DIY troughs

[patrick_g]

Homebrew2, OK you asked for it...

I have been intending to build some more feed troughs out of plastic 55 gal drums but couldn't decide on a design. The last ones were too labor and materials intensive.

Today I did.

I split a drum in half, lengthwise longways with a skill saw. It cuts easily so I did it to a second drum. I then split another drum in thirds lengthwise. I measured the circumference and marked the 1/3 points. There is a visible seam to use for a starting point. Next I cut some scrap pressure treat 2x4 into 20 inch lengths. It takes 2 pieces of wood per feeder. It takes 4 bolts to fasten each piece of wood.

The drum half is a base. The drum 1/3 is a trough. The base is concave downward and the trough, of course, is concave upward. The 2x4 goes at each end with two bolts into each piece of drum. You don't want the board to touch the ground as it will wick water and promote deterioration. I used fender washers against the plastic and regular washers against the 2x4. I used 1/4 inch bolts.

I pay $6 per 55 gal drum. They are about 1/4 inch thick plastic and very UV resistant. You could use drum halves for troughs but the capacity is excessive. If you prefer you can use steel at the ends in place of the pressure treat. I had the scrap pressure treat and reserve steel for other uses.

Considering the bolts, nuts, washers boards, drums, wear on the saw blade, electricity, and on and on I still can't imagine the cost per feeder running much over $10 each. I built three in about an hour or so, rinsed them out and put them to use. The heifers liked then just fine.

OH, I trimmed the "pointy" ends of the troughs nearly flush with the 2x4 so no one would "poke an eye out."

Anyway here is a couple pix of the super cheap troughs and a picture of customer satisfaction.

 

[JRP]

Great idea. I'll start looking for drums.

A propane torch along the edge will clean up the hairy cut and round the edge slightly.


Thanks,

JRP

 

[scott_vt]

Mornin Pat,
Great idea !!

We have a dairy chemical supply house not far from here that I have gotten the plastic drums. I use mine for a sand bin along the driveway, just cut a semi circle hole on one end, build a support stand and fill with sand. They work great !

 

[jinman]

Nice job, Pat. That really is using your head to come up with that design. I especially like the full support the half-barrels give to the top trough barrel third. You may find that as the cows push down on the middle of the trough, the bottom barrels may bulge in the middle. a treated 2x4 on the inside with lag screws from the outside will eliminate any bulge. I bet your troughs will still be around when many more expensive ones have gone away. That idea is a "keeper."

 

[skenk]

Instead of a circular saw, why not go full redneck and break out the chainsaw. Seriously, the chainsaw should speed things up considerably. Then, either hit it with the torch or use a flap wheel sander on the angle grinder to smooth out the edges.

Sean

 

[schmism]

do you drill holes in the bottom to keep them from collecting rain water? or do the cows drink it up/doesnt matter?

 

[Egon]

Are there any "Walking Fillet Mignons" in the picture?

 

[patrick_g]

Thanks for the comments, guys. I know about fire (heat) polishing cut edges but didn't think the fashion police come this far out and the cattle sure don't care.

Holes in the bottom large enough to not clog with debris from the feed will let pelletized corn gluten and soy hulls fall through onto the ground. Rain water does collect but the troughs only have feed in them for a few minutes so if you empty the troughs (real easy) and then put the feed in it is eaten before draining is an issue.

In winter they fill with some ice and snow but you can put the feed on top of that and it doesn't matter. If they get too full of ice, just roll them over and the ice falls out since the plastic is super smooth.

The largest members of the herd (and most of the rest) have stepped in the troughs and it just doesn't matter. When I made them I tried to get maximum contact between the 1/3 and 1/2 pieces. Unless I get some stock that does an Irish traditional dance routine in a trough I don't think any reinforcement will ever be required. Some have been in service for a few months some less. None show wear or distortion.

I don't think a chainsaw could be used to safely cut the drums any faster than I can do it with a skill saw. I don't like to single hand a chainsaw to cut something I am holding in the other hand and I use one hand to hold the drum. Anyway it takes me less than a minute to cut a drum in half and not much more to cut in thirds so the hassle and risk of a chainsaw to try to shave a couple seconds off my build time is not too attractive of a proposition.

So far the only down side is high wind can blow them over and scatter them a bit. I could connect them in groups by running a long bolt through the boards at the ends of pairs to hook them together. I could turn them upside down and attach some heavy wire mesh inside the 1/2 drums to act as reinforcement for about 5 gallons of concrete or run a rod through the 1/2 drum which would skewer a couple cinder blocks. That would stop the wind from tipping them over or blowing them around. Also keep the animals from over turning them which might happen but not witnessed so far. These troughs are only used when feeding supplementally and in a few weeks the herd will be on all grass with some mineral supplement and salt blocks.

Pat

 

[dirtydan]

Great idea. I have access to all the barrels I want for free and was planning to make some feed troughs this week with them. Perfect timing. I like your idea better than what I was planning. Thanks for the pictures.

