Conveyor Loads Silage Into Bale Feeders

Conveyor Loads Silage into Bale Feeders LIVESTOCK Feeding Equipment 13-3-6 "I built this 8-ft. long extension conveyor on my forage wagon to unload corn silage into round bale feeders when pastures `peeter out' in late summer. It saves a lot of forking," says Gabriel Verleun, Montague, Prince Edward Island, Canada. Verleun used plywood to build the bottom and sides of the 2-ft. wide conveyor, which he added to his front-unload forage box two years ago. He used the floor chain from an old manure spreader and bolted on 2-ft. long angle irons to serve as chain crossbars. The chain revolves around two pulleys, one on bottom and one on top. The bottom pulley came from the old manure spreader and the top pulley from an old hay loader. Verleun added a separate sprocket and chain to drive the extender conveyor's floor chain. He raises and lowers the unit with a block and tackle attached to the side of the wagon. The conveyor folds up flat against the wagon for transport. "We grow six acres of corn for silage which we feed fresh from the field for two months, unloading it into our three round bale feeders," says Verleun. "Before I built the extension conveyor, I unloaded silage by hand from a hay wagon into the round bale feeders. One drawback is that the extension conveyor adds about 30 in. to the wagon's width, but the savings in labor more than make up for this inconvenience." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Gabriel Verleun, RR 3, Montague, Prince Edward Island, Canada COA IRO (ph 902 838-4658).

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