Bulk Feed Trailer

[Peter 315]

Amazon.comYou could use a 5x8 dump trailer and weld on 2 grain gates on the tailgate. Make some wood sideboards and cover it with a heavy duty tarp.

 

[chim]

Way back in '73 I picked up an M&W Little Red Wagon and towed it back to the farm that my FIL bought from a seller about 50 miles away. Part of the trip was on a 4-lane highway. I had a 3/4 ton 1972 Dodge Power Wagon and it was white knuckles all the way. It was the first time I'd ever towed a 4-wheel wagon and it wasn't happy about following the truck.

 

[LouNY]

The wagon likely needed some front end parts and as strange as it may seem an alignment, the toe in is critical if you wish to tow with a truck over 25 mph.

 

[Needville]

When I'm feeding I use about 1000 lbs of feed a week. I tried to use a feed wagon similar to what you are thinking about that held 5000 lbs. By the time I was getting to the end of the load the feed would start getting moldy and clumped together. Ended up costing more in wasted feed and time to clean out the wagon than the savings.

Also check around on your feed prices. I'm not that far from you in Wharton. 14% all stock is $10.50 per 50lbs at the feed store. There is another feed store about 10 more miles from me that is usually cheaper, but I haven't been there in a while. Don't buy your feed at Atwoods or Tractor Supply.

 

[EddieWalker]

You bring up a good point. I'm paying .30cents a pound for 13% All Stock at Atwood's in 40 pound sacks. At .23cents a pound for bulk, I'm saving $2.80 per sack if I buy in bulk.

I'm saving money, but not if I'm paying for a new trailer. And definitely not if I have feed that's rotting before it's used. With our extreme humidity, I might lose more feed then I use!!!!

I need to do more thinking on this. Thank you.

13% All Stock Pellets - 40 LB

13% All Stock Pellets - 40 LB

www.atwoods.com

 

[bigtiller]

When I'm feeding I use about 1000 lbs of feed a week. I tried to use a feed wagon similar to what you are thinking about that held 5000 lbs. By the time I was getting to the end of the load the feed would start getting moldy and clumped together. Ended up costing more in wasted feed and time to clean out the wagon than the savings.

Also check around on your feed prices. I'm not that far from you in Wharton. 14% all stock is $10.50 per 50lbs at the feed store. There is another feed store about 10 more miles from me that is usually cheaper, but I haven't been there in a while. Don't buy your feed at Atwoods or Tractor Supply.

I'm glad you mentioned mold / humidity. It happens, even up here in central Iowa. We had about a third of a pickup load of hog feed turn moldy in a good, tight, 10x10 portable wood shed.

 

[jaxs]

I find that folks underestimate the effect rats and mice have on livestock feed. I once leased hunting rights on a place where I would take my grandsons. When we arrived to dove hunt one sweltering hot September day the farmer and his hired hand were scooping corn off the floor of an out building. He was soaked in sweat and in a bad mood when he laid into me for making such mess. When I explained the corn had been there since I leased the place 18 months earlier and must have been from hunters before us he called me a liar based on the fact rats were abundant and would have long ago ate the corn. I'm thankful for my raising because instead of filling him with lead,going to jail and setting bad example for my grandsons I left and sued the idiot. The man was born on the land 50 years earlier and worked there since but didn't know what happens when rats come across more food than they can quickly consume. I told you that only to say if you are already aware,don't be offened by my telling you how rats spoil livestock feed. Everywhere rats go they are dribbling urine,including while they eat. After they urinate on feed rats won't even eat it themselves so your cattle certainly won't eat it. To store bulk once you have it home I suggest you go to what effort it takes to have rat proof space to store until fed. If puting enough feed in pasture and stall feeders to last a few days I recommend wrapping feeder supports in tin to deter rats climbing in. Any woo let's get feed from store to the house. Most vendors offer free use of super-sacks with funnel bottom. You probably have a spear on tractor for moving rounds that can be used to unload and/or support sack while contents are dumped. I've seen a couple of people hang sack where funnel dumps into a metal tray tilted so that feed slides into buckets as it's dumped then sack funnel pulled up and tied to stop flow.
You mentioned paying on your brother's mortgage. I recall when he passed and his place being quite a drive to look after. Did you bring his stock to your place or do you drive back and forth to his place? I'm glad to hear your wife overcame the health challenges and able to enjoy what she loves doing.

 

[EddieWalker]

Thanks for asking about my wife. She is a lot better, but will never be normal. The chemo destroyed her immune system and woke up a very mild case of Lupus that she didn't know she had. Now it's become an issue. Most days, she's fine. Some days are harder then others.

I'm down to four cows at his place right now, but that should change any day now. They are all pregnant and it's about time for babies. They are on 40 acres, so I just bring them hay every other week, and a sack of cubes so they come running when they see me. I also keep them in minerals. It's 62 miles away, so I have to plan when I'm going there, and what else I can do while I'm there.

My fence project has been delayed by an issue with my backhoe. I can't get one of out outriggers down. I replaced the cable, but that seemed to make it worse, so now I'm going to see if there is an adjustment that I can make to get it working properly.

 

[gsganzer]

Eddie,
We have a feed trailer at the deer lease for corn. It was home built as one of the members used to run a fab shop and he accumulated the shop scrap to help build it. It's been a terrible design that we'll probably rework. The commercially available ones are expensive and you need a blower or auger to dispense. We were too frugal to buy one, but our trailer has some shortcomings.

Our trailer was designed after some of the game feeder trailers we saw, minus a delivery system. We just have a slide gate to dispense into 5 gallon pails and it's a PITA, not any better than slinging sacks over your shoulder. One of the issues is most of those trailers aren't really designed for storage, just dispensing feed that you get from a silo. So, the trailer would have issues with condensation and spoiling if the feed sat in it for any length of time. To try to fix this, we'll add some ventilation that is also shielded from rain ingress. The other issue is bugs and weevils if the feed is in it for any length of time.

The rancher has a three bay silo that we drive under, so we use that when they have an open bay for us. The silo doesn't have a condensation problem because it's well ventilated, but it can have a bug and weevil problem if the feed is there too long. They used to overcome this by adding a bag of Sevin dust when they load it. (I don't know how much they add, but it isn't much). There might be some other products that can be used now for this purpose that are more natural/organic.

 

[gsganzer]

Eddie,
It sounds like what you might really be needing is a cake feeder. Google those. That's what our rancher uses. They come in lots of sizes and you could size it for a 1 month supply. There's is either mounted on their truck bed or on a trailer.