Farm Trader Editorial - SL-350

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Hustler SL350 Bale feeder

Feedout

and

feed up

The Hustler SL350 bale feeder is making headway on a North Canterbury farm, helping increase production with its robustness and reliability Words and images by Ian Harwood

Todd McBreen, the happy owner

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Hustler SL350 Bale feeder

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The forks. The right-hand tine is longer to make lining up the feeder easier.

H

ave you ever wondered when going through the McDonald’s experience just where the different ingredients of your Big Mac come from? Or have you left that to the bravest of us to contemplate? Well don’t be afraid – it’s not all bad news, as I found out when I met up with Omihi (North Canterbury) farmer Todd McBreen to see the latest model Hustler SL350 in action.

He bought the first Hustler SL350 sold by Amberley dealer North Canterbury Equipment, and after three seasons and about 2000 bales is well pleased with his purchase.

Feeding about 700 bales through the winter to 600 bulls that will end up in your Big Mac on steepish wet country is a test for any feeder and with three winters behind it, the only part required for the 2010 winter is a new latch.

Hustler already had several years under its belt with the chainless 2000 and 4000

Feeding about 700 bales through the winter to 600 bulls...on steepish wet country is a test for any feeder

square and round bale feeders but found that not all of its customers wanted to feed square bales and it couldn’t compete on price with some of the other manufacturers of round bale feeders.

After feedback from both farmers and dealers on the faults and problems with some of the cheaper feeders, the company set about building a robust basic feeder at a reasonable price and if McBreen’s experience is anything to go by, Hustler has achieved that.

Hustler equipment

Most of us will have had exposure to the Hustler product in some way, either by way of its bale feeders or maybe its wrapped bale grabs, but there is a lot more to it than these two products.

The company had its beginnings 47 years ago manufacturing forklifts and sprayers for orchards and market gardens in the Hastings area, and today manufactures a range of bale

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Hustler SL350 Bale feeder

handling and feeding equipment as well as forklifts and hydraulic rams. It has recently bought out a manufacturer of hydraulic rams and the newly released Spraysmart range of sprayers imported direct from South America.

Nowadays Hustler is owned and run by the founders’ sons and exports its products to five countries around the world.

Owner feedback

McBreen has taken production up several notches on his 375ha hill country farm.

Traditionally a sheep and beef farm running to the dry summers in the area, both production and profit were pretty average but by changing his stocking policy he now runs 1200 kelso ewes and finishes around 2000 lambs and 600 bulls on contract to Canterbury Meat Packers.

With a mix of pasture management, baleage from his lease block and the Hustler SL350, he is able to supply the bulls to the contracted weight in the spring so they can be part of your Big Mac. A breakdown on his previous bale feeder bought about the purchase of the SL350.

Having put up with breakdowns that started in its first season and with 600 hungry bulls to feed, McBreen was looking for a simple robust reliable feeder and decided to give the then newly released Hustler SL350 a run.

Three feedout seasons on, he is pleased he made the change as the feeder has been very reliable, an important feature for this one-man operation.

He says that during the winter it is a frontline machine and if he has a breakdown it means he is behind on both feeding out and shifting breaks. Knowing he has a reliable feeder makes the job so much easier, and of

Latch and 1� hardened drive dogs

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The greasable bearings on floor shafts

Hustler SL350 Bale feeder

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says… ple, For those wanting a sim eder robust and reliable fe for round bales, the the SL350 would tick all It boxes for most people. ll has certainly been we er ov tested on this farm the last three winters e and with the latch th o only part worn out, wh would complain?

The 12,000lb roller chain and bolt-on floor bars

course when he has happy, well fed bulls they can get on with their job of stacking on the beef.

Key features

Having some experience of the bale feeder job and the different brands available, the first thing that strikes me about the SL350 and its bigger sibling, the two-bale SL700, is the massive floor chain. This 12,000-pound rated chain is the biggest roller chain on any New Zealand-built feeder and the bolt-on feed bars should make it the strongest floor chain in the market.

The chains are at the outside of the feed bars, unlike McBreen’s old feeder, which had

lighter chain and used to bend the feed bars at the end as the chains were set in from

You’ll like…

• Massive floor chain, bolt-on feed bars • Two-year warranty

You won’t…

• Feet design

each end and allowed baleage to jam under the end of the bars.

The massive floor chain should last for the life of the feeder – it runs very smoothly on the big rollers and the bolt-on feed bars mean that if you bend a bar it can be replaced without removing the chain, unlike welded bars, which often break the chain when they bend.

Another feature that sets the SL350 apart from McBreen’s old feeder is the latch that holds the feeder onto the forks. Set high up the fork frame, incorporated into the hydraulic motor mount, it takes the load off the tip of the forks, eliminating the cracked fork frame or broken tines that some other models suffer from. While not original to Hustler, the design is simple and well proven.

This style of latch also means that the 1” hardened drive dogs are properly meshed at all times and McBreen’s three-year old feeder shows very little wear in this area.

The feeder will take a 5’ wide bale for those of you with old balers that do the size.

While a more common size in Australia, this is not a commonly available feature today.

A slight downside of this design is that the hydraulic motor drives direct into the feeder drive shaft unlike some other brands.

However, because of its upgraded powerful 400cc motor, being direct drive is generally no problem.

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Hustler SL350 Bale feeder

Loading the feeder the way 90 percent of linkage feeders get loaded

that have the right-hand tine longer to make lining up the feeder easier.

Additional features available are bolt-on bars that allow a square to be fed, although patience is required, and a trough feeder model with a fold-up extension.

Also on the forks is a rub rail, which in conjunction with the back rail on the feeder, keeps the bale on the floor chain – an important feature on the steep country McBreen feedsout on. n

Specifications Bale size Tare weight Hyds required

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4’x4’ to 6’x5’ 460kg 1x DA remotes

as they are shaped like a skid and the feeder would slide easily if you were not lined up properly when backing the forks into the feeder.

Other features of note are a bolt-in polyethylene floor to avoid rusting and forks

Impressed?

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