He Puts Discarded Cable Spools To Work
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Larry Majerus is more than happy to take empty cable spools off his local utility’s hands. He gets as many as 15 to 16 at a time and has put them to use for everything from hay storage to making chicken fence and even a mineral feeder for his cattle.
“The utility has to pay to dump them at a landfill, so they are happy to give them to me at no cost,” says Majerus.
Majerus has a slick way to dismantle the spools. He uses a skill saw with a carbide blade to slice through a couple slats on the spool center. Then he uses a bolt cutter to cut the long bolts holding the two ends in tight, leaving him with the two laminated plywood discs, steel bolts and wood slats.
Majerus uses the long steel bolts for plant supports. “I’ve also made miniature picket fences by sharpening one end of the slats and using them around plantings,” he says.
The spool ends are placed edge to edge in double rows for hay storage. “I set bales on them end to end,” Majerus says. “They keep the bales off the ground. I get less spoilage, and they are easy to pick up.”
To make the mineral feeder, he left the spool in one piece. He fastened one face to two 4 by 4’s with beveled ends for skids. Four 2 by 6-in. boards were nailed to the skids and to the edges of the spool ends as uprights.
“I nailed a roof to the uprights and covered it with recycled tin,” says Majerus. “The mineral box was formed by 1 by 8-in. boards nailed to the uprights.”
He used liquid nail to fill in cracks on the spool and wrapped metal flashing around the lower 2/3 of the spool center to protect the wood.
“I bolted an old track chain to the skids,” says Majerus. “To move it, I just toss the chain over the ball hitch on my truck or ATV.”
It gets double duty as a cattle rub too. Majerus made the roof 8 ft. square so he can hang cattle rubs from the rafters. The top of the spool even makes a handy storage space for extra cattle rubs. All it took was some 1-in. boards nailed to the uprights. Like the hay bale rests and the chicken fence, the price was right and so is the maintenance.
“The bolts on the chain are the only things I have had to replace,” says Majerus. “The cattle drop salt on them, and they rust through.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Larry Majerus, 2246 Double Bridges Rd., Spout Spring, Va. 24593 (ph 434 352-2921; rmajerus@region2000.org).
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He Puts Discarded Cable Spools To Work LIVESTOCK Feeding Equipment Larry Majerus is more than happy to take empty cable spools off his local utility’s hands He gets as many as 15 to 16 at a time and has put them to use for everything from hay storage to making chicken fence and even a mineral feeder for his cattle “The utility has to pay to dump them at a landfill so they are happy to give them to me at no cost ” says Majerus Majerus has a slick way to dismantle the spools He uses a skill saw with a carbide blade to slice through a couple slats on the spool center Then he uses a bolt cutter to cut the long bolts holding the two ends in tight leaving him with the two laminated plywood discs steel bolts and wood slats Majerus uses the long steel bolts for plant supports “I’ve also made miniature picket fences by sharpening one end of the slats and using them around plantings ” he says The spool ends are placed edge to edge in double rows for hay storage “I set bales on them end to end ” Majerus says “They keep the bales off the ground I get less spoilage and they are easy to pick up ” To make the mineral feeder he left the spool in one piece He fastened one face to two 4 by 4’s with beveled ends for skids Four 2 by 6-in boards were nailed to the skids and to the edges of the spool ends as uprights “I nailed a roof to the uprights and covered it with recycled tin ” says Majerus “The mineral box was formed by 1 by 8-in boards nailed to the uprights ” He used liquid nail to fill in cracks on the spool and wrapped metal flashing around the lower 2/3 of the spool center to protect the wood “I bolted an old track chain to the skids ” says Majerus “To move it I just toss the chain over the ball hitch on my truck or ATV ” It gets double duty as a cattle rub too Majerus made the roof 8 ft square so he can hang cattle rubs from the rafters The top of the spool even makes a handy storage space for extra cattle rubs All it took was some 1-in boards nailed to the uprights Like the hay bale rests and the chicken fence the price was right and so is the maintenance “The bolts on the chain are the only things I have had to replace ” says Majerus “The cattle drop salt on them and they rust through ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Larry Majerus 2246 Double Bridges Rd Spout Spring Va 24593 ph 434 352-2921; rmajerus@region2000 org
