Meal handling

larthehar

After another winter of dragging/filling bags of barley and balancer things need to change for next year. Currently the system is auger 25t of barley onto a loft. Bag. Roll approx half ton, bag and feed. Balancer in bulk in a trailer. Bag and feed with barley.
As you can guess massively labour intensive and time consuming. Just wondering what other people's systems are??

mahoney_j

Buy in bulk from merchant and blow into bin,Have a big barrow which i just wheeel into dropper in bin and off to various sheds to feed stock.No hassle and very little rodent problems.Wouldnt have it ay other way.I used to have a simillar system to you but too time consuming and didnt like all the dust etc

blue5000

Or crimp it if it's your own barley.

larthehar

mahoney_j wrote: »

Buy in bulk from merchant and blow into bin,Have a big barrow which i just wheeel into dropper in bin and off to various sheds to feed stock.No hassle and very little rodent problems.Wouldnt have it ay other way.I used to have a simillar system to you but too time consuming and didnt like all the dust etc

We generally grow barley every year to shake up a field and to have winter feed. But a system like that is what I was tinking of, maybe going the whole hog and getting meal feeder for the front loader.

Does anybody crimp barley? Storing in a pit sounds like a rat haven..

cat320

mahoney_j wrote: »

Buy in bulk from merchant and blow into bin,Have a big barrow which i just wheeel into dropper in bin and off to various sheds to feed stock.No hassle and very little rodent problems.Wouldnt have it ay other way.I used to have a simillar system to you but too time consuming and didnt like all the dust etc

I plan on doing that too, currently drawing it in the back of the jeep in bags.. What do you do to measure it out? Buckets?? Lets say for fattening cattle..?

mahoney_j

cat320 wrote: »

I plan on doing that too, currently drawing it in the back of the jeep in bags.. What do you do to measure it out? Buckets?? Lets say for fattening cattle..?

Got myself (or should i say herself) a weighing scales in argos for 25 quid,Its a digital scales for weighing humans but works well for weighing buckets of meal.The wife is doing her nut looking for it though but i havnt seen it.........Its very usefull with the price of meal and there is a variation beteween buckets of coarse meal and nuts or pencils

Farmer Pudsey

cat320 wrote: »

I plan on doing that too, currently drawing it in the back of the jeep in bags.. What do you do to measure it out? Buckets?? Lets say for fattening cattle..?

The way I weigh ration is to use the small scales that you can buy to weigh luggage. They cost 3-8 euro you can weight a bucke of ration very easily.

49801

Bought a bunch of plastic tub like below


They have volume marks so makes it easy to replicate the right amount once you have weighed.

larthehar

49801 wrote: »

Bought a bunch of plastic tub like below


They have volume marks so makes it easy to replicate the right amount once you have weighed.

I have this for hauling timber for the stove surely it lacks rigidity for scooping and pouring meal?

yellow50HX

larthehar wrote: »

After another winter of dragging/filling bags of barley and balancer things need to change for next year. Currently the system is auger 25t of barley onto a loft. Bag. Roll approx half ton, bag and feed. Balancer in bulk in a trailer. Bag and feed with barley.
As you can guess massively labour intensive and time consuming. Just wondering what other people's systems are??

Would you buy a grain bin and then take out the grain for rolling as and when you need it?

The in laws feed barly to their cows. The have it and large bin and then feed it into a roller. The use and electic motors for the augers and roller. Press a button to start and press stop when you have enough. It was herself grand father put it in place back in the 60's and still working perfect today (upgraded the motors over time).

Was in a place a few years ago dropping off a load of grain. Fella had got a bin and a few bits from an old mill that was being demolished. Set up a pit with an auger in it so that you can fill the bin from a trailer. The bin spilt in two and was mounted high so that the outlets could be diverted. The two outlets could either drop onto the floor or straight into the roller. When I asked him why he said it was in case he decided to but in different meal. He had a lever on the chutes to the roller so if he needed to roll grain he would open it to regulate the flow and turn on the roller when he had enough he could close the chute.

49801

larthehar wrote: »

I have this for hauling timber for the stove surely it lacks rigidity for scooping and pouring meal?

I built a buin in an old shed with a raised floor so meal flows into it