# How can you chop hay yourself?



## Rachel1786 (Nov 14, 2010)

I buy my old guy the chopped hay from tractor supply, but at $15/bag and rising practically every time I buy it, I'm wondering if there is a way I can just chop my current hay somehow, that way I can just feed the chopped hay to the 3 of them since my fat appy seems to favor the chopped hay and always finds a way to steal it the matter what I do. My old guy has very few, if any teeth left and chopped up is the only way he can eat hay at all. 

Anyone got any ideas? My farrier was out yesterday and as a joke he said spread it out and run it over with the lawn mower, which actually might work, especially if we get a bag, I just worry about the hay getting contaminated by the mower. Anyone have any other ideas?


----------



## MHFoundation Quarters (Feb 23, 2011)

I chop my own for my old man. I put it in a metal drum and take the weedeater to it.


----------



## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

There is such a thing as a hay chopper you know.


----------



## robohog (Nov 24, 2011)

waresbear said:


> There is such a thing as a hay chopper you know.


(im my best english accent) Yes for the unbelievable price of $19.95!!!A nd if you act now, you will get 2 hay choppers for the price of one!!!


----------



## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

& a get cheese grater with it!


----------



## robohog (Nov 24, 2011)

The next ten caller get my free book ""hay" whats for lunch?" 101 fantastic hay recipes for your whole family to enjoy!!


----------



## Rachel1786 (Nov 14, 2010)

MHFoundation Quarters said:


> I chop my own for my old man. I put it in a metal drum and take the weedeater to it.


I think I just may have everything I need to do that, I'll have to ask if my moms friend can do that for me, I just don't trust myself trying to do that lol :lol:



waresbear said:


> There is such a thing as a hay chopper you know.


yes, but for 1,300+ I would rather just stick to buying the bagged stuff  the point was for saving money since our hay is only $4/bale vs $15/bag for about the same weight



robohog said:


> (im my best english accent) Yes for the unbelievable price of $19.95!!!A nd if you act now, you will get 2 hay choppers for the price of one!!!


ohh then I can chop 2 bales at once...



waresbear said:


> & a get cheese grater with it!


does that mean I can grate the hay as well! 



robohog said:


> The next ten caller get my free book ""hay" whats for lunch?" 101 fantastic hay recipes for your whole family to enjoy!!


AND A book too! I'm sold, where can I buy all this for this FABULOUS price :wink: Oh wait, but how much is shipping and handling, they ALWAYS get you on that


----------



## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

$1300????? It better be attached to a tractor for that price! I just remember seeing the neighbor guy chop hay for his cows when I was kid, it was hand crank one.


----------



## MHFoundation Quarters (Feb 23, 2011)

robohog said:


> The next ten caller get my free book ""hay" whats for lunch?" 101 fantastic hay recipes for your whole family to enjoy!!


I soak alfalfa cubes daily for mash and always tell my daughter that's her breakfast. I'll tell her I'm getting that book to spice it up for her :lol:


----------



## Rachel1786 (Nov 14, 2010)

waresbear said:


> $1300????? It better be attached to a tractor for that price! I just remember seeing the neighbor guy chop hay for his cows when I was kid, it was hand crank one.


I haven't seen any locally, but I did a google search and the ones I saw where all in that range, maybe I was looking at some kind of commercial hay chopper?


----------



## ls6firebird (Mar 8, 2012)

MHFoundation Quarters said:


> I chop my own for my old man. I put it in a metal drum and take the weedeater to it.


this just sounds fun!


----------



## robohog (Nov 24, 2011)

I would think you need a weedwacker with a V8 attached! i know for sure a Black and decker electric deal wont cut it!!


----------



## Rachel1786 (Nov 14, 2010)

robohog said:


> I would think you need a weedwacker with a V8 attached! i know for sure a Black and decker electric deal wont cut it!!


