Giant Round Bale Feeder!!!

[RedNeckRacin]

So I have some horses that I feed round bales too. My FIL built a single bale feeder for them and the dam thing drives me nuts. It only holds one round bale at a time and I have to get out of the tractor several times to put one bale out. (open the pasture, drive in, close the gate, drive to the feeder, open the feeder door, put the bale in, close the feeder door then get outta the pasture. This wouldn't be such a big deal except I have to do this every four days. So being the lazy engineer that I am I decided I had had enough. I bummed some left over materials from the guys at work 8" high pressure steel pipe and some 2 3/8" tubing. The engineering has been awhile in the making put the two main requirements were to be able to move it around so the horses weren't always standing in the mud. The other requirement was to be able to put more hay out at a time without having to open and close the dam door on the feeder. Again doesnt sound like a big deal but the bales rarely go in easy and the whole shack leans to its extremely hard getting a square dooor back in an oblong hole.

SO attached are the pictures of the construction for your enjoyment! Im going to put sheet metal on the roof to help keep some rain off the hay, so its like 90% done right now. I welcome any comments or suggestions. For a frame of reference the skids are approxmately 23' long. The short posts are 5' high and the tall posts are 7' high.

 

[ustmd]

So after the wife wiped the drool off, she wants to know, will you only allow the horses access to 1 bale at a time or will they be able to chew on all four at the same time....

 

[RedNeckRacin]

Well actually, I sort of figured it out for 4X4 round bales and I should be able to put 5 in at a time, but they will have access to all of them at once. I was trying to make it simple and straight forward this time. I might get a little more creative in the future. My buddy had a good idea about using a tractor trailer and parking it on an incline to make it like the pop can fridge dispensers. lol Build a self dispensing hay bale feeder almost. That was quite a bit more challenging than I wanted to take on.

 

[BeezFun]

How does this work, you put the feeder in some area where the horses have access during certain periods of the day? If we left that much hay out all the time our horses would turn into blimps.

 

[crbr]

Nice pictures

 

[RedNeckRacin]

How does this work, you put the feeder in some area where the horses have access during certain periods of the day? If we left that much hay out all the time our horses would turn into blimps.

Well they are out in a pasture so we put the hay out to supplement the grass. Its more of a they can eat it if they want to kind of thing versus having a feeding time. Horses would naturally graze all day, we just try and make sure they always have ruffage to munch on.

 

[RDrancher]

Well they are out in a pasture so we put the hay out to supplement the grass. Its more of a they can eat it if they want to kind of thing versus having a feeding time. Horses would naturally graze all day, we just try and make sure they always have ruffage to munch on.

Yep, doesn't matter if it's one bale or ten, they're still going to eat. My wife took a look at your feeder and gave me that "you better get busy" look. Great idea for winter feeding!

Can you get in it with the tractor to clean it out? Edit: Doesn't look like it.

 

[RedNeckRacin]

Yep, doesn't matter if it's one bale or ten, they're still going to eat. My wife took a look at your feeder and gave me that "you better get busy" look. Great idea for winter feeding!

Can you get in it with the tractor to clean it out? Edit: Doesn't look like it.

Absolutely true about the eating. Thats what horses do though. They eat and fertilize! Our theory is atleast if they have enough to eat, they will be happier and healthier. I def cannot get my tractor inside to clean it. The cab on the JD might get in the way a bit. I did leave some 1.5" gaps in the boards to let the dust and rocks as well as the water pass right through. I could't figure out how to completely get away with not cleaning it out while still keeping the hay inside and the horses outside. Hopefully, if there is to much build up underneath, or if the horses tear up the pasture to much, I can use the hooks I welded onto the pipe skids to drag it to a new spot.

I'll keep you guys posted on how it works. I'm going to get the tin for the roof after work today and hopefully put it on tonight or tomorrow. This is my first feeder I have ever built so I'm sure its going to be a learning experience. I do have some more material to build 2 or possibly 3 more once I iron out the kinks.

 

[MikeA57]

You state that you built it for the 5' bales. So I guess you have the bale on a spear and pass it through the front side (tall side), then drop it enough to just pull the spear out and the bale drops to the floor. Is that correct? Originally I had in mind that it was the larger bales and I couldn't see how you would get those in there. I figured you would have to push them in from the end but both ends have a welded bar across them so I wasn't understanding the load in process.

