Flail Type vs Chainless Bale Processor
To all ranchers…
Are you fed up with running out of feed too early in the season?….Does your heart sink every time you see that fuel bill?…Are you tired of spending too much time trying to get those wretched frozen bales to feed out?…Have you just had enough of spending time and money spent on impractical maintenance?
Here’s how you could
- Save up to 548 Bales
- Save up to 629 Gallons of Diesel
- Save up to 73 Hours
- Stretch windrows 49 miles longer
- Save $980+ in Wearing Parts
Every year, by making just ONE change to your ranching method.
Running the numbers for the typical ranch, which previously feeds 1,000 bales per year these are the savings achieved. Feed savings vary depending on the type of feed (Grass Hay is used in this example). Dry Alfalfa by comparison from the studies, saves 106 bales for every 1,000 which is close to the value of a Chainless TH205 bale processor, meaning your savings in hay or feed costs alone could cover the cost of a new machine in just 1 year!
A Side-by-Side Comparison.
The Hustler Chainless vs Flail Type Processor.
Same bale types. Same weather conditions. Same operator. Same tractor. You get the drift.
The only difference? The Bale Processor.
So the experiment began…And we measured everything.
We’re talking Diesel Consumption. Hay Waste. Time. Nutrition Breakdown. Windrow Length.
All to find the solution to how you can save on your ranch.
Listen Up!
Understanding the difference: Flail Type vs Chainless
| Chainless | Flail Type |
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| ✔ Hay & balage is teased apart not pulverized preserving the nutritional value of the forage | Χ Feed is pulverized destroying nutrition and fines are often blown away in the wind. This green dust is the most valuable part of the bale |
| ✔ If a bale jams the platform can be lifted to eject bale completely elimination the chance of plugging | Χ Prone to plugging especially when trying to process balage bales with no way to eject a plugged bale |
| ✔ Lowest dust feeding = Cleaner healthier livestock | Χ Dust creates a Messy Environment & livestock respiratory issues and clogs tractor air filters |
| ✔ Hydraulic Drive, No PTO less maintenance and safer, less fuel consumption | Χ High horsepower required, PTO driven higher maintenance, harder to connect up |
| ✔ Longer windrows. Forage can be stretch over as long or short distance as the operator prefers giving cattle equal access to feed | Χ Windrow length is limited causing cattle to bunch, compete and trample on feed |
| ✔ Fewer wearing parts. Feed rotors last the lifetime of the feeder. Other than greasing the machine there is little to maintain | Χ Flails require frequent replacement, requiring costly parts and labor costs sometimes annually |
| ✔ Slow-moving 3:1 teasing rotors are gentle on feed dropping feed into a tight narrow windrow | Χ High-velocity flails turns stones into projectiles that can be lethal when feeding with livestock in the pens |
| ✔ Easily feeds any bale even wet balage without jamming | Χ Prone to plugging up when feeding, especially wetter forages |
| ✔ Simple hydraulic controls, with infinite control of feeding rows | Χ Have to run PTO and hydraulic controls and deal with shearbolts. Limited control of feed row |
| ✔ Total control self-loading system spears the bale, and accurately and gently places bales in the feed chamber. | Χ Bales tumble and bounce into feed chamber, with no guarantee it’ll land the correct way. This puts extra stress on the drawbar and drive mechanism |
| ✔ Bales are secure during transport on undulating terrain due to being speared instead of cradled | Χ Bales can bounce or roll off loading forks during transport |
| ✔ Feeds bales at an idle of the tractor | Χ Requires tractor to run between 1200-1500rpm |
| ✔ Processes all bales sizes and types. Tested and proven on over 110 different types of bale and forage | Χ Not all flail-type machines handle all bale sizes, shapes or forages. And requires adjustments to switch between bale types. |
| Χ Doesn’t spread staw. Owners found they could just back into a pen and unroll a bale then put 20 cattle in there and the cows would spread it out themselves. | ✔ Spreads straw up to 30′ for bedding |
| ✔ Rotors will to remove net wrap as bales are processed, but net wrap can be removed before feeding as bale is held securely above feed chamber. Twine ideally needs to be removed before processing | Χ Although it’s convenient to shred net wrap or twine, this causes additional maintenance when cultivating the pasture (destroys bearings on discs) and hassle burning off flail rotor. It’s also bad for the cattle |
| ✔ Almost silent operation, allow cattle to feed comfortably | Χ Noisy laboring machine tends to spook cattle |
| ✔ Proven by cattlemen to save up to 54.8% of your hay supplies | Χ Degrades feed quality of most feed types, especially highest value forages |
| ✔ 5 Year NO-BULL warranty backed by a 60 year family-owned business | Χ 1 Year from most manufacturers |
The 3 Most Common Advantages Leading Cattlemen Gained When Switching to Hustler’s Chainless Bale Processor
1. More Nutritional Intake For Your Cattle
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. Finally, 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.
Ranchers have continued to use the Hustler bale feeding system for DECADES. Have a browse through 15 more reasons why they made the switch…
So, would you want to…
- Save up to 548 Bales?
- Save up to 629 Gallons of Diesel?
- Save up to 73 Hours?
- Stretch windrows 49 miles longer?
- Save $980+ in Wearing Parts?
Every year?