My boyfriend questioned if it would work when I presented the idea to him, but if you break the flakes up before you put them in the drum it would probably work fine. Then again, I've never even used a weekwacker, I'm too scared I'll somehow manage to get my leg lol plus when you have a man around to do it, why take the risk :lol:


----------



## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

Pretty much the only reason to have one of those "men" around....to operate dangerous equipment.


----------



## ls6firebird (Mar 8, 2012)

yea i think you would definately have to break it up. once its loose, a decent weedeater shouldnt have any trouble. ive gone thru a lot thicker than hay with them


----------



## MHFoundation Quarters (Feb 23, 2011)

ls6firebird said:


> this just sounds fun!


It is fun! Good for getting aggression out. 



robohog said:


> I would think you need a weedwacker with a V8 attached! i know for sure a Black and decker electric deal wont cut it!!


Nope, don't think the electric would cut it Rob. Ours is a troy bilt and that's as much as I know about it. My hubby picked it out, I just put gas in it and use it. 

The hay is also really leafy with fine stems so that helps too.


----------



## Left Hand Percherons (Feb 1, 2011)

If you know anyone with a chipper, those work great on hay. Even a little leaf shredder can handle the hay.


----------



## MHFoundation Quarters (Feb 23, 2011)

Left Hand Percherons said:


> If you know anyone with a chipper, those work great on hay. Even a little leaf shredder can handle the hay.


That's brilliant. I'm pretty sure my uncle has one...might have to make a phone call. That would be a lot quicker.


----------



## Rachel1786 (Nov 14, 2010)

waresbear said:


> Pretty much the only reason to have one of those "men" around....to operate dangerous equipment.


Seems thats pretty much all they're good for lol 


MHFoundation Quarters said:


> It is fun! Good for getting aggression out.
> 
> it sounds fun, but me and dangerous equipment don't always get along
> 
> ...


I think we have a crap one for home, but I'm pretty sure my mom has a good one at her house, and that's the horses are. I'll have to look for one tomorrow, they basically have every kind of tool or lawn equipment you could ever need


----------



## Lockwood (Nov 8, 2011)

Rachel1786 said:


> I buy my old guy the chopped hay from tractor supply, but at $15/bag and rising practically every time I buy it, I'm wondering if there is a way I can just chop my current hay somehow, that way I can just feed the chopped hay to the 3 of them since my fat appy seems to favor the chopped hay and always finds a way to steal it the matter what I do. My old guy has very few, if any teeth left and chopped up is the only way he can eat hay at all.
> 
> Anyone got any ideas? My farrier was out yesterday and as a joke he said spread it out and run it over with the lawn mower, which actually might work, especially if we get a bag, I just worry about the hay getting contaminated by the mower. Anyone have any other ideas?


My mom's horse had a stroke and had trouble eating (manuvering the hay, keeping the hay inside his mouth, and chewing as well) for a while and here is what she did...
She mowed her yard (untreated and safe grass types) then spread the clippings out onto the blacktop (cleaned) to dry. Once the clippings were well dried she raked them back up, bagged them, and put them up for using.

She would use a bagger attachment on the mower sometimes and empty it alot, or she would run over the clippings a few times then rake them up to spread on the blacktop to dry. 

She was lucky (?) to have a large yard and was able to bag enough clippings during the spring and summer to take him through until the next spring when she started all over again.
She did also supplement with appropriate feeds and soaked alfalfa cubes and while he had trouble chewing through all of this he still held his weight ok.
She was careful to use a clean mower and also clean out clumped up grassy gunk from under the mower after each use and it really worked great for her without any nasty mower issues . She also didn't let the grass grow too long between mows otherwise it was herder for him to eat the dried clippings.

Time consuming? Yes, but it saved her a lot of money and depending on the quality of hay she was able to get (for the other horses) it often ended up being more appealing to him as well as better.

