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Easy Way To Make Your Own Paper Bedding
Turning newspapers into bedding doesn't require an expensive new machine. Pennsylvania farmer Allen Leinbach simply reworked an old Fox chopper so that it blows paper directly into a Deere baler for baling.
"Newspaper makes outstanding bedding material because it's more absorbent than straw and other materials.
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Easy way to make your own paper bedding HAY & FORAGE HARVESTING Forage Harvesters 15-4-29 Turning newspapers into bedding doesn't require an expensive new machine. Pennsylvania farmer Allen Leinbach simply reworked an old Fox chopper so that it blows paper directly into a Deere baler for baling.
"Newspaper makes outstanding bedding material because it's more absorbent than straw and other materials. Keeps animals much cleaner. It's also much easier to handle because it dissolves into the moisture, unlike straw. It works a lot like wood shavings but there's no dust and it's much cheaper," says Leinbach, who gets most of his paper free or for a minimal charge from local paper recyclers.
To make his paper chopper, Leinbach removed the head and discharge chute from an old pto-driven Fox chopper and built a wooden shelf over the feed apron. The shelf protects the chains and gives him a place to set bundles of papers as he feeds them into the machine. Then he loosened the hold-down bands on the blower in order to rotate the spout downward so it would blow paper out the side rather than straight up. No modifications are made to the knives.
Leinbach either blows chopped paper directly into pens or he puts a long straight pipe on the end of the blower pipe to blow paper directly onto his baler pickup. He makes no changes to the baler for paper other than shortening up the bales.
In operation, he stacks up bundles of paper on the wood platform and feeds them in by hand. He notes that it's important not to feed in too large a bundle because it could ruin the pto clutch or the harvester. Knife wear is minimal with paper, although they should be kept sharp.
Leinbach says the chopper chews bales into both small and large pieces. "Some people don't like having the bigger pieces in there but I've found that they work fine. I've used papers for bedding for 2 years and now that's all I use in calf hutches, box pens, heifer pens, and cow stalls. Calves and cows stay much cleaner with paper. It's the best bedding you can find."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Allen H. Leinbach, Rt. 2, Box 351, Myerstown, Penn. 17067 (ph 717 949-3847).
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