Hay unroller

[johndeerefarmer]

Anyone here using one of those 3 point hay unrollers? We have been unrolling ours with two wheels mounted on the front bumper but since it lays out a continous row, the cows of course lay on it and mess on it. With the three point unrollers can you unroll a few feet, then move 10' and unroll another few feet? You know,kind of like in the old days when we broke small squares up into flakes and spread them from the back of the truck. Man I miss those days.......... :roll:

Been a bad year in my part of Texas. Everyone that didn't bale some ryegrass early is short of hay right now. I thought that by using one of those unrollers I could save more hay. I have tried round bale rings but if the ground is wet, the cows tramp and kill the grass around the ring and it takes several years to come back- and i was moving the ring everyday.

thanks

Thanks

 

[1982vett]

Been a bad year in my part of Texas. Everyone that didn't bale some ryegrass early is short of hay right now. I thought that by using one of those unrollers I could save more hay. I have tried round bale rings but if the ground is wet, the cows tramp and kill the grass around the ring and it takes several years to come back- and i was moving the ring everyday.

thanks

Thanks

Sad to point out that wet muddy ground around a hayring in a drought isn't a problem.... :lol:

Just funning....as best as we can in that situation. We went thru it in 2008 and 2009. Not all that great right now but probably not as bad as you are now. I'm not having to feed.

Anyway, I invested in one in 2008 to try to cut down on waste. Unrolling just what they needed and would clean up quickly. It also spreads the manure waste around the pasture rather than around a hayring. Another plus. But when it gets wet and muddy it is back to the hayring as they will walk it into the mud fast.

I've seen some interesting things this spring where I was unrolling on some last year. Even in this dry period I have stripes where the fines added organic matter to the top of the ground and it stayed green longer.

 

[farmwriter]

We use an unroller, and I suspect it does save a little vs. the hay ring, but the real advantage for us is that all the cows can eat it without the tussling that comes from fighting for a place @ the ring. It also allows us to put their hay wherever we want without worrying about moving the ring. When it's cold, we can always keep them out of the wind and such. And if we want to carry 2 rolls, put one on the unroller and one on the spear, so we don't have to make another trip to the hay yard and back.

 

[johndeerefarmer]

Thanks for the replies. So when you raise the bale to move to the next location, does it break loose evenly, or do you scatter hay all of the way to the next spot.

On the drought, I just fertilized 30 acres of coastal yesterday with 50lbs acre of actual N. Hoping for rain the first of the week and still looking for all of the hurricanes that they forecasted. I am about 60 rolls short of what I need to make it through the winter. Pastures right now are fine. Coastal is 4 to 6" tall. It's just that June our prime month for hay was a disaster, very hot and dry.

 

[1982vett]

:lol: Don't bet on them hurricanes..........had 3 of them go over us in 2008 and got an inch and a half of rain amongst the 3. :lol:

Well, "dotting" the hay across the pasture isn't all that clean or a start and stop. Your bale will never be balanced and you will never grab the bale exactly in the center. Heavy side will always rotate to the bottom. But even if it does flake a bit between "dotting" the cows can seek it out.

Being short on hay...do you plant ryegrass or oats for winter pasture?

 

[johndeerefarmer]

Thanks again

I like ryegrass. I have had oats freeze quite a few times so quit using them. Have also tried the pasture mixs- wheat, rye and oats but still prefer ryegrass.

I use TAM90, I tried Marshall and didn't see any difference except for cost.

I remember 25 years ago, August would be hot and dry. Me and grandma would sit on the porch looking for hurricanes to the south. Usually one would finally come and we would typically get 6-12" rain. Heck, I would take 3 or 4!

 

[shaz]

I use a three point hitch unroller and it's easier than chains & spikes. I really like the effect of unrolling for all the reasons mentioned above. You really have to do it every day which is a problem for some folks.

 

[johndeerefarmer]

Thanks.

