Diet feeder loaded with tractor loader

som farmer

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
somerset
I have another slightly stupid question. If you are making a home mix, you need to notify your NIFQA or Red Tractor, depending on where you are - to the best of my knowledge they're meant to go through your mix ratios and facilities with a fine tooth comb. Is this the case if you mix your own straights into a TMR?
we have a 'licence' for home mixing, how/why or what, it just gets shown occasionally for RT, had it years.
our first diet feeder we parked under the dung ramp to load, that was an oswold, never seen another, paid £400 for it, it was truly massive, mixed with 2 horizontal augers, fantastic machine.
having gone back to a tractor loader, and a kneenan, just load down hill. Chopped bales are very different to mix than normal bales, usually all 21 knives, currently using unchopped (breakdown) huge huge difference in the grass length, and weight.
 

manfromhill

Member
I'm coming from a place of zero experience with this so I'm hoping some people on here with experience can help:

I'm planning on upgrading my feeding method to use a diet feeder. The only problem is that most of my loader work is done with an old JCB 3cx or a NH 7740 with front loader, so I don't have a massive lift height.
I'm thinking that this probably limits me to a paddle mixer like a Keenan. Everyone seems to have an opinion of the Keenans but I've never really heard the justifications. Just how slowly do they run and are they reliable? Is there any way of feeding bales with them that doesn't involve some sort of additional chopper?)

Additionally, I feed cows, youngstock, finishers and for part of the winter, sheep in the same yard, so will I really be saving any time over just bucket feeding meal?

Thanks in advance for opinions and suggestions
Hi wondering is it pit or bales you use just now and is it into bunker troughs or feed barriers
 

mo!

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
York
3.2t mix in a 12 cube mixer. Feeds 150 cattle.
20210120_093318.jpg
 

Cowabunga

Member
Location
Ceredigion,Wales
3CX… unlikely. It depends on the shape of the tub of course, because they can be configured narrow and high or wide and low, or in between. Even with the same brand of wagon. Many are built to a farmer's requirements so the potential user should speak with his dealer to find out what options are available and suitable for their needs. Tub wagons are bespoke, tailor made pieces of equipment within reason.
 

Cowabunga

Member
Location
Ceredigion,Wales
we have a 'licence' for home mixing, how/why or what, it just gets shown occasionally for RT, had it years.
our first diet feeder we parked under the dung ramp to load, that was an oswold, never seen another, paid £400 for it, it was truly massive, mixed with 2 horizontal augers, fantastic machine.
having gone back to a tractor loader, and a kneenan, just load down hill. Chopped bales are very different to mix than normal bales, usually all 21 knives, currently using unchopped (breakdown) huge huge difference in the grass length, and weight.

I believe you need a license from the Pharmaceutical Society for home mixing minerals, which included into a mixer wagon. If self feeding minerals you don't. It's just another load of red tape rubbish.
 

kiwi pom

Member
Location
canterbury NZ
different to the OP but just bought a wagon and put up a silage pit rather than dealing with 4000 round bales. Gone from 4 people feeding out every 2 days down to 2-2.5 and will get that down to 1-1.5 with some further changes. Less plastic, stock more content not having to fight for feed space in rings/trailers. Lot less plastic to deal with. Stock out wintered but fed on hard standings now so not trashing fields dragging 17t through the mud. Quality of life 👍 That’s our situation but win win so far.

Crikey 4000 bales sounds horrible.
Why does it take 2-2.5 people to run a mixer?
 

som farmer

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
somerset
bale silage is very handy, but it's horrible to p1ss about with all the wrap and net, used a lot this winter, EA stopped us putting pit silage, in our pit, round bales ok. The pit will be sorted before silage this year, effluent tanks, size of. We would have had to make 5/6000, for the coming winter, yuk.
 

