Hay-Saving Electric Round Bale Feeder

Hay-Saving Electric Round Bale Feeder HAY & FORAGE HARVESTING Bale Handling (5) 20-3-3 You've never seen anything like this new hay-saving round bale feeder with powered "skirts" around the outside that open and close as needed to control feeding times. Unlike conventional open feeders in which 30 to 40 percent of hay can be wasted by animals free to feed whenever they feel like it, the new feeder cuts waste to virtu-ally nothing, according to manufacturer Alan Curtis, Priest River, Idaho. E.Z. Hay Feeder is a conventional metal bale feeder with fabric "skirts" around the top and bottom and a moveable, 24-in. deep skirt - mounted on a metal ring that's slightly larger than the dia. of the feeder - that lowers to seal off feed openings. The ring attaches to three 24-volt screw actuators powered by standard 110-volt current that raise and lower the skirt. A small control box controls feeding times and duration and a buzzer rings to warn animals when the skirt is about to lower. An electric wire around the top of the feeders prevents top feeding. To run power to the feeder, Curtis recommends burying a 14-ga. wire inside 3/4-in. pvc pipe. The feeders should be placed on at least a 1 1/2-ft. mound of earth so water runs off. Two models available. One, 50-in. high and 94 in. in dia., for up to 12 cattle, ponies, or Llamas, sells for $1,595. The other, 62-in. high and 94 in. in. dia., for larger animals, sells for $1,665. Battery and solar-powered models also available. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Alan Curtis, Rt. 1, Box 262, Priest River, Idaho 83856 (ph, fax 208 263-0334).

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.