Hotflashjr
Well-known Member
- Location
- Western MA
Next year we are looking at raising 500 meat birds and 15 pigs. We currently buy our grain from a local farmer in 1000lb tote bags which works fine for us. Put the bags on a pallet, pick them off the trailer with the forks, move them around in the shed with the pallet jack... However I can still get feed cheaper if I buy a bigger quantity at once and would save time with not running half an hour each way to get feed a few times a year plus time spent moving the totes. I really only have room to store two totes at a time inside. A friend recently offered me a free 3 ton Chore Time feed bin complete with bottom auger and electric motor that is in great shape.
My questions are how easy is it to move one of these? It looks like I can take it apart into the stand and rings. Yes I bet it is easier to move it whole but I don't believe there would be a loader tractor at the location I am picking it up at where I could use that to tip it onto my trailer.
Now onto the pad. Looking around online I could find some spec's but not a good set of plans for a cement pad to put this thing on. I am in New England so we get freeze and thaw in the ground. I am thinking I will need to have more than just a pad on the ground and have some footings as well. Has anyone ever put down a pad for one of these that has some plans they could share?
For folks that have these, how do you move the feed to your animals? For now we use forks on the tractor and move the whole tote and scoop out of the tote into the feeders. I think I would need to still basically do the same thing with this bin but make up a wood box or find some sort of a tub and still move the feed to the animals with the truck or tractor from the bin. We pasture raise the animals so I cannot put the bin right next to the animals and vice versa.
I hate to pass up a free bin, but the system I have now is not terrible and works. I am looking to cut down on time spent dealing with feed and the bin seems like it will offer that in some aspects as well as the ability to buy feed a few cents a lb. cheaper. I am totally open to someone telling me this project will not net me those results if that has been your experience.
Thanks in advance for any help.
My questions are how easy is it to move one of these? It looks like I can take it apart into the stand and rings. Yes I bet it is easier to move it whole but I don't believe there would be a loader tractor at the location I am picking it up at where I could use that to tip it onto my trailer.
Now onto the pad. Looking around online I could find some spec's but not a good set of plans for a cement pad to put this thing on. I am in New England so we get freeze and thaw in the ground. I am thinking I will need to have more than just a pad on the ground and have some footings as well. Has anyone ever put down a pad for one of these that has some plans they could share?
For folks that have these, how do you move the feed to your animals? For now we use forks on the tractor and move the whole tote and scoop out of the tote into the feeders. I think I would need to still basically do the same thing with this bin but make up a wood box or find some sort of a tub and still move the feed to the animals with the truck or tractor from the bin. We pasture raise the animals so I cannot put the bin right next to the animals and vice versa.
I hate to pass up a free bin, but the system I have now is not terrible and works. I am looking to cut down on time spent dealing with feed and the bin seems like it will offer that in some aspects as well as the ability to buy feed a few cents a lb. cheaper. I am totally open to someone telling me this project will not net me those results if that has been your experience.
Thanks in advance for any help.