5H Manufacturing skid-mounted feed hoppers are built to match a customer’s needs. The company previously offered three hopper models ranging from 35 to 85 bushels with set features and limited options. That is changing, according to Steven Haller, 5H Manufacturing. New units will be available as base systems with or without previously standard 3,000-lb. scales. Customers can select from an array of options from trailer frames to 3-pt. mounts to bale deck brackets for mounting to a truck’s bale deck.
“We wanted to offer farmers and ranchers a more versatile and flexible kind of feed hopper,” says Haller. “They can buy a basic hopper and later add options. You can get a hopper just on a skid base. If you don’t want a 3-pt. hitch, you don’t have to pay for it.”
The feed hoppers are designed to accept options later. The skid can quickly be modified with 3-pt. connections or mounted on a trailer frame that’s simply bolted to the underside of the skid. Depending on the need, the trailer can be equipped with standard tires or ATV tires.
The feed auger can be powered by a 12-volt electric motor or on-board hydraulics if mounted on a bale deck. Haller is working on adding an electric over hydraulic option.
“We could offer a gas engine drive, but it’s not cost-effective with a good motor at this time,” says Haller. “We don’t want to use a cheap offshore motor just to hold down cost.”
5H feed hoppers have a top lid that can be operated from the ground with a handy lever or ordered without a top if desired. A mixing top with its own hydraulically driven vertical auger is also available.
Scales can be added to the three models at any point unless a feed hopper has been ordered with the drop feeder option. It drops feed in rows or piles via a slide gate on the bottom of the hopper.
“We’re still determining the range in price with all the options,” says Haller. “In the past, our base unit was $4,000 (CAD) without a scale. The price went up to $11,000 with all the options.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, 5H Manufacturing, Box 149, Trochu, Alberta, Canada T0M 2C0 (ph 866-200-2907; shaller@5hmfg.com; www.5hmfg.com).