 

[RedNeckRacin]

You state that you built it for the 5' bales. So I guess you have the bale on a spear and pass it through the front side (tall side), then drop it enough to just pull the spear out and the bale drops to the floor. Is that correct? Originally I had in mind that it was the larger bales and I couldn't see how you would get those in there. I figured you would have to push them in from the end but both ends have a welded bar across them so I wasn't understanding the load in process.

You nailed it right on the head. I didn't have anything to go off of so I sort of designed it as I went. The opening on the front is over 5' so a bale should pass through easily. Good catch with the rail running around, it serves a dual purpose. Keeping the horses out (about chest level) and pulling the bales off the spear if needed. I thought about loading from the ends and pushing the bales in towards the center, but I couldn't figure out how to keep the bales from rolling up on their end. I really wanted to be able to man handle the bales and jam them in if need be, thats why everything is built so heavy. We have small wooden feeders now with a door on them, and its a fight everytime to coax a odd shaped bale into the opening that is just big enough. The other problem with the smalls ones is I can't use the strength of the tractor to my advantage. Meaning I can't shove the bale in, I have to finess it. Granted that makes me a better operator, but it sure aggravates me trying to wiggle a bale in just right.

The slanted roof serves a dual purpose as well. It gives me a wider opening to put the bales in, but it also lets the water drain off the roof better. I may have made a mistake in the way I laid things out though. I'm going to run my tin length wise across the roof so I dont have to buy as many pieces. I can lay two down, overlap them and I'll pretty much have a one seam roof. Granted the ridges will be running the wrong way, but I think the slope will be steep enough, and the hill it will sit on will add to the pitch that It should shed snow and water well.

 

[MikeA57]

Very cool! I'm guessing there will be enough overhang on each side of the roof to keep the rain/snow out? That's a great looking rig and it ought to work perfectly. Be sure and post some pictures when you get it placed!

 

[GLyford]

I'm going to run my tin length wise across the roof so I dont have to buy as many pieces. I can lay two down, overlap them and I'll pretty much have a one seam roof. Granted the ridges will be running the wrong way, but I think the slope will be steep enough, and the hill it will sit on will add to the pitch that It should shed snow and water well.

They do that all the time with carports, as it lets the tin follow the curved parts of the roof. Seems to work OK for that, so why not?

 

[lost in wisconsin]

Interesting build and project. May I ask how many horses will be eating off this feeder?

I am anxious to hear your results in the next few weeks.


Thanks

 

[RedNeckRacin]

Interesting build and project. May I ask how many horses will be eating off this feeder?

I am anxious to hear your results in the next few weeks.


Thanks

I think we have 6 horses eating out of that pasture I want to put it in. They seem to be the most hungry bunch of the three pastures we have right now.


Thats a good point about the car ports. I tired to think out the roof as best as i could while I was builing it. I usually spend A TON of time thinkinng about how something will cause me problems. Its so much easier to erase a line on paper than having to get the torch and grinder back out.

Mike, As far as the over hang, I sort of SWAG-ed it. I knew two pieces of tin was about 8' so I made the roof approximately big enough to support that. I may have to rework a couple things since the wife decided she is concered about the back side being low. Oh well, back to the drawing board!


I appreciate all of the replies. I dont proclaim to be a fabricator but I can definately notice the improvement in my welding and fabrication as I was working through this project. I would absolutely encourage anyone to atleast start a project. Even if the project fails miserably, there is an untold amount of knowledge that is gained just from working with the materials. Ill keep everyone posted with some follow up pictures!

 

[zing]

Are you planning to place it right against the pasture fence, with the loading side facing out? Seems to me that 3 sides would be enough for 6 horses to feed from, and depending on your fence (maybe take some planks down) you might be abel to load it from outside of the pasture.

Then you wouldn't have to open the pasture gate or the feeder doors anymore.

 

[crbr]

Thanks for the pictures

 

[RedNeckRacin]

Are you planning to place it right against the pasture fence, with the loading side facing out? Seems to me that 3 sides would be enough for 6 horses to feed from, and depending on your fence (maybe take some planks down) you might be abel to load it from outside of the pasture.

