale Feeder

Portable covered bale feeder HAY & FORAGE HARVESTING Accessories 14-1-10 Jan De Jong, Grand Ridge, Ha., built a portable big bale feeder that protects cattle from rain and sunshine and lets him move to a new location when the ground gets wet around the feeder. "With my old big bale feeders, I had to wait till all the hay was gone before I could move the feeder. Now I can move whenever I want to. I have 11 or 12 dry lots. This feeder lets me use them all," says De Jong, who milks 180 head 4 times a day. The frame of the feeder, which is 7 ft. wide and 25 ft. long, is made of heavy steel I-beam with channel iron cross pieces forming the ends and floor. Galvanized steel tubing was used to make side panels, which swing outward to load big bales into the feeder. The tin roof was built with wood trusses and overhangs the sides of the feeder by about one cow length, providing shade from rain and the hot Florida summer sun. The feeder rides on a pair of trailer home axles. De Jong designed his own quick hitch so he can simply back up to the feeder and raise the 3-pt. to hitch up and tow the feeder away. He can put four 1,000-lb. bales in the feeder at once, or three larger bales. He says there's room for about 40 cows to eat at once. The portable feeder worked so well De Jong says he recently built a second port-able feeder that'll hold 2 bales and feed about 22 bales at once. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup,Jan De Jong, Rt. 1, Box 651, Grand Ridge, Fla. 32442 (ph 904 592-2398).

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