round bale unrollers

In my area if we use hay rings cows will eat far more than what they need to stay in good condition. We don't need to feed the poundage per head as say folks in Iowa. So what I do is weigh a couple of bales and get an idea of weight per roll for that crop of hay and then feed poundage to what the cows need weather wise in this area. Colder= feed more.

I've seen folks post in northern areas about feeding 45-50 pounds of hay per head per day. We can get by on far less than that by unrolling. Feeding in hay rings gives little control. So we save more hay by feeding what's needed than what the cow will eat.

My unroller is 3 pt. mount and the hay spear sticks out the rear just like a normal hay spear does except it rotates. I use a hydraulic motor and can unroll the bale either direction. So I don't have to turn rolls around. Just spear in the center remove the twine and start unrolling.

In muddy conditions I spin the hay right up against the fence line. I've had to do that a few times in the last 20 years. Also a couple of years I had to move to another lot because of mud. But not often. Once I saw what needed to be done for wet spells I crossed fence my winter feeding area. It's about 9 acres total. I have it fenced in 5 lots and just have to open up a new area as it gets to wet. So in drier times I feed in one place and keep the cows off those other lots for those wet times. I have well water that's central to those 5 lots. Also seed those in annual rye grass each Sept. The rye grass roots help hold the soil together when it's wet. I again seed it in red river crabgrass in late May.

I'm in Va. also and can understand other areas of the country have far worse winters than we do. So our winter climate permits us to feed different than say the nothern states. Where I live it's rolling hills, so water runs off in one direction or the other.

I save at least 1/3 on feeding hay by unrolling. All of my neighbors have gone to it except those that can't feed daily. They use bale feeder wagons or hay rings. As each of my neighbors started unrolling they all said it saved at least 1/3. Several are selling hay now that couldn't before.

I'm the only one I know of now that uses the slinger. My bales are not over 1,000 pounds and the slinger works great up to about 1,500 pounds if it's a 4' wide bale. I can't handle the 5'or 6' bales. But I could build another spinner to handle them. Just have to be built heavier and longer spear.

I can unroll slow or fast with the hydraulics. Can change speed of the tractor to put more or less hay down. I can sling hay out to the left or right of the tractor or drop it straight down. I never thought when I made the thing I'd still be running it today. It's just as good as the first time I used it. I also added flow controls to slow it down some. Before I put those on I tried it once to see how far it would throw the hay. Had no way to measure it exact but I had hay up in the tree limbs. LOL About 12-15 ft. up.

If you can stay out of sloppy mud and use one you'll never go back to hay rings. Won't take long to pay for itself in lost hay and the cost of hay rings.