Then you wouldn't have to open the pasture gate or the feeder doors anymore.

Zing, I never thought about that. I just might have to consider doing just that! We have high tensile wire with 5 strand fences so it would have to be a dedicated opening, but you absolutely got the wheels turning in my head now!.

Again, I appreciate all of the feedback and I know how you guys love projects with PICTURES! I'll keep ya'll posted.

 

[jinman]

So I have some horses that I feed round bales too. My FIL built a single bale feeder for them and the dam thing drives me nuts. It only holds one round bale at a time and I have to get out of the tractor several times to put one bale out. (open the pasture, drive in, close the gate, drive to the feeder, open the feeder door, put the bale in, close the feeder door then get outta the pasture. This wouldn't be such a big deal except I have to do this every four days.

I'm sooooo confused. . . . You spent a lot of time in your first post talking about the inconvenience of handling one bale at a time. I thought for sure you were gonna build a multiple bale feeder with wheels or skids so you could load it all at once and pull it anywhere in the pasture it is needed; a true portable feeder. This one seems to need a trailer to move it into place where it is semi-permanently located. When you load it, you still have to do all that gate opening and tractor on/offing that you do now. You just have to do a bunch more of it at a time every two weeks instead of every four days. You also don't have to get off the tractor to roll the bale ring around and put it over the new bales. Of course, the tin roof will be a nice touch to keep down the amount of rain/snow that gets on the bales. Don't get me wrong. I think this is a very nice multiple bale feeder you've made, but any bale moving/handling is a pain if you are one person working by yourself to open/close gates and also remove the bale wrap. When you get to the feeder with your bale, you'll still have to get off the tractor to remove the bale wrap before loading into the feeder. I just think we have a long way to go before we make round bale feeding as simple as the multiple toilet paper roll dispensers.

 

[BeezFun]

I may have to rework a couple things since the wife decided she is concered about the back side being low. Oh well, back to the drawing board!

I've started making my wife sign the final drawings before I begin work. She said she'd be happy to sign anything because she'll make me do it over anyway, but it makes me feel like I have things under control for the first few minutes of every project.

 

[RedNeckRacin]

I'm sooooo confused. . . . You spent a lot of time in your first post talking about the inconvenience of handling one bale at a time. I thought for sure you were gonna build a multiple bale feeder with wheels or skids so you could load it all at once and pull it anywhere in the pasture it is needed; a true portable feeder. This one seems to need a trailer to move it into place where it is semi-permanently located. When you load it, you still have to do all that gate opening and tractor on/offing that you do now. You just have to do a bunch more of it at a time every two weeks instead of every four days. You also don't have to get off the tractor to roll the bale ring around and put it over the new bales. Of course, the tin roof will be a nice touch to keep down the amount of rain/snow that gets on the bales. Don't get me wrong. I think this is a very nice multiple bale feeder you've made, but any bale moving/handling is a pain if you are one person working by yourself to open/close gates and also remove the bale wrap. When you get to the feeder with your bale, you'll still have to get off the tractor to remove the bale wrap before loading into the feeder. I just think we have a long way to go before we make round bale feeding as simple as the multiple toilet paper roll dispensers.

Well technically it is portable. The pipes on the bottom are my skids. I also welded 2 grab hooks on them so i can loop a chain around and drag it. Im taking an idea from the thread and cut the fence to "semi-permantly" place it right into the fence line. So there goes the portable need. BUT this eliminates opening and closing any gates! :cool2: It also eliminates the need for a door/contraption to keeps the pesky horses out of the hay. Though it does keep them from getting 360 degrees around it. Eventually Id like to put some asphalt down to help melt the ice and snow plus it would give me a nice stopping point for clean manure away from the feeder.

Dont get me wrong, I think I'm plenty smart. But I enjoy bouncing ideas off of people just to see what I miss and what they come up with!! Engineers are far from perfect esp when looking at their own creations.

I've started making my wife sign the final drawings before I begin work. She said she'd be happy to sign anything because she'll make me do it over anyway, but it makes me feel like I have things under control for the first few minutes of every project.

I haven't tried making her sign off on the designs but I usually change them about a dozen times during the process to make things heavier/easier to construct. I have an update picture i'll post in a second!