Anybody tried one of these Mineral Feeders yet?

[James T]

Very true!

 

[Cheak]

I agree with Banjo, we have several of the rubber flap covered round short tubs and I've seen pretty young calves flip that flap up with their nose and go to work. I'm sure they learn from watching the mommas and older calves. We've been using the loose mineral instead of blocks for a few years now because of a pink eye additive that seems to have really helped and this design is great for keeping it dry and making it last longer.

 

[Limepro]

I have 8 of them they are by far the best salt feeder I have tried. I'll do my best to explain why.
The good
1.They do stay very dry inside.
2. They come with hardware that once installed allow me to back my gator to them and hook a 4 foot cable to an eye. Once connected I can easily drag them anywhere even if they are full of salt. They require a drill that can handle cutting a radial tire to install the eye in the tire. We use rotational grazing so this really helps a lot. I can usually move one in 5 minutes without lifting anything, by the way they hold 250 lbs of salt. For me this is the best reason to own one.
3. They are bull proof.... The tire leverages the salt feeder against the ground making it virtually impossible for them to turn over. They will slide across the ground way before they flip over. Just don't back over one of them with a track hoe, that didn't work out so we'll.
4. My local truck stop loves to save the dump fee on old worn out 24" tires so that part is free.
Now for the bad and ugly
This company has a great product that might cost them 20 bucks to mold package and ship and they retail for $165.00 -$ 180.00
It's a lot of money but i still buy them because I can't find anything that comes close to working as we'll.
Hope this helps!

 

[jltrent]

Limepro you are making me think about getting a couple.

 

[James T]

They look "pretty" but if you have a bull, you'll most likely see that feeder lying on it's side more often than not. I have a 200 lb tub out in the pasture that my bull constantly turns over but he has yet to budge the low lying mineral feeder with the flap on top.

 

[highgrit]

Here's one I built in less than a hour. Seems to work good, all I bought was 4 - 6" x 1/2 carriage bolts and a 3/8 eye bolt. Very cheap and gets the job done.

 

[jltrent]

Here's one I built in less than a hour. Seems to work good, all I bought was 4 - 6" x 1/2 carriage bolts and a 3/8 eye bolt. Very cheap and gets the job done.

Does the salt stay pretty dry inside? Also what size is the barrel and also the tire? Thanks

 

[Texas PaPaw]

Here's instructions and a video of how to build them:

http://beefextension.com/Pages/sccalc.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlnDfWWeJd8

 

[Supa Dexta]

Thats also the style I run. They work well. I've been thinking of cutting a flap of some sort to drape over the hole, split up the middle. I still think cows would poke their heads in, and it would help to eliminate pretty much any rain getting in.

 

[TexasBred]

Does the salt stay pretty dry inside? Also what size is the barrel and also the tire? Thanks

Looks like it would hold a good 9-10" of water if it's pointed the right direction. :shock:

 

[highgrit]

Jltrent, it's a 55 gallon barrel and the tire is 24.5. So far I haven't seen any water in the mineral. But it has been moist and had some chunks. When ever I think about it I turn the opening towards the east. It works good and is very portable.

 

[jltrent]

Jltrent, it's a 55 gallon barrel and the tire is 24.5. So far I haven't seen any water in the mineral. But it has been moist and had some chunks. When ever I think about it I turn the opening towards the east. It works good and is very portable.

Thanks I

 

[greybeard]

Jltrent, it's a 55 gallon barrel and the tire is 24.5. So far I haven't seen any water in the mineral. But it has been moist and had some chunks. When ever I think about it I turn the opening towards the east. It works good and is very portable.

I do like the idea of the tire/drum thing but most of the cold fronts here arrive wet,with the wind starting out of the south, rotating to the west, then from the North and eventually out of the NE. I wouldn't be able to keep up with which way the wind was coming from in winter, but after spring of the year, it's almost always out of the S or SW. I'm going to stick with the hanging barrel feeders for that reason.
I do have trouble with the loose salt feeders getting hard, I guess from the high humidity we have--doesn't seem to slow the licking down much tho.

 

[shortybreeder]

I just use 225# "Purina Wind&Rain" mineral tubs. cow's don't tip them over and they have been working great, no issues with chunks after rain and it hasn't been getting rock hard in our -10 degree weather.

 

[RegCowman]

My cows might eat that feeder and that tire looks like it ought to be on the highway instead of in the pasture

 

[Lucasbranham]

I built one of the barrel/ tire feeders. I've been using it for a couple months. We have had some wet weather. I put my hand inside and checked the mineral. It was as dry as when I put it in. I've also had no issues with the cows turning it over.