I like the idea of the weed eater in the barrel too, but since I'm so short that would be really hard for me to accomplish. Not to mention it would mean I would actually have to touch the weed eater. And if I am touching the weed eater, that would mean afterwards I would actually have to wack weeds! :shock: :-x


----------



## Oakie (Nov 11, 2020)

Rachel1786 said:


> I buy my old guy the chopped hay from tractor supply, but at $15/bag and rising practically every time I buy it, I'm wondering if there is a way I can just chop my current hay somehow, that way I can just feed the chopped hay to the 3 of them since my fat appy seems to favor the chopped hay and always finds a way to steal it the matter what I do. My old guy has very few, if any teeth left and chopped up is the only way he can eat hay at all.
> 
> Anyone got any ideas? My farrier was out yesterday and as a joke he said spread it out and run it over with the lawn mower, which actually might work, especially if we get a bag, I just worry about the hay getting contaminated by the mower. Anyone have any other ideas?


We had to start chopping hay for our mare and we tried scissors which was very time consuming. We also tried a paper cutter. I knew there had to be a better way so I tried. I took my workmate out to the stable and a hedge trimmer, clamped the trimmer to the workmate and it works great. It takes about a half hour to fill a 30 gallon rope bucket.


----------



## Phantomcolt18 (Sep 25, 2007)

I wonder if a leaf shredder would work? Amazon has them for pretty decent prices.



https://www.amazon.com/Worx-Amp-Electric-Leaf-Mulcher/dp/B002MAPZYC/ref=asc_df_B002MAPZYC/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=167133658256&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=4074819580979656690&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9003918&hvtargid=pla-316285015395&psc=1



Edit to add: After reading the reviews, people like the FlowTron leaf shredder better and I think it is around 10-15 dollars more than this one.


----------



## Fuddyduddy1952 (Jun 26, 2019)

If you have a push mower this should work:
First mow an area about 30ft diameter (grass blown away from area). 
Make a cover for lawnmower deck opening. A scrap of aluminum or tin flashing. Cut, hammered over, drill holes, screw into deck with sheet metal screws.
Put hay in mowed area, slowly lower mower on it.
That should chew it up well without it blowing out mower. 
When finished rake it into bags.

Sent from my SM-S205DL using Tapatalk


----------



## beau159 (Oct 4, 2010)

Rachel1786 said:


> yes, but for 1,300+ I would rather just stick to buying the bagged stuff  the point was for saving money since our hay is only $4/bale vs $15/bag for about the same weight


$1300 seems far to cheap for what I know to be a hay chopper. Granted my parents have cattle so they chop a round bale in something like this:
I have no idea how much one costs but I know it's much more than $1300!

Maybe find a farmer/rancher around you that has decent-quality hay that would be willing to sell you some chopped hay? If you "buy in bulk", that might save you some money.


----------



## Ktbetz (Nov 28, 2020)

Lockwood said:


> My mom's horse had a stroke and had trouble eating (manuvering the hay, keeping the hay inside his mouth, and chewing as well) for a while and here is what she did...
> She mowed her yard (untreated and safe grass types) then spread the clippings out onto the blacktop (cleaned) to dry. Once the clippings were well dried she raked them back up, bagged them, and put them up for using.
> 
> She would use a bagger attachment on the mower sometimes and empty it alot, or she would run over the clippings a few times then rake them up to spread on the blacktop to dry.
> ...


I’m going to try this for my senior! Great idea. I’m using a leaf mulcher now and it’s not cutting it. Pun intended 🤣


----------



## loosie (Jun 19, 2008)

If you have a Whipper Snipper that'd be better, as there wouldn't be any exhaust fumes mixed with it. 

Otherwise there's always the old fashioned scythe or sickle or machete...


----------



## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

I bought a leaf shredder from Home Depot for about 200$. Works great. Harley gets chopped hay when it is a bit too coarse for his old teeth to grind down. I have had no problems with it, though you can only chop a bit of hay at a time, but I do a bunch and keep it in a garbage bag. When it's chopped, it compresses quite a bit so you can fit a lot in there. I don't seal it shut to avoid any humidity problems, and feed within a day or two, but it's totally doable.


----------



## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

This is a very old thread so it’s unlikely the OP is still looking for advice.
However there seems to be some interest in the topic so it can remain open


----------

