bale unwinder feeders

realchewytiger

Wondering what are people's views on these .thinking of buying one to take the pressure off the auld at feeding time in winter .any particular make/ model better than the other. Rang a few dealers for quotes but still no joy wouldn't give price over the phone.any prices ? Pros and cons of different models over others .

Bass Reeves

The only one I know about is the Bridgeway one. It will not unwind out in a line. it tends to leave the silage in big heap on the ground. Often it will leave silage in 2-3 heaps. Is he feeding many cattle and is it into a shed central passage. Is he trying to limit silage to cattle.

realchewytiger

Need it to feed about 60 head of cattle in a shed along feed barriers. No don't need to limit silage intake .I see nugent make one now all look very similar to me in design.

Bass Reeves

realchewytiger wrote: »

Need it to feed about 60 head of cattle in a shed along feed barriers. No don't need to limit silage intake .I see nugent make one now all look very similar to me in design.

Just put bales in front of barriers. I feed 60 cattle as well. There are four pens so about 15 cattle/pen. Depending on quality and DM of bales I put 1-2 bales at the tome in front of each pen. I use either the spike or another bale to push silage in. When I put the bale in if the feedface is completely cleaned I might pike some of the top of the bale out along feedface.

twin_beacon

Bass Reeves wrote: »

The only one I know about is the Bridgeway one. It will not unwind out in a line. it tends to leave the silage in big heap on the ground. Often it will leave silage in 2-3 heaps. Is he feeding many cattle and is it into a shed central passage. Is he trying to limit silage to cattle.

bridgeway have 2 types of bale feeders, one is like a spike that spins, and the other is the same design as many other manufacturers, runs on chains and drops silage out either side.
We bought the latter one 2 years ago, for around 6k. Its a massive saving on labour. Good machine, takes a little while to get used to it, but my dad wouldn't be without it now. he has had both hips replaced, so he cant fork too much now.



http://bridgewayengineering.com/index.php/bridgeway-products/bridgeway-diamond-feeder

Mooooo

Do they need to be spread out? If bale was put in and then a silage pusher for tractor used to push in once they have finished what's in front of them.? Rarely use a pike here just the loader. May have less feed space per animal here tho, generally anything put in in the morning would be pushed in in the evening then

mycro2013

Currently there are four manufacturers.

The original is a hustler machine which has spawned a few copy cats. The list of manufacturers to date.

1. Hustler
2. Blaney
3. Bridgeway.
4. Nugent.

Hustler is the original and most expensive, but is a proven design. A handy piece of kit and very versatile. Considering buying one here also.

twin_beacon

mycro2013 wrote: »

Currently there are four manufacturers.

The original is a hustler machine which has spawned a few copy cats. The list of manufacturers to date.

1. Hustler
2. Blaney
3. Bridgeway.
4. Nugent.

Hustler is the original and most expensive, but is a proven design. A handy piece of kit and very versatile. Considering buying one here also.

A guy in Longford and another company called Irish Engineering Products also make them. They all have the same design.

satstheway

twin_beacon wrote: »

A guy in Longford and another company called Irish Engineering Products also make them. They all have the same design.

Greenman is another. See it on Donedeal.

divillybit

Bought a clean second hand hustler a few years ago. Saved 2 grand compared what new ones are costing but not many used ones come up for sale so be quick if you see one. There is very little to go wrong with them. They are a good job for feed barriers where you can't back the tractor up perpendicular to the barrier. Our main sheds are like that so the hustler was the best option. Hydraulic top link is essential with it though. More often than not we use the front loader to put the bale on the feeder. You gotta whip the net off quick smart when you start taking it off otherwise the net will catch on the spikes on the conveyor. They can feed both left and right but at the same time you would be watching for what way the bale was made when you are taking off the net. You then know what side the bale will unroll better from if you know what I mean. I keep as tight to the barrier as I can when unrolling the bale but you got to travel in a very low gear. Cattle will be putting their heads out and you gotta be careful not to catch them with the wheel. There is still a small bit of graping involved once the cattle have eaten all the silage they can reach but its not hard grapes. The old man has had hip operations so it has taken alot of the hardship out of the job. For the shed where we can back up at right angle to the barrier the bale splitter on the smaller tractor we have is as handy to feed with and push in the bale with the tractor if you don't feel like graping it. That's my experience of using it!

twin_beacon

divillybit wrote: »

Hydraulic top link is essential with it though.

