Super Bowl Bale Feeder

Super bowl bale feeder LIVESTOCK Beef 12-4-10 "We needed a hay feeder that could stand up to heavy abuse and that would reduce waste by encouraging cattle to keep their heads inside the feeder rather than pulling out to chew," says Pete Johnson, Ballantine, Mont., who built his own feeder 5 years ago. The base of the feeder is made out of 6-in. dia. steel pipe 15 ft. long with 45? angle elbows welded to the front end of each. both ends are capped with 5/16-in. thick steel plate. There are three 6-in. dia. cross pieces, 48 3/4 in. long - one is centered and the other two are 12 in. from each end. Four 4-in. dia. pipes, 46 in. long, were welded to each corner with 90? elbows, on top. Two 4-in. pipes run the full 15 ft. length of the top of the feeder. Two more 4-in. pipes run the length of the feeder about 41 in. above the 6-in. runners. There are nine 2-in. dia. uprights on each side on 17-in. centers and two uprights on each end on 24-in. centers. A 3 in. dia. pipe runs all around the inside of the feeder about 14 in. above the bottom runners. Tongue and groove flooring out of an old truck box attaches to the 3-in. pipe to close in the bottom of the feeder. Two 2 by 12-in. planks - nailed together at a 90? angle - make a "cone" down the center of the feeder. "We've used this feeder for five years. It's needed no repair in that time and has practically eliminated waste," says Johnson. Contact FARM SHOW Followup, Pete Johnson, Rt. 1, Ballantine, Mont. 59006 (ph 406 967-6204).

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