TMR Mixer

[SaskHerf]

Just wonderin if any of you have experience with tmr ( vertical) mixers. What i am interested in know is how long it would take one to chew up a whole round bale (1500 lbs). They show it on the video but the footage is shortened so i don't know if they cut 5 minutes or 35 minutes out of the video. What is the upkeep on a unit like that like?? I see lots for sale with new knives and liners. Is it common to replace these in 2 year old machines. Any other input would be helpful.

 

[novaman]

I don't have a vertical mixer, mine's horizontal so I'm not much help here. However, the knives are the biggest wear point from what I've been told. Keeping sharp knives will allow it to do the best job at chopping up the hay. I've heard lots of guys that push them a little longer and end up with poorly chopped hay as a result. My machine is pretty heavily built. I think I could run it for another 10 years and not have anything wear out. However, I think feedlots must burn through them pretty fast with the huge volumes of feed they put out in a days time. I would think a 2 year old machine should be in relatively good shape yet. Probably be a bit leary of those that have liners in as that would be a sign of high usage. Hope that helps.