Great post, but I have to really back you up on this one. If the ground or lift arms aren't perfectly even the top link will need to be adjusted. Disaster if you don't have a hydraulic top link

We had an issue with ours, the connection that locks the cradle and spike in place was weak, and after 100 or so bales it wore out. It was spring loaded pin, but it wasn't strong enough. If you were spinning a heavy out of shape bale it would disconnect, and lose the drive from the hydraulic motor. It was fixed under warranty with different mechanism, haven't had an issue since.

One other thing to look out for, some models don't have bars to stop the bale falling off (the green bars in the pic below). If you are feeding out perfectly circular bales you won't have an issue, if you have a heavy, out of shape bale from the bottom of a stack, its not going to rotate perfectly on the chains. Those bars stop the bale from being pushed over the edge, and onto a cow's head at the feeder. I think Blaney have 2 model's and the cheaper one doesn't have the bars.

Also, just be careful of cattle getting too close and getting one of the spikes against the nose of a cow.

How do ye find filling it with the loader? I thought we would do the same, but found it faster to fill it with the spike. Our yard is pretty tight anyway so would mean a lot more turning to use the loader.
Im hoping to get a silage pusher this year for the loader, one with the tyres. that way we can feed a little bit away from the feeder on each side, and come back in and push it in right up to the barrier.

divillybit

We'd usually load it with the loader as it keeps the bale a bit higher off the cradle that it would with the spike part of the hustler.. if the net gets caught in the conveyor spikes and some silage falls on the conveyor it can be hard get the net free.. the hydraulic top link is really key though for loading with the spike part of the hustler and for keeping it level when unrolling the bale. But overall im happy with it. Any second hand ones I see on done deal lately are gone quick. You're right about the misshapen bales and about the silage pusher too.. a bale feeder like these unrollers does seem expensive to buy new but the would be used daily for the 4 or 5 months of the year that the cattle are indoors.. there is definitely less wasted silage as they get a fresh bale every day. It's eaten before it gets much of a chance to go off ☺

twin_beacon

divillybit wrote: »

We'd usually load it with the loader as it keeps the bale a bit higher off the cradle that it would with the spike part of the hustler.. if the net gets caught in the conveyor spikes and some silage falls on the conveyor it can be hard get the net free.. the hydraulic top link is really key though for loading with the spike part of the hustler and for keeping it level when unrolling the bale. But overall im happy with it. Any second hand ones I see on done deal lately are gone quick. You're right about the misshapen bales and about the silage pusher too.. a bale feeder like these unrollers does seem expensive to buy new but the would be used daily for the 4 or 5 months of the year that the cattle are indoors.. there is definitely less wasted silage as they get a fresh bale every day. It's eaten before it gets much of a chance to go off ☺

Once our cattle are in, its rare that if leaves the back of our tractor. As you say, keeping it level is important, it will slide to one end otherwise.

einn32

I used to use one for foddering out in a field where it really comes into it's own. Netting can be painful if it gets caught in the conveyor. It can be used as a transporter too. Think I used bring two on the buggy and one on the loader to a feeding area and just throw the bales in round feeders.

SuperTortoise

Considering getting one of these, don't know which one, they all look pretty similar.

How is the net taken off? Do you just unwind it slowly? or can you tie the end of the net to something and let it wind out?

Donald Trump

Do yiz not have chopper balers?

twin_beacon

SuperTortoise wrote: »

Considering getting one of these, don't know which one, they all look pretty similar.

How is the net taken off? Do you just unwind it slowly? or can you tie the end of the net to something and let it wind out?

I reverse the bake on the spike over the cradle part of the feeder, and angle it up with the hydraulic top link. Its easy enough to cut the net off then, and any bit of silage that falls off, lands on the feeder.

