Feed bunks I’ve built

[fnfarms1]

I'm always asking questions thought I'd share something I actually do, might be helpful ideas for someone. These are feed bunks I've been building. Made 6, that should be enough I don't have to move them pasture to pasture so much. Made out of 3/8 wall 22inch pipe. 6inch pipe for legs. 20-21ft long

 

[EasTex]

Man those look nice! Do you drill some holes in the bottom to let rain water drain out?

 

[TCRanch]

Man those look nice! Do you drill some holes in the bottom to let rain water drain out?

Beat me to it. We bought some seriously heavy-duty bunks but no holes, so ended up drilling a few. Makes a world of difference.

 

[gcreekrch]

You will want to monitor these 20 minutes after feeding, have seen calves on their back in this type of bunk.

 

[MurraysMutts]

They do it in the stupid plastic lined cheap ones too!

 

[fnfarms1]

Man those look nice! Do you drill some holes in the bottom to let rain water drain out?

Used torch and blew roughly 1inch holes. Hopefully big enough they won't plug up with crud, small enough not to lose much feed. 1 hole in each end. Also added a hitch for clevis so I can drag them since my corral gates are 14ft with overhead braces, can't carry them through. Last 4 have some sort of "bed liner coating". But it flakes off or scrapes off with screwdriver.

Best part is that I've got less than $500 in 6 bunks that should last forever. GoBob had some they call Forever Bunks that go for $600each. Did all the welding and fab work in my shop. Cutting them in half is the biggest job cuz you can't just straight cut or the heat will make them splay out(cut first 2 myself). Last 4 I paid local welding shop to plasma them for $100 total. Well worth the money, plus the cuts neater, less to grind than torch. These things are tanks weighing about 1400ish

 

[Lucky]

Those look really nice. If I could build them for that I'd be all over it.

 

[TexasRancher]

I'm always asking questions thought I'd share something I actually do, might be helpful ideas for someone. These are feed bunks I've been building. Made 6, that should be enough I don't have to move them pasture to pasture so much. Made out of 3/8 wall 22inch pipe. 6inch pipe for legs. 20-21ft long

Love 'em, you need to go into manufacturing...wish you were my neighbor.

 

[tex452]

They look really nice, and will last you forever.
Beats those plastic ones that I've been using.
I use to build all my own troughs and hay rings, but age and a bad back won't let me anymore, I use to enjoy doing that.
I bought 18 rings this year made out of succer rod, the guy done a good job on them, they are very stout and I can barely lift them over the bales with the way my back is. I shouldn't have to buy anymore for the rest of my life.

 

[Atimm693]

We went from all concrete to steel and much prefer the steel. For one the steel bunks are longer and bigger, less work to move, rearrange, and dump.

For drainage, the factory blows a hole in each end on the bottom, but I put a couple extra in the sides on both ends, inevitably the bottom hole will plug and the side holes will still allow it to drain.

I broke several of the cement ones over the years. They didn't have much for rebar, just chicken wire.

Our neighbor uses U-shaped cement bunks that are open on the ends, I'd prefer those over the cement ones we had. No trouble at all with drainage there.

We have had a couple instances with calves getting stuck or falling over in them. I think that's a problem with feed bunks period and not limited one type.

 

[Dave]

I have made a number of these. I have 12 foot and 16 foot models. Just a 2x12 and 2 2x6 the same length. A couple of pieces of 2x4. Free old junk tires from the tire store. Pretty cheap and easy to build. They just don't tip over. Tall enough calves don't lay in them and rarely crap in them. I use a piece of 1/2 rebar that I ground a point on. Heat it up red hot and push it through the tire. Match up the holes and bolt the tires together. Do the same thing on the top tire and drill holes in the 2x12 to match. It works a lot easier to bolt the 2x12 down first and install the 2x6 side rails after that. Give you more room to get your arm in to bolt the 2x12 down.

 

[CowboyRam]

I bought these last spring, they are 30' long.

 

[fnfarms1]

Love 'em, you need to go into manufacturing...wish you were my neighbor.

I couldn't find enough material at these prices to stay ahead of demand, can't compete with big companies buying in such bulk. I just kind of happened onto these last 2 pipes(4feeders). Traded 2 I beams that were my dads for them. Takes about 8hrs to turn one out if it's already cut in half. Working regular 40-50hr week job and dealing day to day farm stuff, couldn't turn out many. To many years into my job to leave it yet (16yrs with Postal Service).

 

[fnfarms1]

They look really nice, and will last you forever.
Beats those plastic ones that I've been using.
I use to build all my own troughs and hay rings, but age and a bad back won't let me anymore, I use to enjoy doing that.
I bought 18 rings this year made out of succer rod, the guy done a good job on them, they are very stout and I can barely lift them over the bales with the way my back is. I shouldn't have to buy anymore for the rest of my life.

I'm 37 and in building these my back would hurt by the end of the day. Hopefully I never need new ones in my lifetime. I've still got some small ones my dad built for our show calves when I was growing up. I screwed up when first starting the farm on my own, feed salt/mineral in them. Trashed them in no time. If I hadn't they'd still be useable.
I do enjoy doing it, time is the issue for me to enjoy it more. Work, kids, etc just never enough hours in the day.
Bale rings I've been buying the black poly pipe ones, adding extra post in them. Hopefully they last forever as well