Dan

 

[patrick_g]

Dan, Glad you can use the design. It takes 5 drums to make 6 single troughs. When I build some more, I think I will build them in pairs with just one 2x4 between the two sets and longer bolts to connect the pairs together.

I have been experimenting with ways to level the playing (eating?) field between larger and more aggressive animals and smaller or lesser aggressive ones. If you just dump the feed evenly one bucket at a time the larger more aggressive animals eat what is available and then go to the next trough you fill constantly driving the little or gentler animals away from the food.

I find that if I fill a group of 5 gal plastic buckets to transfer feed from the storage bins to the troughs I can then pour a sparse "string" of feed in all the troughs from the first bucket of feed. The animals then distribute themselves fairly evenly as they all have a chance to get a little bit. Before that is consumed I pour a heavier portion of feed in the troughs one at a time so the feed is equitably distributed and everyone has a chance to eat undisturbed until the fastest eaters finish theirs and go for the rest. Not perfect but better and it doesn't require sorting or separating animals that graze in common. This only works well because all the stock is pretty gentle and I can walk between them and the trough for the second pouring with no problems but a brief interruption to each animal in turn.

By the time the the coming calf crop is weaned I will hopefully have come up with a design for a gadget to distribute feed into the troughs from my pickup or tractor. Some sort of hopper with a chute that can be turned on and off.

By the way, my wife's family was from Dubuque and her dad went to college at Ames. Her grand parents were from Davenport.

Pat

 

[Egon]

This sounds like it may turn into a serious operation Pat.

I have read where electronic ear tags on the cattle can activate a feeder to dispense the proper amount of food for each specific animal.

On your present plastic troughs would a horizontal 2x4 on the bottom at each end help from tipping if that becomes a problem.

 

[patrick_g]

On your present plastic troughs would a horizontal 2x4 on the bottom at each end help from tipping if that becomes a problem.

Yes it would, Egon, and you wouldn't need one at both ends to tip proof it but I won't be doing that. Part of the design philosophy was to eliminate wood-earth contact. I don't expect to have to "maintain" these troughs. They don't get turned over very often and righting them is trivial.

You'd lose some efficiency but gain tip over resistance by attaching some together in an "L" shape or zig zag. I could use simple DIY metal hinges to couple them together with enough freedom to be ablel to get then out of a too perfect straight line. This would increase tip resistance but surely increase build cost, time and effort. (Did I mention I'm getting lazy?) A horizontal 2x4 (not on the ground) connecting two feeders together, still parallel but not co-linear widens the effective base and provides tip resistance while maintaining full efficiency of access. This would be better than any "L" or zig zag.

Egon, As to the size of the cattle operation... we are land limited. Our land is not all that productive and will not support dense stocking ratios. There is considerable competition for leasing grazing land so that tends to marginalize you if you lease for too much $. The good news is that it isn't all that much harder to care for 100-200 head than it is for 10 if you set up your operation efficiently.

For example: If you distribute feed from a hopper on a truck and don't exceed the hopper capacity in one feeding then there is hardly any difference in management input (labor) to feed a multitude. Vet services amortize better across larger herds. Feed prices are better if you can take a semi at a time (22-24 tons of corn gluten/soy hulls as pelletized feed.) I have a friend/neighbor who can take a full load and he runs about 50 head of momma cows. He feeds with buckets into metal troughs I helped build.

He has plans for a feed dispenser he can put on his 4 wheeler.

The good news is that I have friends who know more about cattle than I will ever know and one of them is running part of his in common with mine and we share the labor such as taking turns feeding and such.

EID is a mixed blessing and some additional cost but it will be a very good thing when fully implemented. I have seen readers working and they seem to do OK.

Pat

Pat

 

[Egon]

Uh - oh; Pat you have been bitten by the "Doing" bug. Is there a full scale feeder operation in the works?

 

[patrick_g]

Egon, I have in mind an overhead pelletized feed storage bin. A friend bought some tanks out of the oil field and made feed storage out of one. It is 10 ft diameter and 16 ft high if I recall correctly and will hold 20-24 tons of pelletized feed (density varies with ratio of corn gluten to soy hulls.)

I want something mounted up off the ground high enough so that a pickup mounted feed distribution system can be driven under a chute to be filled. My buddy has 3 chutes around the periphery of his ground mounted tank high enough to fill a 5-6 gal plastic bucket. Not good enough for lazy me.

We won't be feeding much more supplemental feed as the grass is greening up and soon will be sufficient without supplemental. So I will have several months to think about it!

Pat

 

[Egon]

So many different ways to store and handle feed in bulk it can get quite interesting to choose and adapt one to fit your needs.

With the advent of all the new electronic devices chances are the "Lazy Mans" potential has not yet been reached.

I'm still in the grain chopper, 5 gallon pail and hay fork era!

 

[patrick_g]

Egon, I'm afraid that doing automation based on EID is probably out of reach economically for me. I will just comply with requirements to do the EID implant (when mandatory) and may not ever have a scanner.

For me, just being able to drain bulk feed from an overhead bin into a carrier in a pickup bed with ability to dispense to the trough without getting in and out of the truck or in and out of the tractor cab a lot would be good enough.

Pat