Jim75

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Easter ross
Crikey 4000 bales sounds horrible.
Why does it take 2-2.5 people to run a mixer?

hopefully by the end of next week the majority of cattle will be on pit silage fed with the wagon which will be a game changer. There’s still a few sheep to feed on bales. Some are getting pit Silage fed out with an elevator into trailers but some are inaccessible with the wagon so requires bales and more time
 

bht

Member
You would easily feed 100 finishers depending on ration. We get 4ton in a 12 cube single strautmann which will feed 180ish here. Used to fill it with a loader tractor all bales no problem. Something like a 14cube twin auger would be the best but adds a lot of money
 

Fendt516profi

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Yorkshire
Looks low enough
 

MickyMook

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
County Down
Hi wondering is it pit or bales you use just now and is it into bunker troughs or feed barriers
In the yard it's nearly always chopped clamp silage at the moment. However, we outwinter a lot of stock on bales and forage brassicas. The plan is to bring some of these cattle indoors as the amount of outwintering isn't currently suiting our system - as a result, due to lack of clamp space we're probably going to find ourselves having to feed bales in the yard in future. Eventually I'd like to erect a larger silo and convert the old covered silo into space for early calvers - but that is firmly on the back burner while I erect my slatted house!

Also, and at the risk of droning on, I'm trying to make my suckler, beef and sheep system as efficient and heavily stocked as I can over the next few years so that if I have the opportunity to convert to dairy then will be well placed to do it. I'll try and see how Brexit goes first though.
 

MickyMook

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
County Down
If you spend money your money on a mixer, a tractor to run it and the running costs of said unit, will all your pennies come back to you in increased profits or efficiency? Will it save any time?
I believe so, but I will be hoping to get demo kit to test this theory. Our system of feeding is very labour intensive, as the yard is well spread out and we're just driving up and down like lunatics every morning and evenig with loaderfuls of silage then trough feeding concentrates by hand! We'll have a lot more stock in the yard next winter too. I've a family to get home to at night and eventually my dad will be hoping to ease up a little.
 
If bales are your problem would a silage chopper/blower not work for you? then you can bed down with it and maybe save some straw at the same time. No idea if you can put clamp through them.
You could put the meal on top with an auger bucket.
Just a different approach to the problem.
 

Wellytrack

Member
In the yard it's nearly always chopped clamp silage at the moment. However, we outwinter a lot of stock on bales and forage brassicas. The plan is to bring some of these cattle indoors as the amount of outwintering isn't currently suiting our system - as a result, due to lack of clamp space we're probably going to find ourselves having to feed bales in the yard in future. Eventually I'd like to erect a larger silo and convert the old covered silo into space for early calvers - but that is firmly on the back burner while I erect my slatted house!

Also, and at the risk of droning on, I'm trying to make my suckler, beef and sheep system as efficient and heavily stocked as I can over the next few years so that if I have the opportunity to convert to dairy then will be well placed to do it. I'll try and see how Brexit goes first though.

If you plan to move to dairy in the future why not do it now?
 

manfromhill

Member
I started with a forage box with layered meal or Draff can do bunkers ring feeders etc but no bales moved on to horizontal auger mixers taarups good mixers but not for bales certainly not the 4 augers ones now
Did demo a Keenan before now buying a tub it’s far quicker at bales and a new one can be speced to meet system needs
 

MickyMook

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
County Down
If bales are your problem would a silage chopper/blower not work for you? then you can bed down with it and maybe save some straw at the same time. No idea if you can put clamp through them.
You could put the meal on top with an auger bucket.
Just a different approach to the problem.
I wouldn't say that the bales are a problem, just that they will need to be part of the equation. There's always a possibility that I'll decide against the diet feeder approach, I'd like to demo it first and see how it would work. Generally I find that asking the farming forum for advice is a pretty good place to start fact finding :) Alternatively, you speak to a dealer and they have a tendency to forget to mention the downsides :unsure:
 

farmer pickles

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
midlands lreland
You and the owner of the Keenan must possess more patience than most.

The last Keenan I bought I told them to leave off the bale handler as the banging would test my patience. I'm mostly mixing pit silage,meal and chopped beet so mixing times doesn't be much longer than 5/10 minutes per load. A couple of years ago I had to buy a go of bales to stretch my silage and I had to break them out before loading and then leave it mixing 45 minutes to chop. The Keenan does my job it's not a patch on any make of a tub feeder.
 

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