Low Waste Round Bale Feeder

Low Waste Round Bale Feeder HAY & FORAGE HARVESTING Bale Handling (5) 21-2-7 After watching his cows waste a lot of feed using his commercial round bale feeder, David McCoy, Fredericktown, Ohio, decided to build his own "low waste" bale feeder. He used an old World War II bomb trailer. The feeder holds three round bales. It has V-shaped sides that are hinged at the bottom, allowing either side to be flipped over onto the other for easy clean-out. A pair of dolly wheels on front makes it easy to maneuver. "My total cost was only about $700," says McCoy. He already had the bomb trailer which his dad had bought but never used. He used 3 1/2-in. sq. steel to make a 17 1/2-ft. long frame that mounts on the chassis of the trailer. He welded old "diagonal bar" steel hay panels to the sides and ends of the trailer and bolted a 2 by 12 wooden board on top of each side. The boards force cows to reach through the panels instead of feeding off the top of the bale. A pair of steel pipes run the length of the floor. The center V-panels are U-bolted to pipes so they pivot back and forth freely. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, David C. McCoy, 16413 Old Mansfield Rd., Fredericktown, Ohio 43019 (ph 614 397-4664).

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