Cone Hay Feeder

[Anonymous]

Does anyone have any experience with cone hay feeders? If so what was the cost? What size bail would it take? And did you like it?

 

[MrBilly]

I bought one several months ago and am delighted with it and will add more. There is very little waste. Michigan study showed cone feeders waste about 3.4 % compared to traditional ring feeders which as I recall were in the 6% range. The one we have is made, like a tank, with very heavy gauge steel, the bottom of the cone is lifted above the ground and the bottom of the ring has a 1/8 inche plate steel skirt to prevent the hay from coming out onto the ground. It should hold up very nicely. I have seen others where the bottom of the cone actually sits on the ground.

Our's was made by J and L and is called a haysaver; they are in Pa. It was quite expensive ;-) due to the cost of shipping, but we bought with others to reduce it - the cost was $725 total. Worth every cent. More on the way.

:lol:

 

[MrBilly]

The diameter of ours is 8 feet. It will take any large round bale.

 

[dun]

Now for some ins and outs. How do you get the crappy hay out of it to put in a new bale? How heavy is it?

dun

I bought one several months ago and am delighted with it and will add more. There is very little waste. Michigan study showed cone feeders waste about 3.4 % compared to traditional ring feeders which as I recall were in the 6% range. The one we have is made, like a tank, with very heavy gauge steel, the bottom of the cone is lifted above the ground and the bottom of the ring has a 1/8 inche plate steel skirt to prevent the hay from coming out onto the ground. It should hold up very nicely. I have seen others where the bottom of the cone actually sits on the ground.

Our's was made by J and L and is called a haysaver; they are in Pa. It was quite expensive ;-) due to the cost of shipping, but we bought with others to reduce it - the cost was $725 total. Worth every cent. More on the way.

:lol:

 

[Tod Dague]

Thank you for the replies. I was looking to save the 3% loss of hay. But, with the large price difference, I'm afraid that even with the 1/8 inch steal it would rot before I broke even. I simply do not feed that much hay.

 

[MrBilly]

Hey Dun, I don't have any crappy hay. Do you?

As they eat the hay, some drops into the bottom, and then they eat that. I find very little hay outside the rings. As the cattle empty the cone, you bring in a bale with a loader and drop it into the cone. I will get pictures of this in the near future.

It is very heavy, can not budge it by hand. Need to move it with a front loader. When you look at the flimsey rings out there, with paper thin metal, I priced one at Tractor Supply last week at around $218, the $725 looks better and better.

Bill

 

[dun]

This year we have the crappy stuff from the outside of the bales. We had so much hay we couldn't get it all in the hay barn and not enough tarps. We're feeding that stuff now, more to get it out of the way then anything else. We stil have 3-4 months worth of stockpiled pasture. But when the snow comes or like last week-end an ice storm, I like to put out a couple of bales so they don't have to wander as far from the trees to get groceries.
Also our first cuttings alwasy have a little bit of junk in them, left over junk growth from the previous year.

dun

Hey Dun, I don't have any crappy hay. Do you?

As they eat the hay, some drops into the bottom, and then they eat that. I find very little hay outside the rings. As the cattle empty the cone, you bring in a bale with a loader and drop it into the cone. I will get pictures of this in the near future.

It is very heavy, can not budge it by hand. Need to move it with a front loader. When you look at the flimsey rings out there, with paper thin metal, I priced one at Tractor Supply last week at around $218, the $725 looks better and better.

Bill

 

[dun]

of bale rigns is that the calves will climb inside and burrow into the hay at night when it's really cold.

dun