Here’s a round bale feeder from Wessex that can be mounted to both tractors or telehandlers and lets you feed either side. The new Wessex BFX-180 has been designed to meet demand, say Wessex, and is ideal for the livestock farmer who needs a machine to feed out silage, hay, haylage or chopped material. In fact, this versatile machine reduces time and manual labour with a saving of up to 20% on feed bills by reducing wastage. What’s more, the BFX-180 is simple to use with three easy stages to prepare for feeding: spiking the bale and, with the wrap removed, lowering it onto the cradle and auto-engaging the headstock ready to lift and complete. There are no electrics involved, making maintenance easy, and the bale feeder comes with three-point linkage as standard. It’s ideally suited to use with smaller loaders for agile yard work and optional loader brackets are available.
Speed of operation is what this bale feeder is all about, with the convenience of feeding out from both sides complemented by another key feature: the detachable loading headstock with ‘Quiklatch’ system enables fast and easy reloading without the need to unplug hydraulics. The BFX-180 can handle round bales up to 6’ x 5’ (1.2m x 1.2m or 1.8m x 1.5m) with a weight up to 1000kg. You would, of course, expect a machine of this nature to be built to handle the toughest conditions and close inspection reveals a High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) feeder floor for zero corrosion and minimal material leakage. That’s ideal for crumbly or wet bales and the 5500kg load-rated roller chains and strong chain bars make it perfectly suited for use with heavy silage bales. There are only two grease points for low maintenance and high strength bolt-on bale spikes easily deal with tight bales.
Take a look at the options available with the new BFX-180 and there’s an even more convincing case for investing in this machine There are optional front and rear chamber plates to let you handle loose feed such as root crops without leakage. The optional offset tractor linkage allows you to drop the feed outside the width of the tractor, making it easier to feed close to walls or into troughs. There is also the option of offset loader brackets, which means you don’t drive over the feed. Whichever side you want to feed, whatever you’re feeding, with its 20% saving on feed bills the BFX-180 makes a strong argument for joining your feeding management. Now the technical bit, the unit weighs in at 525kg, hydraulics requirement is one double-acting spool, oil flow 12 litres per minute, CAT 2.
