Eddie,

Cost of the 2 bale version pictured is about the same as two standard circular feeders as I recall. All 2x2 steel tubing and nicely welded. Kelly is selling these through Runnings in some areas. His website is www.balefeeder.com. He has a dealer list on his website, I see.

I was watching again on Sunday as they were feeding and I am more impressed by the design than ever.

I think this would make a good engineering design class case study. Even something which seems as "simple" as a device to let cows eat hay has a lot of subtlety and thought in it.

As John in Ontario points out Kelly's feeder is higher than most and for good reason. The cows can not eat over the top of the 2" x 2" steel tube top bar unless you provide a step ladder.  There also is no cross member anywhere on the sides from top to bottom.to catch them. I see no way that the bale can come "crashing down" - as I said above the bale above is wider than the feeder bottom radius so as they eat the interior of the bale, the upper portion is intact and it just gradually comes down as they eat more .

As far as the 3 and 4 wt calves "climbing in" I guess that is a possibility. Personally I have some 500-550 lb spring calves which eat from it - they tend to clean up underneath what little the larger animals drop. I would think many different bale feeders would be a problem for 3 and 4 wts. My hope is to have them up to about 500 lb or more before getting the bale feeders out for the winter. 

Probably the best thing to do if anyone has questions would be to call Kelly at the link above. I'm sure he will share his experience.

My plan is to pull it about 20 ft every time I put two new bales in, the skids are designed so it can be easily moved with a chain even when full. He also makes a one bale version.

Dave ECIA sounds like you had a bad experience but I suspect Kelly's feeder is different from the one you may have had.

SWMN I just don't see a lot of waste from this feeder. What does fall under the feeder is not walked on or soiled so the calves eat it but really not much compared to the size of these large, tight bales.

Good things to think about and watch but so far I like this feeder much better than the round on the ground ones. Neighbor also bought one and has had good luck last season and this with many more bales cattle of various sizes (all over about 500 though). 

Thanks for the comments.

Jim at Dawn