"Flake Feeder" Makes Range Feeding A One-Person Job

"Flake Feeder" Makes Range Feeding A One-Person Job LIVESTOCK Feeding Equipment 32-1-17 Feeding hay to range cattle is typically a two-person job - one person driving tractor and the other pitching off hay. The Fodder-Flaker-Feeder (FFF) bale feeder lets one person feed hay without getting out of the tractor cab, except to remove bale strings. Most other bale feeders chop hay into feed bunks. Denzil Robbins of Baker City, Oregon, designed his feeder to flake off the hay to keep seeds and leaves intact. It will feed any large size square bale up to 2,000 lbs. Up to nine bales, with strings on the side, are loaded on the conveyor bed, which tilts up to the front to self load the bales. All but a couple of strings are removed. The remaining strings are taken off after the bale moves in front of the hydraulic-driven pressure plate, which pushes the bale through large rotors that peel off sections of hay. "The rotors aren't power-driven in any way," Robbins says. "The bale turns the rotors." As an experienced service technician, Robbins believes in keeping things simple. The operator uses a remote lever in the cab to control how fast the pressure plate moves. Feeding doesn't need to be slow, Robbins notes. An entire bale can be fed out in 30 seconds. One large cattle herd owner purchased two FFF feeders to feed 40 large bales a day per machine. He saves money in labor and workers compensation claims, because instead of two men per feeder, one man can safely feed bales. Robbins was inspired to create his feeder after hearing horror stories about injured operators trying to do a two-person job solo, by running back and forth between the tractor moving in low gear and the feed trailer. Besides human injuries, calves occasionally get run over because of a driverless moving tractor. Robbins introduced his first prototype in March 2007, sold it, made a few modifications and partnered with Bootsma LLC in Baker City to manufacture the bale feeders. "The response has been great. There's nothing out there that does what we do," Robbins says. "We're half the cost of a processor." Prices start at $5,500 for the 5 by 11-ft feeder attachment, which customers can put on their own trailers, to $18,000 for a new feeder on a new 24-ft bed with a tandem axle. Besides being used for feeding hay, the trailers can be used to transport hay when it is baled. "Anybody who's run one, says it's worked exactly the way we said it would work," Robbins says. He's also accomplished his goal of keeping it simple. A veterinarian purchased an FFF bale feeder, then had to be out of town. His wife fed the cattle with the feeder without any problems. To see how it works, check out the video on Robbins' website. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Denzil Robbins, 3850 10th St., Baker City, Ore. 97814 (ph 800 743-5924; robbins farmeq @bakervalley.net; www.ironweb.com/robbins/).

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