quantum500
Well-Known Member
Last edited:
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Hay grinding video
- Thread starter quantum500
- Start date
Eric
Senior Member
That's pretty neat. I can honestly say I've never seen anything like that before.
Deerehauler
Well-Known Member
I ran a unit similar to this for almost 5 years. In the middle of the video you will notice that the grinder was not pulling very hard and there was not much hay going out of the elevator belt. This was because there were two bales 'bridged' inside the tub. The bales could not fall down onto the hammer mill and get ground evenly. Just before the loader operator drops in the two big squares the grinder really pulls down. This was one of the two bales inside the tub finally falling down on the hammer mill. Alfalfa grinds fairly easily (usually), but if this was a cane or millet bale, it very well could have slugged the hammer mill and killed the engine. Then the fun begins of digging out the mill with a BIG prybar and LOTS of muscle. Luckily the tub tilts on these grinders so you don't have to dig down through partially ground hay bales to get to the mill.
I didn't grind a lot of big squares but if I was grinding two at a time, I tried to put them in the grinder end first, side by side. I could just about guarantee the bales would bridge if I laid them in the tub like they were near the end of the video.
Having said all of this, I do NOT miss this business at all. It was DIRTY. I could count the weeks on one hand that I did not have some sort of cold when I was grinding, and now I can cound the number of colds I have had since then on one hand.
I didn't grind a lot of big squares but if I was grinding two at a time, I tried to put them in the grinder end first, side by side. I could just about guarantee the bales would bridge if I laid them in the tub like they were near the end of the video.
Having said all of this, I do NOT miss this business at all. It was DIRTY. I could count the weeks on one hand that I did not have some sort of cold when I was grinding, and now I can cound the number of colds I have had since then on one hand.
quantum500
Well-Known Member
This one does not have a tilt tub. When we plug it there has never been any digging. Wide open dumping the clutch several times usually does the trick!
quantum500
Well-Known Member
Good question. Did you know that was the original application when the tub grinder was invented in 1948? If you will notice the white ford truck in the video is the feed truck. The feed gets loaded in including ground corn, silage, and ground hay. Try feeding hay by hand and you may get a better idea why this is the preferred way to method.
quantum500
Well-Known Member
So I have some ham fisted typos and I can't edit them!!??? Come on admin 60 minute limit on edits is not right. There has to be other alternatives.
95zIV
Senior Member
Yeah, you can get it right the first time or edit within a hour.
quantum500
Well-Known Member
Let me guess you're always right?
Deerehauler
Well-Known Member
Ground hay also allows the cow to eat more of the plant. With most feeds like alfalfa, the feed value or protein is in the leaves. Given the choice the cows would eat the top third of the alfalfa plant, where most of the leaves are, and leave the bottom two thirds. The stems of the hay also act to 'scour the rumen' which aids in digestion. By grinding the hay the tough stems are broken down in to chewable pieces for the cow and the good smelling sweet tasting leaves are combined with the stems so the cow is more inclined to eat all the feed.
Also, for trucking feeding hay any distance, grinding works better because you can get more bales worth of ground hay in a 53' walking floor van trailer than you can haul big round bales on a flatbed.
Another good point for grinding is that you can easily vary the ration. I had customers that would have a pile of ground alfalfa, a pile of ground wheat straw, and a pile of ground corn stover. Depending on the animal's feed needs, the ration could be varied quite a bit. Lots of farmers in our area are now using wet distillers grain, which is a byproduct of corn ethanol production. This is a high protein feed which can reduce the need for some alfalfa, allowing substitution for other cheaper roughage sources. Almost all the roughage ingredients need to be ground so that they can be properly mixed with a conventional feed wagon.
Plants like prairie hay, cane, millet, sourgum (we call it milo) can all be ground and have the same benefits when ground as alfalfa. In fact, with cane, the stems contain sugar which the cows like but they don't like chewing the tough outer stem to eat the core of the stem. A grinder breaks down the hard stem shell and the cow will eat much more of the cane than before.
Also, for trucking feeding hay any distance, grinding works better because you can get more bales worth of ground hay in a 53' walking floor van trailer than you can haul big round bales on a flatbed.
Another good point for grinding is that you can easily vary the ration. I had customers that would have a pile of ground alfalfa, a pile of ground wheat straw, and a pile of ground corn stover. Depending on the animal's feed needs, the ration could be varied quite a bit. Lots of farmers in our area are now using wet distillers grain, which is a byproduct of corn ethanol production. This is a high protein feed which can reduce the need for some alfalfa, allowing substitution for other cheaper roughage sources. Almost all the roughage ingredients need to be ground so that they can be properly mixed with a conventional feed wagon.
Plants like prairie hay, cane, millet, sourgum (we call it milo) can all be ground and have the same benefits when ground as alfalfa. In fact, with cane, the stems contain sugar which the cows like but they don't like chewing the tough outer stem to eat the core of the stem. A grinder breaks down the hard stem shell and the cow will eat much more of the cane than before.
quantum500
Well-Known Member
I just thinking about how cane would feed the other day. Can it be chopped and packed like silage?
Deerehauler
Well-Known Member
Yes we have guys that chop cane. Most of them swath the cane and let is set for a while (a day or so, I think???) and then use a pick-up head on the chopper and go from there. I think it packs fairly well. The hardest part is swathing the cane, although with a disc windrower this process is much faster. I don't know if cane would have the feed value that mature corn silage would.
We have lots of guys that are chopping triticale. They drill it under a pivot early in the spring and then chop it in the first part of July. Some guys let it grow back and get another cutting in late September, and then plant winter wheat. A couple of the dairies we have around here continuous crop triticale for silage.
We have lots of guys that are chopping triticale. They drill it under a pivot early in the spring and then chop it in the first part of July. Some guys let it grow back and get another cutting in late September, and then plant winter wheat. A couple of the dairies we have around here continuous crop triticale for silage.
stock
Senior Member
quantum500
Well-Known Member
A lot of feeders around here have mixer boxes also. It limits what you can feed on the roughage end and is overall a slow and expensive way to go. The grinder in the video is 500hp will grind around 50 tons of hay an hour. I can grind a couple hours a week for a thousand head. The mixer boxes gets the same thing accomplished but you do it every load it can ad up in a hurry. I don't remove the strings with the grinder. You would have to with a mixer box.