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Cake Feeder Made Out Of Fertilizer Spreader
"I spent only $200 to make a cake feeder (for pelletized feed) out of an old dry fertilizer spreader but I feel it's very comparable to other feeders on the market," says Ben Busenbark, Winnett, Mont.
The only modifications he made to the spreader were to cut off the spreaders at the back, and the dividers inside
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Cake Feeder Made Out Of Fertilizer Spreader FERTILIZER APPLICATION Fertilizer Application (58f) 19-5-11 "I spent only $200 to make a cake feeder (for pelletized feed) out of an old dry fertilizer spreader but I feel it's very comparable to other feeders on the market," says Ben Busenbark, Winnett, Mont.
The only modifications he made to the spreader were to cut off the spreaders at the back, and the dividers inside the tank, and he added a chute on back for the feed to fall into so it wouldn't spread out as far as it did originally. He also turned the cross shaft to speed up the travel of the chain.
To keep track of how much feed is being .fed, he mounted a large triangular shaped piece of metal on a large chain-drive gear just above the wheel. It turns when the chain is unloading. He painted one side of the marker a bright orange to keep track of the revolutions when turning. By counting the revolutions, he was able to calibrate the feeder. One complete revolution equals 14 1/2 lbs. fed out.
Since the feeder is ground-driven, it doesn't require any external power and pulls easily with a pickup. "I've used it for two years with no problems. I load a ton of cake into it at a time. This spring I started 200 head of yearlings on 3/4-in. pellets and had virtually no lost feed be-cause I'm able to feed out even, precise amounts of feed. The feeder could easily be mounted in the back of a pickup but this way it doesn't tie up a vehicle.
"To operate, I stop with the painted side of the marker facing straight up, then I remove the tailgate on back and engage the drive system. Then I count the number of times the painted side of the marker comes around. When the right amount has been fed, I just stop, disengage, and reinstall the tailgate.
"I also made a loader to fill the feeder out of a small hopper off an old Case combine. It feeds out the bottom center. I put angle iron legs on the hopper so it'll stand on the ground, and put cables on top so it can be lifted up over the feeder with a loader. Then I just open a trap door on bottom of the hopper.
"One hint for anyone building one is to make sure the front of the feeder sits higher than the back so it will feed properly, and make the hitch long enough to allow for sharp turns "
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Ben Busenbark, HC 65, Box 1006, Winnett, Mont. 59087 (ph 406 429-6251).
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