Feed Mixer On Wheels

Feed mixer on wheels LIVESTOCK Feeding Equipment 12-6-35 It takes Wisconsin dairy farmer Dave Loucks just 3 hrs. daily to feed 250 head of cattle mixing up eight different rations to feed to four separate groups of cows and four groups of heifers. Loucks achieved his highly-efficient feed output by putting wheels under his 100-bu. TMR Knight feed mixer. "We eliminated all but one short conveyor in the silo room. The barn is set up for drive-through feeding so we just drive from one silo to another, loading up on forage and grain, mixing onthe-go and then unloading to each of the separate groups of animals," he says. The self-propelled mixer's wheelbase is short to improve mobility through the short turns between the barn, silo room and bunker silo. Loucks first mounted the mixer on two heavy I-beams. The beams extend 3-ft in front of the mixer where a Chevrolet Chevette engine and front axle mount. The rear axle from a military jeep is used for the back axle. A short pto shaft off the front motor connects to a hydraulic pump that drives two hydraulic motors. One motor provides power to the rear axle differential via a chain and sprocket assembly and the other operates the feed mixer through an 8:1 gear reduction gearbox. Most of the controls, pumps and motors used on the machine were salvaged from an old feed delivery truck. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Dave Loucks, Rt. 1, Abbotsford, Wis. 54405 (ph 715 223-3583).

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