Hay Feeder

[Vince_o]

My neighbor has been talking to me for a while about building him something to keep the hay togeather and off the ground when his horses eat round bails in the winter. So I came up with this. Sorry theres no up close pics, his kids took the pics for me. I did cope the corners as to a reply I read here some time back. Kept it with in an 1/8 of square! I was really surprised as I thought it would bend from the heat. I used 6011's to tack and run verts first. Then I ran over everything with the 7018's. I learned that there was a noticable differance in my heat range on the 2 rods, one thing many of you hear have posted and I have tried to follow your advise.

One question I have is the next one we build is going out in a field. What do you guys do to prep the steel to paint, mill scale. Or maybe I should be asking what do you guys do before priming it to paint.

[Vince_o]

I know this is simple for you guys but just starting out it was a nice project for me.

[speedfreak87]

Nice horses.


And the feeders isn't to bad either.

[PapaLion]

That came out real good, looks nice and plenty of room. Wil it always be under cover? You got wet stuff there... Maybe a tin cover if it goes to the field. I was told Don't Paint... it'll just wear off and the animals can eat rust but not always paint...

I made mine round, from an old JD rim so I could grab the center pole, lean the thing over, muck it out a bit or even roll it to a new location. My little 1700 Ford loader will pick it up too if needed. It's for goats. I was figuring to let the hay bales/flakes sit up top... but in a matter of a few minutes the hay is all down in the bottom anyway...

[MilitiaMetals]

very nice work, we usually sandblast it to take the mill scale off, you can use a sander or wire wheel but it takes longer and does not do as thorough job.

[Vince_o]

Papa

This one will be under the shed roof all the time. All the Mares are across the road in an open pasture.

[weldbead]

maybe trim off the sharp corners on the angles before some one cuts their leg?

[Vince_o]

Weldbead

The angle is well below the board angle also he ran out of lumber theres sposta be a pice running in front of that angle. So Im guessing he just wanted to get it in the shed to feed them. I took and ground and sanded the edges but they are horses, you cant tell them to be careful.

[trapperjohn]

Nice design and build. I'm sure the horses are happy.

[Stampeder]

Nice job. I like the design. What's the base dimension?
How heavy are your bales?
I'm wondering how much deflection you will get if you load it with an 1100 lb bale?
Did you put a leg in the center as well?

Glenn

[Bistineau]

Weldbead

The angle is well below the board angle also he ran out of lumber theres sposta be a pice running in front of that angle.

What's with the boards around the base piece? Maybe that's why he ran out of lumber so soon. They were supposed to be put somewheres else.


but they are horses, you cant tell them to be careful.

Sure you can tell them to be safe. It's just harder to get them to BE SAFE, no matter how many times you tell them. But you can tell them anyway, it's up to them to take your advice.
Part of my comment ended up in the quote part

[Vince_o]

Glenn

The angle is 2x2x1/4 No leg in the center as I realy didnt think it would need it, but theses that cross pice in there that the forks catch to move it. The bas is 5x5 and at the top its a little over 6 ft. I think he told me the bailes are 500 lbs? These are the biggest bails we get around here.

Its our first one so we will see where we need improvments for the next one. I know some type of roof for the next. Also hes talking about some type of gate to slow the eating prosses down. I dont think that one will hapen this winter, maybe next fall.

[scons]

I like the design of the feeder. It's comfortable for horses to eat.

As said by Weldbead, unsharpening the corners of the angles below is a good idea, or put some more wood in front of them so the horses can't hurt themselves. You can paint it to last longer if the steel parts are covered by wood. That way the horses can't eat paint. If not covered by wood just leave it unpainted. Ultimate protection of steel and save for any animal would be hot dipped galvanized I assume. But that's a budget issue. Keeping the assembly of the wood parts as simple as possible is also a thing to keep in mind. Horses will probably be cribbing on the wood so those upper parts will have some wear and tear over time.

I would also suggest to make sure the bottom part is strong enough to hold the weight of a horse, especially if there are weanlings or youngsters around. They can climb on things out of curiousity .

But as said, it is a good design !

[PapaLion]

My youngsters use the feeder as a king of the mountain play pen... they're smaller but they like to see what it'll take jumping up and in and then out again. That center pole could go all the way to the ground on yours. Good for support and you got an umbrella post maybe for weather and with the tractor you could easily grab on and lean the thing over to muck it out if needed. A clean feeder is a happy feeder

Yup, horses are closely related to beavers... least I've always figured as much. They draw flies and women, I got no need for either so I stick to goats. You want to have fun> ... some girl asks "do you have horses on your little ranch?" I answer "nope, but we do have Boer goats" They just wander off with an odd look on their face... "goats, huh? go figure" she mumbles. I'm waiting right now for a six pack of babies... should be fiun soon.

[cd19]

Your finished product looks nice but I have 2 suggestions, or 2 that are at the top of my list:

Use carriage bolts to hold the wood in instead of screws, particularly on the base where the board is the only thing keeping those legs from folding.

Get some kind of runners under those legs, that thing will sink in the field in no time and once those boards hit the ground they are going to start the rotting. This will also help with strength quit a bit. All you would really need is 2 angles with the ends bent up running from leg to leg longways and a cross members between the two where the leg meets the runner.


BTW I really don't see much point in welding a project like this doing the root/cover pass thing. If that was me I would have just ran it together with 1/8" 7018 single pass, maybe a bit more on the verticals depending... 6011 could do it all but the 7018 is going to look nicer = you look like a pro who can charge what you need.

[Dualie]

simple yet elegant

[PapaLion]

Making it a sled of sorts with runners would be nice, keep it up out of the dirt and be easier to move.... and something to grab on to to move it with the tractor.

"We" are wealth of good suggestions huh? It is a nice feeder. I sent my sister in Colorado a pic and she is bugging her foreman to make a couple for them. They have a few horses... like 50 , hers and boarders with an indoor arena & barn. I think she is what we call in Texas "touched".

[Vince_o]

Cd

The reason for the root and pass is cause I want to learn how to weld. So every chance I get to stick something togeather I do. Yea its over kill, but Im just a weekend welder and read the posts of what guys do here so if I have an opertunity to try something I do it. Still trying to weld in circles, I mean a pice of pipe!

Also the reason for the three inches of angle in the ground is so when they go to scratch thier itch on it they dont push it. We had thought about putting t on something but when you see how they rub the big stump I left in the field for them and push on the posts of the barn, we thought we would try this. Also this one is under cover, hardly ever gets wet undr there. Also this is the first one, so there always room for improvment Ill pass on the bolt thing to the owner.

The next one will have some type of sled on it. It will also have a roof cause it will be out in a 20 acer field. This way it can be moved from pasture to pastyure or lifted. The roof will cover the hay.

Tanks guys for the help. And my wife says I need lots of it, LOL!

The next one we build

[ToolBoxTavern]

Nice. I need to build us something for the cows.

[ItsAdam1]

nice very nice.. I think i might need to build something like this for my horses.