Square Bale Feeder Mounts On Pickup

Square Bale Feeder Mounts On Pickup PICKUPS Accessories 23-3-26 Todd Whatley and John Sparks work on a 10,000 acre cattle ranch located in the Arbuckle Mountain region of Oklahoma. They found themselves feeding more and more big square bales to cattle but didn't have what they felt was a good way to do it. "People feed big square bales the same way they used to feed out small square bales. They start and stop their pickups, constantly getting in and out to feed out by hand. Or they have one person driving and another rides on back of the pickup flaking off the hay," says Todd Whatley. "I heard one story about a man who put his pickup in low gear and walked alongside, flaking hay off. One day, the man stepped into an armadillo hole and by the time he recovered, the pickup had run into a ravine. "Other farmers are chopping up the bales in a grinder or shredder and then taking the hay to the field." Whatley and Sparks decided to come up with a new solution. The "Bale Buddy" mounts on any 8-ft. pickup flatbed or you can mount it on a trailer. "When we designed it we tried to solve all the problems involved with the feeding of big square bales. It holds big square bales up to 20 by 48-in. and up to 8 ft. in length. Safety arms mount on front and rear of the bale. You take all the strings off the bale and head to the field. "The Bale Buddy pushes the bale off one side of the truck so hay flakes off onto the ground. You can feed out a couple flakes at a time or feed it all out at once. Two models are available: The basic unit simply moves the bale off to the side of the pickup and lets gravity drop off four or more flakes of hay at a time. For more precise control, you can fit the basic model with a Flaker unit that has a motorized paddle which pulls the flakes off. Makes it possible to precisely feed out any bale, even those in poor condition." Both models are powered by motorized winches that move the bales out to the side of the truck. If you just have the base unit installed, a gooseneck hitch can still be used without removing the bale unit. If you have the Flaker unit installed, it must be removed before you can hook up a gooseneck. "We've conducted a worldwide patent search without finding anything similar. It works great and we think it will revolutionize the feeding of square bales to livestock. The big advantage is the simplicity - it can be operated by anyone - man, woman or older child." Sells for $1,200 to $2,000, depending on the size of model needed. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Todd Whatley, Bale Buddy Mfg., Inc., P.O. Box 233, Hennepin, Okla. 73444 (ph 580 856-3637).

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