# Big Bale Buddy Feeder



## ilovemyPhillip (Apr 4, 2009)

That looks soo cool! I would be interesting in trying that, but I think it would be faulty in ways. Never used it so don't know.


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## PaintingMissy (Nov 9, 2009)

looks good the only problem I could see in it would be the horses tipping it or ripping the cover somehow.


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## snoggle (Jun 13, 2009)

We kinda figure that for the price its worth the risk. If it does get ripped after 6 months or something, we will have saved that much on hay since our girls seem to be wasting almost 1/2 of what we give them.


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

The barn 5 mins from me is using them. I know BO and she said they are really neat to use and save lots of hay from wasting. I never used one though.


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## luvs2ride1979 (Nov 9, 2007)

I have heard from other people that use them that they are really hard to get on, don't always it right (even if you buy the right size). With mine, they would tear it. You can buy a good metal round bale feeder made for horses for $300-375 new from Tractor Supply, and it will last a lot longer...

I bought a 32" tall plastic one from AGI in Texas. With shipping to Arkansas it was $238. I got the 6' wide one, but I may get the 7' for my next one. The horses are still getting hay on the ground when they eat. I figure the exta 1' will help most of it land back in the ring, for them to eat later, not step on and poop on, lol.


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

Here is another funny one: FDuplessis.ca
Large Plastic Covered Hay Feeder for Sale Large - Other Other for Sale in Spring City, Pennsylvania PA - FREE Ads


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## Fowl Play (Sep 22, 2009)

kitten_Val said:


> Here is another funny one: FDuplessis.ca
> Large Plastic Covered Hay Feeder for Sale Large - Other Other for Sale in Spring City, Pennsylvania PA - FREE Ads


That looks like a play house!


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## Production Acres (Aug 26, 2009)

On the feeder - I'll pass - would not want one if it was free! That looks like a quick way to back surgery or a hernia. I am not afraid of work, but that just looks stupid!

On rd bales - Round bales are heavy and are not designed to be handled by Hand! We used to deliver rd bales and have customers tell us "open the gate and roll it down in the pasture". 1000lb bales are designed for tractors, not pushing or rolling.

I understand about being poor and having to do things economically, but handling rd bales by hand is not smart!


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

Production Acres said:


> On rd bales - Round bales are heavy and are not designed to be handled by Hand! We used to deliver rd bales and have customers tell us "open the gate and roll it down in the pasture". 1000lb bales are designed for tractors, not pushing or rolling.
> 
> I understand about being poor and having to do things economically, but handling rd bales by hand is not smart!


That's a very valid point. I was looking to buy round bales as they are cheaper then squared bales when I moved horses to my place, and after looking in couple places found it to be completely unreasonable. It would be just impossible for me to move them around (even though the hay lady was telling me how great they roll  ).


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## luvs2ride1979 (Nov 9, 2007)

I roll and turn over round bales by hand all the time. Our weigh 700-800 lbs each and my DH and I have no problems handling them without mechanical assistance.

Now, if they were 1,000 lbs, I might balk. I know our are a lot harder to move if they get wet... I try to keep them tarped, but sometimes the wind blows part of the tarp back, exposing one or more to the rain. Those are not fun to move...

Round bales save us a lot of money and are SO much easier. I leave them out in the field, so I don't have to throw hay 2-3 times a day like we did with square bales. I don't stall my horses, except to eat their alfalfa pellets & vitamins, so I do not have to worry about putting hay in stalls. If I did, I'd probably use squares for the stalls, but rounds for the fields.


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## snoggle (Jun 13, 2009)

We don't have a problem getting the round bales into the paddock. We buy them one at a time and the guy we buy them from uses his tractor to put it on our utility trailor and we strap it down. When we get home we back it into the paddock, unhook the straps and let it come off as the truck and trailor pull away. No lifting, no problem. I figure we'll try putting the bag feeder on when we pick up the hay (and the guy has it on the spike thing) and transport it to our house with the bag on it, then proceed as usual. We couldn't manage one of the metal ones with the current method because we can't lift the feeder onto the bale or lift the bale into the feeder. We are filling our hay loft with some square bales as back up - in case we can't get over there to pick up a round bale with the trailor for a few days or something. 
I kinda don't think ours are the huge round bales you're talking about. Ours are like 4 1/2 or 5 feet wide and cost $25. They last our girls 2 weeks or so without the feeder. Round bales come a lot bigger, right?
Yeah, the plastic one does look like a playhouse. Kinda goofy.


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

luvs2ride1979 said:


> I roll and turn over round bales by hand all the time. Our weigh 700-800 lbs each and my DH and I have no problems handling them without mechanical assistance.


Luvs, I'm just speechless! I have issues even with the square bale of alfalfa (which is usually more heavy then square timothy bale).


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## SouthernTrails (Dec 19, 2008)

The theory of containing the hay is nice, but we have a 4 YO, a 6 YO and a very mischievous 15 YO, that would tear something like that to shreds in 24 hours :lol::lol: 

The Material they use is not as strong as what we use for a pool cover.

.