I feed my cows hay every morning and dad feeds them cubes every evening. During the summer they get checked on everyday. I don't believe in throwing a week's worth of round bales out and not coming back for a week.

 

[dun]

I'm still looking for a PTO driven unroller. It unrolls it in a narrow windrow rather then a bale wild one. Haven;t seen one for sale in years, don;t know why.

 

[Angus Cowman]

Thanks for the replies. So when you raise the bale to move to the next location, does it break loose evenly, or do you scatter hay all of the way to the next spot.
quote]
If your bales are good and tight you won't drag too much hay while moving from spot to spot

 

[johndeerefarmer]

I'm still looking for a PTO driven unroller. It unrolls it in a narrow windrow rather then a bale wild one. Haven;t seen one for sale in years, don;t know why.

Does Vermeer still make one? I imagine they are expensive and only feedlots and maybe some dairies can afford them.

 

[kenny thomas]

On a related note you can mount an electric seed spreader so it will spread seed as you unroll the hay. The cattle will then tromp the seed into the ground and the little bit of wasted hay will mulch it. Very good way to establish clover.

 

[JHH]

I'm still looking for a PTO driven unroller. It unrolls it in a narrow windrow rather then a bale wild one. Haven;t seen one for sale in years, don;t know why.

My neighbor has something like you are talking about. It looks like SRbeef thing for putting plastic on the bales. It rotates side to side and the hay comes off in a narrow row instead of having it unrolled the traditional way.

I just put one on the ground and can usually unroll it by pushing it with the tractor and the hay spear. then pick it up and do it again. I have a few hills so gravity helps me alot.

 

[SRBeef]

I'm still looking for a PTO driven unroller. It unrolls it in a narrow windrow rather then a bale wild one. Haven;t seen one for sale in years, don;t know why.

The Unverferth unit I use for wrapping bales says it can be used to unroll bales to feed also. I've never tried it but the bale is rotated hydraulically and I don't know why you just couldn't hit the hydraulic remote to stop it and break the bale off for the spacing you or someone mentioned above. It would leave a narrow rather than bale-wide windrow as it unrolls though.

Here is the flyer on it: http://www.unverferth.com/um/hayhandling/roundabout.php?tab=overview

I've never used it for feeding. I would strongly suggest using it with a hydraulic top link on the 3 point. That helps you hit the center of the bale and spear it parsallel to the bale for unloading yet tip it way forward to unroll. Driving forward and unrolling it you could turn it on and off from the cab (rather than the speed control on the unit). As the bale gets smaller I wonder what keeps the hay from pulling the rest of the bale off of the spear? Maybe you feed a bale by backing up? That would solve the pulling of of the spear problem.

You may want to give the folks at Unverferth a call and discuss how to use it as a feed unroller. You can easily unbolt the wrapping arm and mechanism (the long tube).

As far as the original poster talking about hay feeders ruining the grass after moving everyday... I take the opposite approach. Don't move them other than a few feet maybe. I feed in a sacrifice area where the grass just gets trampled. This does make it easy to use a manure fork and build a compost pile over the summer. And some of us lazy folks unfortunately MUST put out 7 days worth of hay at a time and don't have the luxury of being able to check on cattle twice a day, even though I would like to... Count yourself as very fortunate if you can do that. jmho.

Jim

 

[dun]

This is what I'm looking for, they run around 1900-2000
http://worksaver.com/product/SpinOff.html

 

[Angus Cowman]

Looks like it would be easy enough to build and alot cheaper than 1900-2000

 

[tytower]

Using the cattle to walk in the seed works well for me. Round the bale feeder I scatter new Bracky and clover/rye mix seed and the cows walk it in . Comes up a month later . Always roll the feeder to where I want the new grass then fill it for them and scatter the seed .Then I let them on it

 

[halfbean]

Crockett Iron Works in Crockett builds a 3 point unroller. I have some of my best pasture in the field where I unroll mine and for some reason very few weeds.