Round Bale feeding...need experience

[John SD]

Jody, I really like that blue tractor and loader. What I can't figure out is why you don't have a grappel on the loader bucket. It looks to me like getting out of that nice warm cab to loop a chain over a bale would get darn old in a hurry.

My blue feeding tractor is about 35 yrs older than yours and I'm sure the heater doesn't work as well. Since I feed a lot of old crop bales I have been using the Stur-D double bale fork to feed the bales and roll them out with the dozer. The dozer also sometimes comes in handy for cleaning off an area to feed.

If I was feeding current season bales I might use my shop built bale unroller. It doesn't work so good with old bales that are flat bottomed or might fall apart before I get out to the feeding area.

[Liveoak]

Placing 3 round bales on an old flat bed trailer works for me. It can easily be towed to various spots in the pasture. This eliminates creating a feed bog in any one spot. The cattle just eat the hay off the trailer.

[jodywy]

[jodywy]

[KRob]

Thanks for all the input.

I would be feeding probably 500+ head every morning, so how well do your systems work.

Could some one tell me about the Deweze system does it work or not?

I dont think i could just leave trailers all over the place i wouldn't be able to move them a big chunk of the winter and it wouldn't spread the feed out enough that all critters can get to it.

Thanks
Rob

[jodywy]

I also use sisal twine what doesn’t get pulled off rots by the time we swath. there guy here that feed 100 to over 800 head a day with the spinner, snow deep they take two bales one on the loader one on the spinner.
One guy loads a 5th wheel flat bead up goes out and set it down and loads and spins off, he has a dog that keeps the cows away from the trailer. Most my stack yards are scattered thru the meadows so I don’t have far to travel between bales, later in the spring I load a wagon then unload and spinoff from it.

[Liveoak]

[KRob]

Your right probably about 12 bales a day.

We feed the cows in the hay acreage so i would want to spread them out as much as possible.

How do these bale spinner things work?

Sorry about the ignorance on something i should know, we always just fed stacks and square bales and thus i have absolutely no experience with rounds.

Thanks
Rob

[gcreekrch]

We have two of these built by the local welding shop. We pull a four wheel wagon with bales behind, one on the spike and one endways in the unroller. Sisal twine for the most part. The oldest one is 20 years old, we drilled out the hinge pins and replaced them last year. They are nearly indestructable.

[KRob]

How much feed is lost or ruined when unrolling a bale? It would seem to me that since they arnt little piles spread out the cows would trample the feed and you would waste more feed?

Am i even thinking straight here or am i way off in left field.

I saw something called the Highline 8100 you can drop a round bale in the top and it will chop it and spread it out in a neat little windrow or into a bunk, does anyone have any experience with these. I would think a cow would be less likely to trample and destroy the feed if it is in a windrow rather then if it was spread out as wide as a bale.

[Faster horses]

We use a bale processor and love it. You are correct in that there is much less waste. There will be those on here who disagree with me, because you do have to consider the cost of the processer when you discuss waste.
We put a scale under ours so we KNOW how much hay we feed per head per day. The scale cost $2500 additional when we bought the processor. I figured that if we saved $50/ton it would take 50 ton of hay saved to pay for the scale. One year we had to buy hay and they said the bales weighed 1400 #. When Mr. FH picked those bales up with the tractor, he was doubtful, and when he fed them in the processor the scale showed they weighed 1100#. So he loaded a trailer full and took them to town and weighed them...and they weighed 1100#! So we felt the scale paid for itself in that one incidence.

We have used bale spinners and they are okay, but you cannot control the amount of hay that is dropped. With the processor, you can make a small windrow, which is great for feeding calves, or a larger one.

I'm not trying to convince anyone to use or buy a bale processor, I am replying to a legitimate question wanting to know about them. Mr. FH hated feeding round bales until he got a processor. Ours is a Haybuster 2640 (similar to a 256+2). Sorry that I can't tell you exactly, but I'm not home to look.

I hope this answers your question. I think the drawback to a bale processor in your situeation might be the amount of time it would take to feed 12 bales every day. Mr. FH has a bale in the loader bucket, one in the processor and one on the spear on the back of the tractor. That way he can feed 3 bales without going back for each one.

[KRob]

Ok i am glad that i am not to far out in left field.

I am still open to everyones opinions. I have to look into these bale processes but looking at the cost of square bales and feeding off a truck verse round bales and a processor it seems like its an easier option now.

However anyone with experience know how much hay you can put out with a processor. So if im looking at feeding 12 round bales a day how many hours am i looking at?

Thanks
Rob