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Round Bale feeding...need experience

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.

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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.
 
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.
 
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
 
KRob said:
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
Click to expand...

The processor doesn't take much time, depends on how far you are from the bales to the cows. I can carry 2 bales in the processor and 2 in the bucket but my bales are 5X5 rounds
 
I was wrong, he puts 2 in the processer, and one or two in the loader,
depending on the size of the tractor.

Like BMR says, it wouldn't take long to feed 12 bales, depending on how far away the cows are.

(Mr FH came in, so I asked him and got it straight this time.) :P
He says the spears are all right, but he'd rather have the processor
any day. To go a bit further,
he doesn't take the twine or net wrap off the hay, when it builds up in the processor he cuts it and pulls it out and burns it up. He likes the net wrap as he can bale faster with it and he has no problems with it feeding it in the winter time. But you will find others here that don't care for the net wrap and use biodegradable twine. It is just personal preference.
 
I still prefer flaking off big-squares off a flat-bed truck, and towing a trailer behind it to haul more bales if/when necessary...just have to 'giver her hell' in soggy/muddy pastures sometimes.

Feeding 'cake' is great, but in heavy snow, it's sometimes tough to drive in such a way to get the feeder to put it in the tire-tracks...and then alot of it gets trampled by over-eager 'welfare' cows, who get trained to follow the truck, rather than EAT what hits the ground.

...anyways I DO recall seeing a round-bale processor that hooked-up to back of tractor....and unless my memory is going bad on me, the whole deal worked off of conveyor-belt system, and held upwards of 9 round-bales (or more ?) had it's own hydraulic loading system...and he got all the cows (on the main place) fed in one shot. We did the rest off flat-bed trucks.

...last time I saw this was where I worked on the Padlock Ranch, a few yrs ago; and the boss himself was the only one who took it out to feed with...never trusted the rest of us with it, for good reason...when I asked why, he simply showed me the shipping-receipt he signed when ranch HQ had it sent out by Semi-flatbed the year before I got there...

...it was upwards of $80,000 brand new.

A 'Heston' model I think ? ? ? it was Red and Yellow, and very long...that's all I know.
 
we feed with two bale processors and there is very little waste. In fact they will eat some of the lower quality or older hay if processed that would be left if unrolled with a deck or tractor. We field feed 400 cows in one bunch and 2 and 3 year old cows in another field. Both are within a 1.5 miles of yard and are done in an hour and half. The scale is a great idea! This is however an expensive option and easy too. Swath grazing or bale grazing is worth investigating to avoid some fuel costs. In our area it would be tough for me to ranch without owning a processor, the only question is how much do you use it.
 
the_jersey_lilly_2000 said:
Thanks for posting those pics Jody. Appreciate it. (New project for Mr Lilly to build) :D
Click to expand...
if the bales just right you can make a really long narrow windrow, some times with short hay you get a few big piles, and I learned alfalfa went it ready to bale wait one more day.
Should be pretty easy to make just a hydralic motor , couple sprockets, chain, frame and spear, and somw spickes to turn the bale.
 
I use many different ways of feeding, as follows

Excellent quality hay with minimal snow I will use a 3pt bale unroller. Cows will eat it all and there is not the feeding loss of the fines powdered up like a processor.

Poor/average hay- I use a HiLine 7000HD in a long narrow windrow, this allows cows to eat poor hay and not use it as bedding.

Haylage/Round bale barley silage, I use the HiLine but process into a 30" moveable bunk feeder to limit loss of barley and fines.

Look up on Alberta Ag's website and search for feed wastage trial, and there has been some excellent work by some of my trusted cohorts that proved what I was always wondering, that cows fed on the ground waste at least double what you think. I thought I was doing well, cows licking the snow clean, just go out and look on april 11 and see the nice film of alfalfa leaves 2" thick on the ice, then you see true feed wastage.

http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/newslett.nsf/all/wfbg8376

http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/agdex11685

http://www1.foragebeef.ca/$foragebeef/frgebeef.nsf/all/ccf12/$FILE/bale-processing.pdf

http://www1.foragebeef.ca/$foragebeef/frgebeef.nsf/all/ccf12/$FILE/feedwasteground.pdf

I would never be without my HiLine, especially with half my feed supply with over 3" of rain on it, but at least I know when to use a bunk to save the prime feed now.
 
The big green cloud following our bale processor around was a big enough hint to me that there was a significant amount of waste over unrolling on frozen ground. Added to the waste of feed was the wear and tear on pto's and extra diesel fuel. In our experience it is cheaper, quicker, and less waste to simply unroll the bales. The only time I miss the processor is when feeding poor feed. It was kind of nice to feed it on top of good feed, causing both the good and poor feed to be consumed.
 
Silver said:
The big green cloud following our bale processor around was a big enough hint to me that there was a significant amount of waste over unrolling on frozen ground. Added to the waste of feed was the wear and tear on pto's and extra diesel fuel. In our experience it is cheaper, quicker, and less waste to simply unroll the bales. The only time I miss the processor is when feeding poor feed. It was kind of nice to feed it on top of good feed, causing both the good and poor feed to be consumed.
Click to expand...
:agree:
 
I agree 8) , but you cannot argue with the ease of using a processor, and not having to cut frozen twines off bales!. The least wastege i have had was when I used the HIline ino the 30' moveable bunks and moved them every week. This is very true when using bale silege.
 
Only things that bother me about the 'big green cloud' are: Keeping the windows clean in below-zero temps, which makes it difficult to keep an eye on calves who might wanna get in and around the rolling tractor/processor tryin to find Mom...

...I've never squashed one, but I still worry about it just the same...
 
We use a Hiline processer to feed cows; we utilize a lot of lower quality feed and straw in our rations. We feed out in the fields & feed on fresh ground every day blending different qualities of feed. By adjusting our speed we can make a windrow that allows ALL the cattle adequate room to feed......very important when you are only putting out a limited amount of quality feed. Sure there's some waste but outside of bunks I haven't seen anything that doesn't waste feed when dumped on the ground. We can feed 400 cows in an hour hauling about 3/4 of a mile each trip. It takes another 1/2 hour to bed cows and the feedlot pens.....all from the comfort of a heated cab. One man could easily look after feeding a thousand cows in a morning. I would hate to go back to pulling strings and unrolling......that's a real PITA! :lol:
 
My first winter out of school I worked on a ranch and fed nearly two thousand head daily by unrolling bales with the front end loader. It only took a couple of hours at most. I can't say as I've ever pulled strings off a bale that was wrapped with sisal, so unrolling bales with a loader is actually faster than putting them through a processor, with no getting in and out of the cab.
Feeding time for me really isn't about shaving seconds off my best time but a good chance to look over the herd and see how things are coming along. It's about all a person does most days of the winter so it might so well be enjoyable.
This winter we will miss the processor a little because we are going to sneak some wheat straw into their diet to stretch things out a bit.
 
one out fit out Cokeville way made a wagon out of a old loaf stack mover-freeder with a 5th wheel hitch , he just lift with his 3 poit on the tractor. he was feeding 5x6 bug rounds about 400 of cows , he put a ring out for every 20 head sisial twin and move feeders and feed every other day
 

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