Bale Feeders Made Out Of Fuel Storage Tank

Bale Feeders Made Out Of Fuel Storage Tank LIVESTOCK Feeding Equipment 19-6-11 You can make nifty bale feeders out of underground fuel storage tanks, says Bob Ouverson who made six durable feeders out of a single surplus tank. "It's a good way to get value out of these old tanks," says the Fertile, Iowa, farmer. "These feeders are built so heavy they'll easily outlast my lifetime." Ouverson used a 10,000-gal. diesel tank with 1/4-in. thick sidewall. The 9-ft. dia., 27-ft. long tank was thoroughly cleaned out before he cut it into three equal 9-ft. sections. Next, Ouverson cut a zigzag pattern through the center of the tank resulting in two feeders per section, each with 10 15-in. wide, 60-in. deep openings. Because of the way he cut them up, there was no metal left over to throw away. He cut a 1-ft. dia. hole in the bottom of each end section for drainage. In the four other sections, he welded an H-frame made out of 2-in. dia. pipe into the bottoms to keep them round. And Ouverson welded a piece of 3/8-in. by 3-in. strap iron across the top of each feeder opening to brace them. He also welded 2-in. dia. pipe onto the bottom and side of each opening to keep cattle from cutting themselves on sharp edges. Ouverson made the bale feeders a couple of years ago. He's since loaded hundreds of big 6-ft. dia. bales into them with the front end loader on his tractor. "They work real well," he says. "There isn't any more or less hay waste than there is with any other bale feeder I've ever seen." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Bob Ouverson, R.R. 1, Box 70, Fertile, Iowa 50454 (ph 515 797-2484).

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