Winter cattle feeding sorted in Wyoming with the Hustler Chainless TH205
Winter is back in Wyoming, and snow is now covering Mike and Erin’s ranch, the creators of the YouTube Channel ‘Our Wyoming Life‘.
For newcomers to our blog, you’d need to know that exactly three years ago in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lance Paskewitz – Hustler’s Business Development Manager for North America embarked on a special delivery journey to Gillette, Wyoming, where a trailed Chainless TX205 bale feeder/processor was eagerly awaited. Since then, Mike (and even Erin) has put this remarkable piece of equipment to the test, efficiently feeding his 175 beef cattle across their vast 5,000-acre land.
Earlier this year, Mike decided to trade in the tried-and-true TX205 for the newest addition to the Hustler lineup – the Chainless TH205 extreme-duty model. And today marks its inaugural use. The feeding season is officially underway!
In this video, Mike provides a comprehensive explanation of how he operates the machine, minimizing wastage to close to zero and ensuring equal access to feed for all his cows. Let’s dive into it!
Mike has sold his larger tractor, the John Deere 6420, and for the first time, his smaller tractor is tasked with feeding out the cows using the new Chainless TH205 extreme-duty model, which is slightly heavier than the previous version. Spoiler alert: it went like a breeze!
Hooking the Hustler Chainless TH205 to the tractor
The Hustler Chainless TH205 is easy to hook to the tractor, and being 100% hydraulically driven (no PTO), all it takes is remembering which hose goes where – as Mike reminds us in the video. Regular greasing is all it takes to maintain the machine throughout the season.
Loading the bales
The Hustler Chainless TH205 is a double bale processor, meaning that Mike can cart two bales at once, preventing unnecessary trips. In the video, Mike mentions that he could carry a bale or two on the front-end loader of his tractor, but it would become quite heavy for the capacity of his smaller tractor (Mike notes that each bale weighs 1,400 pounds).
The loading sequence is as straightforward as hooking the machine onto the tractor. Mike found that the method that works best for him is to align the two bales, spear one with the back-end loader integrated into the machine, drop it onto the cradle (the bale net/wrap can be removed above the cradle, allowing any loose hay to fall directly onto the feeder, unlike dropping on the ground), and spear the other bale for transport.
The whole process takes only a few minutes, and the load is fully secured on the machine, which comes in handy when the operator needs to drive on an open road between two blocks of land.
Feeding out to the cows
Mike is going to feed two bales per day on average during the winter period. The cows are well accustomed to the Hustler bale processor, but this is the first time this season they will get fed with the Hustler. Mike explains that what he likes with the Hustler feeder is that the hay comes out as it was just before it was baled, in a nice, fluffy, and long windrow.
With the Hustler feeder, Mike can choose to feed out precisely where he wants, away from the gate or the fence. It also allows him to feed out at different places every day to avoid trampling and compacting the soil.
When the soil is not frozen, Mike says he gets little waste, but when the ground is rock-frozen, the waste goes down to zero as the cows clean everything very well.
When Mike finishes feeding the cows, he drops the second bale onto the cradle and retracts the spear/tines to the transport position to avoid accidentally hurting the cows.
Feeding out to the heifers
Unlike the cows, the heifers have never been fed with the Hustler bale feeder/processor yet, but the heifers immediately picked up where the feed was coming from!
Mike explains that the benefit of feeding in a long windrow recreates a sort of virtual trough, and he notices that the cows are not going through it, which actually saves a lot of feed from being trampled.
Feeding the animals every day may seem a routine chore, but with each hay bale dropped and each cow fed, it echoes a commitment to excellence on the ranch. And the Hustler Chainless TH205 makes Mike’s life easier!
3 benefits to adopting ‘The Hustler Way’
Hustler Equipment’s Chainless bale feeders/processors are specially designed for cow-calf operations. The Chainless bale processing systems saves your time, bales, fuel, pasture and maintenance.
1. More Nutritional Intake For Your Cattle
With a Chainless bale feeder/processor, hay remains intact and is not destroyed. The bale feeder simply teases the bale apart with its unique low-speed 3:1 ratio rotors into a tidy windrow without chopping or grinding the bale.
This provides some key benefits that ranchers really appreciate:
- The leaves and/or grain, where a large proportion of the nutrition is found, are not smashed to powder and blown away as dust. The Hustler bale processor preserves the leaf and grain so your cattle can eat it.
- Any mold in a bale is separated from the hay without mixing it in, allowing cattle to eat fresh, clean hay.
- Ranchers are reporting up to 80% reductions in mineral supplement consumption, and up to 20% reductions in hay consumption for the same live weight gains, with the same bales!
2. Increased Versatility with Reduced Plugging
Whatever bale you have available you can rest assured that Hustler’s Chainless bale processing system will feed it out.
Leading ranchers are particularly impressed with the fact that Hustler bale processors process:
- all round bales, including 4 and 5 ft wide, up to 6 ft diameter
- all square bales even sizes up to 8 ft long.
- all wrapped high moisture balage (baled silage) bales – without ever plugging!
- all Hay & Straw bales of any forage type – proven with more than 110 different forage types.
- all frozen bales that have been stored outside over winter.
3. Simplicity & Reduced Downtime
Leading ranchers demand reliability, a key reason they love the simplicity of the Hustler bale processor.
A feeding system that is engineered and proven in the coldest of winter climates saving you downtime because of:
- No wearing parts to maintain, replace, or vibrate loose and hurt your cattle.
- Simple hydraulically driven design, with no PTO shaft and very few moving parts to keep adjusted, greased and maintained.
- Low speed rotors that allow the tractor to be operated at not much more than an idle, teasing bales apart quickly instead of chopping.
- Virtually no dust to clog air filters on your tractor, stick to your grease points or get in the eyes of your cattle.
- Ultra low power requirement allows the bale processing system to be powered with small tractors and even your pickup should it have a hydraulic supply, saving you gallons of fuel each day.
- Ranchers are reporting fuel savings of over 60% compared to their previous PTO powered hay processor.
Before you go, don’t forget to subscribe to ‘Our Wyoming Life‘ YouTube channel and give Mike a thumbs up.
Do you want to know more about Hustler product range? Contact us today, you’ll be glad you did!
