Best deal on Hay Saving Rings/Feeders

[Air gator]

Hi,
Just thought I would see if anyone could give me first-hand experience with some of the hay saving rings/feeders like Hay Conserver, Hay Mizer, etc. I got a price on another hay feeder for $1,800 and I can't afford that.
Thanks for the help.

 

[Brute 23]

That's crazy. A regular hay ring shouldn't be more than a couple hundred dollars.

 

[bball]

Hi,
Just thought I would see if anyone could give me first-hand experience with some of the hay saving rings/feeders like Hay Conserver, Hay Mizer, etc. I got a price on another hay feeder for $1,800 and I can't afford that.
Thanks for the help.

Lot of factors to consider: how many cows your feeding, how much hay and for how long, etc. etc. I feed anywhere from 25-35 cows hay for 4-5 months in a fairly harsh northern winter environment. I have used the $200 hay rings and have a couple of the very high dollar "hay saver" rings. For me, and my economy of scale, those $1600-1800 feeders will be a very long time paying for themselves. I do keep my eyes peeled for Bextra feeders being sold used or cheap. Good value in them. Something else to consider, those $200 hay rings are very easy to move without any equipment. The big ones need a tractor.
There are some studies out there that show the hay savings, I think MSU had one, and the hay savings varied from 5 to 10% but dont quote me. Again, for someone feeding 500 head, thats huge. 50 head, its going to take a while to get your money back. Good luck!

 

[Air gator]

Not sure how much hay you would save with this one. $319.

 

[Air gator]

This is the $1,800 one.

 

[M.Magis]

These inserts are fairly economical, and appear to me would keep more hay dry than the cheap cradles. However, I've never used one so its just a guess.

https://www.farmshow.com/a_article.php?aid=16458

 

[Anonymous]

A friend gave me this feed trailer. It's old and and had not been used in years. It was a ball of rust. I replaced a lot of metal, had it blasted and painted with a good marine paint at a shipyard I use, and put new tires. Also changed the hitch from the pin style to a ball receiver. I have a 3 point hitch ball on tractor so I don't have to get off tractor to hitch it up. When it's real wet in winter, I'll move it daily to keep cows on dry ground. It's a real time saver. The down side is that if your hay is not real clean, you'll have to clean it out occasionally. I've seen some of these advertised new for around $3000 but I'm sure those have a cheap paint job. I have $1600 invested in this one but with the marine paint job, it should last me a long time.

 

[Anonymous]

https://bham.craigslist.org/grd/d/20ft- ... 13036.html $2800 for 20 ft.

 

[slick4591]

The Hay Manager is the one I'm wanting but it's just not in the budget right now. Think they are running better than a grand.

 

[ddd75]

wow with the cost of some of those rings you could buy all the extra hay for them to waste.

 

[bird dog]

Can you roll it out? I can about half the time and then have to put a couple days worth in rings. I wish I could roll out every bale.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

The Hay Manager is the one I'm wanting but it's just not in the budget right now. Think they are running better than a grand.

I have 3 of them and can't say enough good about them. Waste very little hay and are heavy built so the cows/tractor don't tear them up.

As for people balking at the cost yes they are expensive, but at least with the hay managers I have they are heavy built and easily last 5x as long as the "heavy duty" rings from the local farm store. So between the increased lifespan, and saved hay for me they are worth it. Yeah I could "go buy lots of extra hay" and skip the good feeder, or I could buy the feeder and feed out more cows on the same amount of hay I already have, thus making me more money.

 

[Air gator]

I had no idea there were so many choices. Thanks for all the feedback.
One problem on some of these is that if you don't have a front-end loader they are too high to put a bale in.
Of course, the other is I live in Florida so the best hay rings seem to be from Iowa, Wisconsin, etc.
The inserts look pretty good. Thanks for the photos of the hay wagon. Not sure if I can find a used one.
You really have to calculate whether or not you are spending hay money on a feeder. It looks like the Hay Mizer might save the most hay based on the kickplate or whatever you want to call that...skirt. It weighs about 1,000 pounds.