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## stacieandtheboys (Jan 6, 2009)

Wow I wanna live where you live that a round bale is $25! Ours around here are $70 for a 1000# bale of horse quality hay. We bought one for the horses last Wednesday...it is gone now. I can't afford $70 a week in hay so I will stick to my square bales.

Oh but when we do get one my husband and I just roll it off the trailer.There is a ramp so we usually have the hay guys load it towards the back.

Question do you unwrap your round bales before feeding. i always do. I am scared the horses will eat the net or baling twine.


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## snoggle (Jun 13, 2009)

Yeah, things are pretty cheap here, $25 for these round bales (which aren't the huge ones) or $2 for square bales (haven't bought any yet, I've just seen those prices advertised). I've heard of square bales as cheap as $1 per bale around here, but I those were kinda old and probably not the best quality.


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## stacieandtheboys (Jan 6, 2009)

OMG I am paying $6.50 for square in the barn! Guess that is what I get for living in West Texas lol


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## Vidaloco (Sep 14, 2007)

stacieandtheboys said:


> Wow I wanna live where you live that a round bale is $25! Ours around here are $70 for a 1000# bale of horse quality hay. We bought one for the horses last Wednesday...it is gone now. I can't afford $70 a week in hay so I will stick to my square bales.
> 
> Oh but when we do get one my husband and I just roll it off the trailer.There is a ramp so we usually have the hay guys load it towards the back.
> 
> *Question do you unwrap your round bales before feeding. i always do. I am scared the horses will eat the net or baling twine*.


Yes, I always take all the string off before the horses go near it. 
We have a single round bale hay dolly that we used before we got a tractor. If you can find one used, they are well worth the money. 
I think we paid around $350 for ours and we have transported bales 20-30 miles with it. 
I checked out the Big Bale Buddy feeders as well. I thought the horses would have it torn up in no time. Plus I was afraid of someone getting a leg caught in it when it got low. 
Heres a pic of a hay dolly. Its not mine cause I'm to lazy to walk out in the cold to take a photo of ours :lol:










Has anyone seen these? I thought they looked interesting http://www.ice-horse.com/hay.html


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## snoggle (Jun 13, 2009)

Hubby read a review online about the Big Bale Buddy and ordered it a few days ago. The review was positive so he decided to give it a try. I'll let you know what we think of it. If they tear it up within the first year the company will replace it. So, what the heck.

Yeah, if you want cheap living - SE Kentucky is the place for that! We paid $500/acre for our land. Of course we drive an hour to get groceries and there aren't a lot of jobs around unless you work in healthcare (we both do) or the coal mines. We probably couldn't afford to have horses where we used to live in Ohio, plus we have great places to ride here. I guess those are the perks of living in the middle of nowhere!


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## snoggle (Jun 13, 2009)

Oh, and we do take the twine off the bale first.


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## stacieandtheboys (Jan 6, 2009)

Hmmm well I finish up my BSN in May and my husband is leaving the Marine Corps to teach...we were gonna stay around here but maybe we should think about Kentucky!


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## sillybunny11486 (Oct 2, 2009)

Just thinking about this thing last nite before bed. That wouldnt work for me. My mare is alpha, she chases the horses away from her hay pile, so if she sees a horse eating the bale right infront of her she would chase them away. Id have one fat mare and two skinney horses lol. If the bale wasnt covered I double she'd really care if a horse was eating the other side of the bale. But with that thing she has to look at the other horses eating the top. She wouldnt go for that at all.


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## snoggle (Jun 13, 2009)

Well we got the big bale buddy today and so far we like it. The timing was great since we had to go pick up a new bale today anyway. We were able to put it on the bale while it was on the spike thingy - that made it pretty easy. The BBB wasn't too tight on the bale, maybe that's why they can be hard to put on sometimes. Little bonus - we didn't lose any hay on the 10 mile trip home since it was in the BBB. 

When we got it home we just rolled the bale off of the trailer and flipped it upright, no problem. Both hubby and I are on the small side, but it wasn't hard at all with 2 of us. 

Our girls started eating right out of the middle. They share really well. The material seems pretty durable, so hopefully it will hold up decently. I'll let you know how it goes.


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## Vidaloco (Sep 14, 2007)

Thanks for the update. Keep em coming


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## snoggle (Jun 13, 2009)

Okay, there was definitely less waste this week. It contained the hay really well and the material didn't get torn up. However, since we had a big (for here) snow, it kinda fell over. That worried me, but the horses still managed to eat just fine. Might not work too well in an area with a ton of snow, but it is made in Canada, so it might be fine. 

The only thing I don't understand is that they actually used up a bale faster than they did before. Maybe it made it easier to eat faster? The bale was gone after 9 days, without the bale buddy it usually lasts 10 or so. Not a big difference, but unexpected. We did remove the twine that holds the bale together this time (I thought we did before but I guess we didn't always remove all of it). I guess they didn't have to work so hard to get at the hay. I think our bale buddy is a little bigger than is ideal for our bale size - maybe it would hold the hay tighter if it were a little smaller. This probably contributed to the falling over too. Oh well, I'm still happy that there was less waste. 

We still have to get our back up square bales for our hay loft. Just can't count on having the time to run up the road to get a round bale every week or so.


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