# Grinding Hay and Feed



## C & C Cattle and Hay

I watched a grinder tub looking thing grind round bales and mix feedstuffs together. Can someone explain advantages of these to me? I like the idea of this but I know nothing about it. I have 110 brood cows to feed during the winter and use feeder wagons, Is it possible to grind hay and feed and then load the feeder wagons. Also who makes the best grinders and what do these pieces of equipment cost?


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## Teslan

C & C Cattle and Hay said:


> I watched a grinder tub looking thing grind round bales and mix feedstuffs together. Can someone explain advantages of these to me? I like the idea of this but I know nothing about it. I have 110 brood cows to feed during the winter and use feeder wagons, Is it possible to grind hay and feed and then load the feeder wagons. Also who makes the best grinders and what do these pieces of equipment cost?


Hay Buster is one I see a lot of around here. I don't know to much about them though I assume they are quite pricey as many of the ones I see are on a semi trailer with their own engine. I'm pretty sure when they are available used there is a reason they are used.


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## C & C Cattle and Hay

I've noticed many behind tractors that's more the size I would need.


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## Teslan

C & C Cattle and Hay said:


> I've noticed many behind tractors that's more the size I would need.


Haybuster has all sorts of types. But still like anything these days a small fortune I'm sure.


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## C & C Cattle and Hay

Oh yeah no doubt


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## stack em up

Bought a used Farmhand 880b tub grinder on auction for $4800 last winter. Works great at sizing pieces but can't feed it super fast. Hay buster is the Cadillac of tub grinders. My Farmhand is like a Chevy.


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## Waterway64

I have fed ground hay for years than I care to remember. I have always hired a custom grinder. It reduces feed loss and allows me a way to blend different hays. Mel


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## Tim/South

I would like to have a tub grinder. I could mix the hay with the brewers grain and feed in troughs. The roughage would slow them down compared to the cows rushing to get only the good stuff.

New ones can be $40 K, well out of my price range.


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## stack em up

Any custom operators in your area Tim? Around here, they usually charge $120/hr but can grind a 5x6 round in under a minute. Well worth the money. Grind a few bales a week, dump it into the commodity shed then load the Roto-mix mixer. Add some syrup with the DDG's and hay so it all sticks together and that ends any sorting tthrey may try to do.


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## swmnhay

Another idea would be to get a bale shredder.Not as fast as a grinder but less costly.You would end up with some longer pieces also and have more sorting.

Like stack em up said a lot here hire it done.Have a big grinder come in and grind a ton a min.The one draw back there is you have a app you gring.Wind is blowing towards mammas yard and you end up with a layer of dust across her yard and on windows momma not happy.For that reason some guys own their own grinders to grind when they want,a calm day or wind in correct direction.

Most guys grinding are mixing stuff to cheapen up ration and make it more palatable with by products.Glutten,DDG's,Syrup,Beet pulp,etc.They blend in poorer hay cornstalks esp for cow rations.


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## Tim/South

No custom operators around here. The only tub grinders I have seen were on the dairies and one of them also did beef cows.


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## C & C Cattle and Hay

So there are grinders and mixers? Is there something where u put a roll in and then mix in feedstuffs? Or do u need two pieces of equipment?


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## stack em up

Most mixers don't size the particle fine enough on their own. A vertical mixer is basically a tub with a vertical screw in the center. They handle full bales, but actually don't chop it, more like beat it to death.

Jay-Lor and Patz are some of the most common vertical mixers.

There are 3 and 4 auger mixers, which are just that. Horizontal augers that turn opposite of each other to mix. DO NOT like hay that is not ground, and cannot grind.

Reel type mixers have a horizontal "reel" which turns opposite of two augers to mix feedstuffs. Can have a hay kit added, which is basically a retarder and knives added to the top auger to size hay. I have a Roto-Mix 354-12b with a Hay Maxx kit.

It depends on what you are trying to size, but if its just grass hay/legumes, the hay kit on a reel mixer will size to about 1" theoretical length of cut. Trying to chop cornstalks? Gonna need a tub grinder, which is basically a giant hammer mill that sizes material. Clear as mud?


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## C & C Cattle and Hay

Ok think I got it. This sounds like more than I would need. I thought it sounded good in theory.


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## mlappin

Keep sharp knives on the augers and a vertical TMR does a pretty good job of sizing it.

I paid 21.5K for a used Jaylor 3650 December of 2012.

Was limited on models that would work, wanted large enough for three bales at a time but had to be low enough to fit in the feed alley where I feed the cows in the summer when the pastures start to run short.

I process 2 hay bales and a cornstalk bale. I add several hundred pounds of maple syrup after I drop the first bale in to eliminate dust and leaf loss. Add the second bale, let process then add the cornstalks. Stalks take the longest, maybe another 10-15 minutes. Then I add a little more maple syrup, then fines from the grain cleaner. Using syrup now as the glycerin I was using sets up so stiff in the single digits it won't flow even with a air hose hooked to the top of the mini bulk.

Don't care for a grinder as they make a lot of dust and just pulverize the leaves which just float away after being turned into said dust.

The corn stalk bales are baled as wet as possible behind the combine then wrapped so they ferment. They aren't chopped at all before baling so you can also get some whole stalks sometimes but the vertical TMR chops em right down. There was nothing left in the feeders tonight when I fed. No traces of cornstalks or cobs.

Has cut waste to practically zero, I parked two feeders in the steer lot last summer, start to get a little muddy at one, use the other for awhile, never moved them and didn't have a foot or two of wasted feed by summers end like if I had been using round bale feeders.


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