 

[BFE]

-We have the GoBob monster doubles. They save hay and are indestructible. Extremely heavy, though.

 

[Air gator]

Thanks BFE,
The GoBobs are impressive but I don't think my tractor will lift a bale that high. Also wondering if you lose hay around the bottom on that one because it doesn't look like it has a skirt.

 

[ddd75]

The Hay Manager is the one I'm wanting but it's just not in the budget right now. Think they are running better than a grand.

I have 3 of them and can't say enough good about them. Waste very little hay and are heavy built so the cows/tractor don't tear them up.

As for people balking at the cost yes they are expensive, but at least with the hay managers I have they are heavy built and easily last 5x as long as the "heavy duty" rings from the local farm store. So between the increased lifespan, and saved hay for me they are worth it. Yeah I could "go buy lots of extra hay" and skip the good feeder, or I could buy the feeder and feed out more cows on the same amount of hay I already have, thus making me more money.

lol.

 

[BFE]

Thanks BFE,
The GoBobs are impressive but I don't think my tractor will lift a bale that high. Also wondering if you lose hay around the bottom on that one because it doesn't look like it has a skirt.

Not much loss there. They are skirted on the sides and the pipes are closer together on the ends. The only time I see much loss is when there is bad hay they pull out and don't eat. Of course, they take some good with the bad out, but with good fresh bales, there's not much waste. Much less than an old round ring.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

lol.

I keep fairly accurate records of my hay consumption and can tell you that it cut my yearly hay consumption down by 15%. On a typical year I used to feed ~400 bales in your standard bale ring. Those rings would typically last 3-5 years with our climate and use, and they cost around 300 bucks a pop or ~60-100 bucks a year.

Switched feeders and now feed ~340 bales in the expensive feeders for the same number of animals. If I was to buy 60 bales of hay at $30 bucks a bale that's 1800 a year in saved hay. Feeders were 900 a piece so on year one the first two were paid for, halfway through year 2 the 3rd was paid for.

So since I make my own hay I can either sell those 60 bales or buy some extra cows to eat them. On top of that I am on year 5 with the first hay manager feeder and it shows zero wear and I should easily get 5+ more years out of it. So if I get at least 10 years of life at 900 purchase that's 90 a year of use. And honestly I think more than 10 years shouldn't be a problem.

Forgot to say I'm not a salesman for them just sharing my personal experience take it for whats it worth. I was very skeptical but being a man of numbers once I saw the data I was sold.

 

[Brute 23]

lol.

I keep fairly accurate records of my hay consumption and can tell you that it cut my yearly hay consumption down by 15%. On a typical year I used to feed ~400 bales in your standard bale ring. Those rings would typically last 3-5 years with our climate and use, and they cost around 300 bucks a pop or ~60-100 bucks a year.

Switched feeders and now feed ~340 bales in the expensive feeders for the same number of animals. If I was to buy 60 bales of hay at $30 bucks a bale that's 1800 a year in saved hay. Feeders were 900 a piece so on year one the first two were paid for, halfway through year 2 the 3rd was paid for.

So since I make my own hay I can either sell those 60 bales or buy some extra cows to eat them. On top of that I am on year 5 with the first hay manager feeder and it shows zero wear and I should easily get 5+ more years out of it. So if I get at least 10 years of life at 900 purchase that's 90 a year of use. And honestly I think more than 10 years shouldn't be a problem.

Forgot to say I'm not a salesman for them just sharing my personal experience take it for whats it worth. I was very skeptical but being a man of numbers once I saw the data I was sold.

The numbers work with your volume of hay. It saves you $2-3K. That's understandable.

Do you store your hay inside? I think that has more to do with it than the bale feeder.

If I feed fresh cut hay in my cheapo ring they will clean it out. Most of the hay left in my rings was lost during storage outside and had nothing to do with the bale feeder.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

My hay is all stored under tarps outside stacked on rock. Only loss is a little bit on the bottoms. Was stored this way with both types of feeders. I never had trouble with them leaving hay in the feeder it was pulling tons outside the ring then standing/pooping on it.

The savings would only grow the more hay I used....