Donald Trump wrote: »

Do yiz not have chopper balers?

all our bales are chopped McHale bales

Donald Trump

twin_beacon wrote: »

I reverse the bake on the spike over the cradle part of the feeder, and angle it up with the hydraulic top link. Its easy enough to cut the net off then, and any bit of silage that falls off, lands on the feeder.



all our bales are chopped McHale bales

Chopped bales are usually easy enough broken up / spread out or even pulled apart by the animals though? Wouldn't really have seen the need to have a specific machine to do it. Fair enough if you were mixing it anyway, but that's a different machine with an additional purpose

twin_beacon

Donald Trump wrote: »

Chopped bales are usually easy enough broken up / spread out or even pulled apart by the animals though? Wouldn't really have seen the need to have a specific machine to do it. Fair enough if you were mixing it anyway, but that's a different machine with an additional purpose

True they are, we used to just leave a bale against the feeder in the slatted shed at the start of the winter, however when cows started calving the bales were in the way so we started to leave the bales in the passage and fork them the silage to the feeder. However my dad has had both hips replaced so this really isn't an option any more.

Donald Trump

twin_beacon wrote: »

True they are, we used to just leave a bale against the feeder in the slatted shed at the start of the winter, however when cows started calving the bales were in the way so we started to leave the bales in the passage and fork them the silage to the feeder. However my dad has had both hips replaced so this really isn't an option any more.

Ah, it's probably one of those things that you can't see the benefit of, but once you get and try one you'd never be without it afterwards

twin_beacon

Donald Trump wrote: »

Ah, it's probably one of those things that you can't see the benefit of, but once you get and try one you'd never be without it afterwards

exactly. takes a bit of getting used to as well, I was cursing it for the first few days until I got into the swing of it.

oldsmokey

twin_beacon wrote: »

exactly. takes a bit of getting used to as well, I was cursing it for the first few days until I got into the swing of it.

Ive read the bumf, looked at the vids, i still cant see how those things are one bit faster or any improvement on lashing out the silage with me loader/grab.

Donald Trump

Anyone know the rough cost of a bale splitter?

These ones you see that are like the old silage shear grabs that split the bale and also catch the net and wrap

The look handy enough. Good for safety too. Don't need to be hopping in and out of tractor. Although the video I saw of one seemed slow enough to do.

Dakota Dan

Donald Trump wrote: »

Anyone know the rough cost of a bale splitter?

These ones you see that are like the old silage shear grabs that split the bale and also catch the net and wrap

The look handy enough. Good for safety too. Don't need to be hopping in and out of tractor. Although the video I saw of one seemed slow enough to do.

Around 1300 for a basic one, they are just another gimmick just line up the bales in front of them with a spike.

Donald Trump

Dakota Dan wrote: »

Around 1300 for a basic one, they are just another gimmick just line up the bales in front of them with a spike.

Any timesaving though? Does seem like a pain in the hole having to twist them to pick them up from the side. But would it save a few minutes? I'm not overly concerned about the actual splitting up of the bale.



For someone feeding say 15 or so round bales a day. Mostly at feeding barriers but a couple in round feeders as well. You'd feel the advantage even of a minute per bale saving per day. (I mention the round feeders for safety as it's more dangerous cutting the net off for those)


It makes a fair difference now having two people doing it - one driving and one other cutting the wrap and net off. If the grab cut down on the same time without having the other person, and if it lasted a few years, the 1300 wouldn't be too long paying for itself.

Dakota Dan

Donald Trump wrote: »

Any timesaving though? Does seem like a pain in the hole having to twist them to pick them up from the side. But would it save a few minutes? I'm not overly concerned about the actual splitting up of the bale.



For someone feeding say 15 or so round bales a day. Mostly at feeding barriers but a couple in round feeders as well. You'd feel the advantage even of a minute per bale saving per day. (I mention the round feeders for safety as it's more dangerous cutting the net off for those)


It makes a fair difference now having two people doing it - one driving and one other cutting the wrap and net off. If the grab cut down on the same time without having the other person, and if it lasted a few years, the 1300 wouldn't be too long paying for itself.

Those splitters that hold the plastic and net are a good job of feeding a lot of bales as you can stay on the tractor but they would be over 3k to buy. I was referring to a basic splitter where all it does is cut the bale in half and you still have to remove the plastic and net by hand.

Donald Trump

Dakota Dan wrote: »

Those splitters that hold the plastic and net are a good job of feeding a lot of bales as you can stay on the tractor but they would be over 3k to buy. I was referring to a basic splitter where all it does is cut the bale in half and you still have to remove the plastic and net by hand.

Ah, that's a difference. I thought the 1300 was a bit too keen.


Wouldn't be interested in it for the "splitting" aspect.