“The RX2 is our latest series,” Hustler’s country manager for North America, Lance Paskewitz, says. “The actual concept itself has been around for over 30 years in multiple countries.

“Most of the new stuff is upgrades here and there that the market has been asking for, different innovations we’ve added into it, like the width of the machine to increase its capability with multiple-sized bales; also, the visibility with the redesign of the front fence, so you can see all the way through the machine. The access ladder has been improved so you can get in and out of the machine.”

READ MORE: Understanding farmers’ equipment needs

Overall, there are design changes throughout the machines, including new chain guides on the cross floor that improve tracking and reduce the risk of derailing. The pusher blade has been redesigned for simplicity, reduced weight and increased strength, among other improvements.

There are two models in the Combi RX2 line. Both use a pusher design to move product forward and across onto the discharge elevator. The company says this eliminates the need for gearboxes and the kinds of adjustments typical of other feed wagons. It also reduces maintenance requirements.

“In the North American market we’ve launched both the RX178, which is a tandem axle, and the tridem axle one is the RX218,” Paskewitz says.

“Both are very similar in how they operate. Any type of bale, round or square, wet or dry, big or small. It can feed any type of bale. You can also feed loose material in there as well.”

The wider cross floor gives the Combi Multi-Feeders the ability to handle larger bales. The 178 gets a 38,865-pound (14,000-kilogram) load capacity, while the 218 can handle up to a 37,478-lb. (17,000-kg) load.

“We have some people who load the whole front end with hay and in the back they’ll put their loose product,” Paskewitz adds. “They’ll just string out hay and spin back around and top dress with whatever supplemental feed they’re feeding as well.”

The all-hydraulic drive system can be controlled from a single joystick, so the machines can handle varying feed rates with just a single control input from the operator in the tractor cab.

READ MORE: Gentle hay handling does make a difference

“That cross floor actually has load-sensing capabilities so you can actually determine how much load is against the elevator,” Paskewitz says. “It can start and stop to adjust the flow of feed to get a good, consistent feed rate. You can adjust the tilt of the elevator and speed of the chains. So there’s a lot of variables in there.

“But it’s all been brought down to just a simple thumbstick control. So it’s all run with a joystick to make it simple but quite versatile and adjustable.”

Both machines can be equipped with the company’s app-based FeedLink scale system, which wirelessly connects to a smartphone or iPad, eliminating the need to have a fixed scale head mounted in the tractor cab.

The FeedLink system also has a geolocating function, which provides not only the amount fed but its exact location as well.

“The RX178 has been our most popular model,” Paskewitz says. “We see a lot of those going on a 140- or 150-horsepower tractor.”

The Combi RX2 Multi-feeder wagons are available from dealers now and come with a five-year front-to-back warranty.

Paskewitz says the base MSRP for the RX178 will be about C$100,000; the larger RX218 retails for about C$120,000.

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Karsin is one of the principals of Karsin Farms Simmentals at Newton, about 20 km southeast of Portage la Prairie, Man. He says they have been able to save at least one large round bale per head over the winter. The farm runs about 40 head of purebred red and black Simmentals.

“And when hay is in that $100 to $150 per bale range, that can add up,” says Jonathan, who farms with his parents David and Pauline.

The Karsins, who have been farming for about 15 years, first used round bale feeders. “The cattle would pull a lot of hay out of the feeder, then they would lay on it, and with manure on top a lot of it would be wasted,” says Karsin. 

“We liked the features of Hustler bale unroller and switched to it a few years ago. It is a much more efficient way to feed hay and is also very versatile.” They’ve used the bale processor to spread straw and for feeding corn silage.

Their Hustler LX105 single bale unroller mounts on the front of their Kubota track loader. It’s powered by hydraulics, so a high-horsepower tractor isn’t needed to operate it.

New Zealand imports

The chainless bale processor was first developed at Hustler Equipment headquarters in New Zealand about 30 years ago, says Lance Paskewitz, business development manager for Hustler North American operations, based in Minnesota. “But it began to trickle into North America about a dozen years ago.” 

He says the machines now have wide distribution across Canada and the U.S. as well as other parts of the world.

With a wide range of models and capacity — from single to double bale feeders and large-capacity units that can carry six to eight bales at once — Paskewitz says there are models that work well from the smallest to the largest feeding operation.

He says the relatively gentle handling of forage one of the key design features that appeals to many producers. 

“Producers work all summer to produce good-quality hay. Many are paying attention to proper timing and dew point levels to ensure that hay as much leafy green material as possible. And then if that hay is put through a flail-type bale processor, all that management effort may be lost as the chains knock the leaves off the stem.”

Paskewitz says the processor may be as close as possible to unrolling or “to using a pitch fork,” as its rollers pull the bale apart. 

“Once the bale is loaded into the machine, it rests up against two variable-speed rollers. For every turn the bottom roller makes, the top roller goes around three times. That top roller sort of fluffs the hay as it is dropped on the ground in a narrow windrow or into a feed bunk.”

That was the feature that really appealed to Karsin Farms — the bale is pulled apart and dropped in a narrow windrow. “With that narrow feed row the cattle are less likely to use it for bedding,” says Karsin. “And with more leaves on the hay they are getting greater feed value.”

Benefits

Karsin says he’s found several benefits: 

• They went from feeding more than eight bales per animal per year to about 7-7.1, an appreciable 12 per cent savings or more. 
• The cattle don’t trample or lay in the hay, as the windrow is not large enough to be appealing. 
• All the animals have easy access to the feed.
• The soil is not compacted, as you can choose to feed in a new place every day. 
• Manure is spread over alarge area.
• The fluffed hay is more palatable and easier to eat for the young calves and the older animals you’ve decided not to cull yet . 

“We all work off farm, but we are also all involved with the cattle and farming when we are home,” says Karsin. “One of the other nice features of the Hustler bale processor is that it is easy to use. My mom often has to look after the feeding if dad and I are both away at the same time. She is not necessarily a mechanical person, but it is very easy to load the hay and attach the processor to the track loader on her own.” 

Karsin says they have found the processor requires very little maintenance other than keeping it greased. 

Less waste

The value of more gentle handling of hay to protect feed value is supported by a University of Alberta research project conducted several years ago. It compared the winter feed waste of cows fed forage on snow using a three-point bale unroller versus a flail-type bale processor (these use knives or flails to crush and chop the hay). The results showed that waste was significantly higher with the flail-type bale processor (12.9 per cent versus 19.2 per cent with the flail-type processor). 

Also, 21.5 per cent of the total protein was found in the wasted feed delivered by the flail-type bale processor. To replace the lost protein, an additional 2.55 kg/5.61 lb of DM or 3.04 kg/6.69 lb of hay as fed per head per day is required, which increases feed costs by $0.60/h/d based on a hay cost of $0.09/lb. (Hay prices have been updated to reflect the current 2023 estimate).

In total, the use of a flail-type bale processor increased winter feeding costs by $4.05 per head for a 175-day feeding period compared to a bale unroller when including wastage, nutrient replacement and additional equipment costs (including feed delivery costs, time of travel to and from the feeding area, processing time and total equipment time to feed the animals). 

For instance, the study found that the total cost to operate the tractor and bale shredder machinery for 175 days was $15,973.24 or $91.27 per day or $0.91/h/d. The investment cost for flail-type bale processors is also more expensive than investing in an unroller or a processor such as the Hustler Chainless bale feeder. For more information on the Hustler Equipment line and their Canadian dealers, visit their website at: hustlerequipment.com/ca.

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