CH4000 excellent at feeding out

Ken & Judy with their son Craig run a 1700ha farming partnership operation at Omihi, North Canterbury. The feedout equipment consists of two Hustler Chainless 4000’s and a Robertson Feedout wagon. Ken has had one of the CH4000’s since 2004 and they currently feed out 700-800 medium square bales. 150 of these are Lucerne and the balance is hay.

Close to 4000 bales have been fed through the oldest CH4000 with no issues and 900 through the newer one. “Some years we have put round bales through them too,” Ken reports. All the supplement is predominately made on the farm until a drought hits and then they have to buy in. 1500 tonnes of silage, mainly fed to the sheep, is also used. The Tomlinson’s have 7000 ewes, 500 cattle and the balance is finishing lambs. The total Stock units is 17000. “We run two New Holland tractors a T6090, 200HP and a TSA135. The T6090 is a bit of an overkill just for feeding out,” says Ken – but having the two tractors certainly makes life a lot easier.

Before purchasing the Hustlers “we fed most of the bales by hand”, however when considering a Balefeeder, “I liked the concept of no chains, ease of use and low maintenance. I think they make an excellent job at feeding out. I could drive at 20km and I’d have a great feedout line,” says Ken. He thought the optional string box was a very good idea too – keeps the string and net wrap out of the tractor cab. The machines were purchased through North Canterbury Equipment in Amberley which Ken says, “The team @ NCE are always very courteous. I’d happily buy another Hustler”.

Ken Tomlinson – Omihi North Canterbury