TMR mixers, quality of feed

[dfarms11]

I am looking into the idea of using a TMR mixer to blend off my different silages. Just wondering if it is really worth the cost. Has anyone here used them? Do they save a lot of feed? As of now I just grab so many buckets of silage a day for the cows and keep the manger full of straw. To me, they do waste a bit of straw, but that basically makes their bedding. As far as the silage goes, my cows lick every last bit up. How does everyonelse feed?

[dalek]

Are you going to mix grain or mineral as well? If you're just using silage and straw, it's not really worth it, you can mix just as well using a forage wagon, clean manure spreader or loader bucket up against a wall or something. TMR's only become useful when you have smaller quantities of feed like grains or minerals that need to be mixed in uniformly.

[sinotte]

hello!
i do have mixers and one of the man custom feeding calves for me bought one last year and he gained .40lbs a day
he was usind a silage wagon and was putting dry hay in feeders i mean roud bales and since he bought that mixer he gained enought weight to pay it off in a year
he custom feed 330 calves per lot and 2 lots a year
think it worth it what do you think ??

[sinotte]

A TMR auger mixer is always worth it. As the gentleman before said you'll gain 1/4 to 1/3 of a lb. when doing a good job of the alternative. The stomach becomes more efficient when averything comes in blended. But be careful about which mixer to buy. The ribbon mixers work very poorley in high roughage rations and not very well in high grain rations either. The verticle screw mixers are only capable of ripping up feed that you can't put in any other mixer. They however don't mix a real TMR blend very well when full. The other issue is that rarley do yo have a load of feed that requires a complete bale of what ever to balance the ration. The 4 - auger mixer has stood the test of time. However when looking at this unit you want to make sure the top and bottom augers are of the later vintige profile, about 4 inches apart. The other thing to look for is the drive line type. The easiest running boxes are the ones using a planetary gear box. Happy trails