Wagon Train Feed Bunks

Wagon Train Feed Bunks LIVESTOCK Feeding Equipment 21-1-18 Bill Kurtz, St. Croix Falls, Wis., used trailer house frames to make "wagon train" feed bunks that he hooks together and pulls out to his fields to feed cows. "I usually hook five bunks together at a time which forms a ætrain' that's about 140 ft. long," says Kurtz. "I use a front-end loader to load them with silage out of my bunker silo, then I pull them out into a harvested corn field where my cows graze. It's amazing how well the wagons follow each other in the field. I can drive in a circle and make only one set of tracks." The rolling bunks range in length from 10 to 40 ft. long. Three of them have steerable front axles that he made by salvaging axles from manure spreaders, trucks, and pickups. He removed the springs from the trailer frames and narrowed them up to about 4 ft. wide. He welded angle iron across the bottom of the frames and also welded lengths of 16-ga. steel lengthwise between them. To make the sides, he welded 2-ft. long, 1 1/4 in. dia. steel upright pipes spaced about 5 ft. apart. He also welded lengths of steel rod along the top of the pipes. He used 3-in. steel tubing to make the hitches. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Bill Kurtz, 2187 State Rd. 87, St. Croix Falls, Wis. 54024 (ph 715 483-3866).

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