Bulk Feeder Plans

[roujesky]

I want to build a bulk feeder for my cattle. Of course there are several plans at state ag sites. For example, http://www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/abeng/plans/5378.pdf
shows a big one. I want to build one like that except, I am not what you would call "handy", or "coordinated", or "tool oriented". That's right, I am a programmer. [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img]
I am capable of building something like this, it's just that I need far more direction than given in those little one or two sheet pamphlets from the 1930's. I would prefer to build it with hardi-plank rather than ship laps. Can you buy that kind of material these days? Anyway, can anyone tell me where to get some detailed plans with directions?
thanks!

[roho627]

First off, I'm no expert when it comes to buildin nor cattle... I've fooled with some bulls in my time & find that cattle & horses are about as destructive of a domestic animal as YOU can get other than the human bean! Anyway my thoughts with hardi plank, etc is that it would be to briddle with the roughness of cattle... It's a wonderful product but it seems to me that 1 by 6 corral boards would be your best bet! Just my opinion! Let's see if we hear from some experts that's learned by success & failure!

[roujesky]

Ya know, you are probably right about the hardi-plank being too brittle. I hope someone chimes in with some easy to follow plans. I am willing to pay for the plans.

[Pat]

I bought used 50 gal plastic drums. I cut some into 1/3 lengthwise and others in half lengthwise. I use the halves mounted convex up for bases and the 1/3 mounted concave up on top of the base to hold feed. They are about 3 years old now and most have survived very well. I built them with wood connectors bolted on between the two pieces. Many of them failed (poor wood- heavy cows) but with angle iron uprights to connect the two pieces (bolted at the ends) they just last and last and last.

A friend made his from 12 inch diameter steel pipe cut in half lengthwise. Very sturdy, last a loooooong time but cost more and required welding. Mine are cheaper and should last just fine.

I "inherited" a manger/feeder from the previous owner of my quarter section. It has a couple steel 50 gal drums cut in half lengthwise in it. The drums are starting to rust out but should be easy to replace. I think the drums are probably 15-20 year veterans in cattle feeding.

Among many other things I have worked as a programmer analyst designing courseware authoring systems coded in Ada for DoD at a Navy lab. I don't see the connection between being a software weenie and being retarded using simple hand tools on simple projects.


Pat

[roujesky]

When I was in high school, I was helping my father with a little project that involved me hammering a few nails. After watching me miss and flinging the nails around, he gave me some advice. And I quote, "Boy, you best go to college 'cause you caint do nothing". It inspired me to get a masters [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Bird]

[img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img] Very good response. [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]

[farmergeorge]

How many cattle are you going to feed and what are you feeding them?

[roujesky]

Right now, I have 10. I would like to grow the herd to about 15. If I had a bulk feeder, I would feed them a range meal which contains salt or fish meal as a limiter. This would enable me to put out a ton at a time without them eating it all at once.

thanks

[Pat]

Although I don't personally subscribe to the "whistling in the dark" ego compensation often employed by the uneducated, I do agree that in general brand new graduates (sans real world experience) can often be worse than useless. People are often most dangerous when they don't know that they don't know.

I recall a conversation with my dad when I was probably in the 7th grade. He told me that no matter if I later got enough degrees to pile high on the table I would NEVER be as smart as I was RIGHT THEN at that moment.

Lord protect us from new second lieutenants, new naval ensigns (aka insects), and brand new engineers with no practical experience.

Specialists: In pursuit of a specialty you learn more and more about less and less until finally you know everything about nothing.

...while conversely...

Generalists: Strive to learn less and less about more and more until finally they know nothing about everything.

There is a broad mid ground where it is much better to be.

Until or unless gravity is repealed there are a multitude of potentially successful designs available to the DIY feed trough builder which are economical to build and should last a good long time. I find that you don't go too far wrong building stronger than you think is required because cattle do dumb things like step in the trough for no apparent reason.

Consider the smallest diameter feed you will dispense when putting drain holes in the trough. No holes will require you to dump rain water. Small holes will easily plug and require dumping or unplugging of the holes. Large holes may let small stuff fall through to the ]ground.

There are lots of other considerations too numerous to be listed and discussed here.

I was feeding pelletized corn gluten and soy hulls when I make my plastic troughs. I elected to NOT connect a bunch of then together and they were easy to tip to drain or pick up and move. Several of them have suffered problems with the wood I used to connect bases to tops but it is easy to redo with angle iron and that lasts decades even when not maintained.

Pat.

[Pat]

Bob, I was wondering what you got your masters in. Back in '86 I got a masters in software engineering. We were the first class in the program (modeled after the SEI recommendations from Carnegie Mellon) and the university had some pretty unrealistic lofty ideas as to the amount of STUFF they could cram into the curriculum. We started out with about 30 bodies and graduated 6. Pretty intense. That was at National University (headquarters campus in San Diego) with 28 campuses in California plus a few in other states and places like Lima. Peru and so forth. It is the third largest private university in California after Stanford and USC but few people even know it exists because it has no external sports programs, nada, zilch, nichts, not even intercollegiate tidily winks And not much of intramurals either. Later I taught evening classes as an adjunct prof. My students were seniors in the computer science curriculum. I taught software engineering and senior projects.

Sort of an interesting situation for a guy starting out as a physicist with a specialization in physical oceanography. Oh well, you know what THEY say... life is what happens while you are making other plans.

Now I run 25 adult Angus on 160 acres and never seem to have as large a calf crop as I want.

Oh... the comment I heard when someone was having difficulty hitting the nail on the head was, "boy, you are real lighting with that hammer, never strike twice in the same spot!"

Pat