With reductions in straw use of as much as 30% compared with hand distribution – let alone the savings in time and effort involved – it is little wonder that bedding dispensers have become a popular addition to the dairy farm’s machine inventory.

In cubicle housing, producers using straw need a short chop to make significant material savings because long material is more easily dragged into the dung channel; a short chop is also essential where automatic scrapers and a pumped slurry system is used.

 See our comprehensive specification and price listing of bedding machinery.

WHITTINGHAMS

For small cubicle houses, Whittinghams Farm Supplies imports the sole hand-pushed or tractor-mounted small bale shredder available here, while Kidd Machinery and Teagle are the only manufacturers of big bale shredders providing a short-chop option on their machines.

KIDD

The Kidd 814, 806 and 807 distributed nationally by Halse of Honiton have a belt- or chain-driven horizontal tub with a processing unit at the base and are capable of handling a batch of small bales or a single round or big square bale of different sizes. There are low- and high-level discharge options to one or both sides.

TEAGLE

Teagle’s Tomahawk 404M and 405M round bale processors have a swinging flail mill and screen built in, while Dual Chop versions of the round or square bale models have a similar unit that can be disengaged when longer straw is required.

Where shavings, sand or processed paper are used, self-loading side delivery spreaders provide a welcome alternative to a barrow and shovel.

SHELBOURNE REYNOLDS

Shelbourne Reynolds has added two models to its Cubicle Bedder range: at 0.6cu m capacity and 1.6m wide, the CB100 is designed for use on smaller tractors, skid steer loaders and the like. It can also be used simply as a means of minimising weight when bedding cubicles with sand.

At the other end of the scale, the 2.25m wide CB300 of 2.22cu m capacity suits larger dairy units and makes use of the bigger tractors being used for stock duties.

Like the 1.2cu m mid-range CB150, the newcomers have hydraulic drive to a two-way cleated belt (so bedding can be dispensed to left or right) and via chain and sprocket reduction to an overhead agitator. Dispensing rate is adjusted by vertical hopper slides and belt speed.

GARNETT

Garnett Farms Engineering has gone bigger still with the near-12cu m capacity AG Dispenser Big D.

This trailed big brother to the tractor- or loader-mounted Mini to AG200 models is designed to bed up to 300 cubicles in 20 minutes from one hopper load. It dispenses from a hydraulically-driven central conveyor belt feeding a two-way cross belt located at either the front or rear of the machine.

For loose housing, the ideal approach is to leave the straw as long as possible to retain structure and absorbency but make it go farther by pulling apart densely packed square bale wafers and round bale cores.

PRIMEX/CHK

Here, there are two different approaches – machines like the PrimeX Baleshredder and CHK’s Spread-A-Bale simply tease and spread straw from the bale, the idea being to keep the material intact to produce what is claimed to be a supportive, long-lasting bed.

As such, these machines create little dust and debris – an important consideration, the manufacturers’ emphasise, when bedding yards with cattle present – and with no risk of stones peppering the roof or wall cladding with holes.

Both designs are used on the front of a tractor loader or more usually a telescopic handler to reach over gates and feed barriers.

The two PrimeX models are dedicated round and square bale machines that use gravity to feed the bales on to two large diameter horizontal teasing and spreading rotors.

The Spread-A-Bale has a hydraulically-driven bed conveyor and two vertical rotors that lift out of the way when picking up a bale. There are four versions to suit different sizes and combinations of big round and square bales.

TEAGLE

Teagle Machinery – whose Tomahawk machines are reckoned to account for almost half of all bale processor sales in the Britain – has expanded its range with the 1005 and 1050 models being launched at the Dairy Event and Livestock Show.

Coming in at the top end of the range, they have the same layout of Teagle’s current trailed models, but scaled up and with a more aggressive shredding drum and larger blower fan for more output.

The single rotor Tomahawk 1005 may suit dairy producers best because it will handle round bales of silage as well as straw and has been kept as narrow as possible; the higher-sided twin beater 1010 is limited to clamp silage and baled straw.

Both machines will convey a pair of 2.4m long, 1.2m x 1.2m section square bales or three 1.5m diameter round bales to the shredding mechanism using a set of heavier-duty bed chains and slats. The larger pto-driven discharge fan is reckoned to be the biggest available.

BOMFORD/TWOSE

Alamo Group companies Bomford Turner and Twose of Tiverton have joined the bedder feeder market with a single 3.5cu m capacity machine that can process a pair of 1.5m diameter round bales or a single full-size square bale.

Like other machines of this type, Bomford Sila-Bed/Twose TSF35 has a heavy-duty hydraulic tailgate used to scoop bales on board and act as a platform as the bales are processed by a single horizontal teasing/shredding rotor.

An eight-paddle blower dispenses the material through a 300° swivel chute that can also place fodder along a feed barrier by directing on to the sloping ‘toboggan’ slide.

Proportional in-cab controls can be swapped for a lower-cost cable control set-up if preferred.

KUHN

Kuhn has replaced the second biggest model in its range with the trailed Primor 3570, capable of processing a pair of 1.5m diameter round bales and dispensing straw from the turbine over a distance of up to 18m from a fixed or optional 300deg swivelling chute.

Like the 5.5cu m Primor 5570 model introduced last year, the 3570 is fitted with a hydraulically-operated regulator at the entrance to the processing rotor that can be adjusted according to the characteristics and quality of material being processed.

From the tractor pto, power is transmitted through a two-speed gearbox, then a shaft, from which a four-band power belt with hydraulic cylinder drive engagement drives the rotor while acting as an overload safety device.

See our comprehensive specification and price listing of bedding machinery.