It's Sunday morning and your doing the feeding. You know there is someplace you'd rather be if you could get this job done faster. Adversity may well be the mother of invention. At least that is the way it worked out for Steve Niewohner of Niewohner Brothers Feedlot in Elgin, Nebraska.

The first dump box for loading feed trucks started with that Sunday morning's idea and ended up, if one is good two is better! The construction or design is basically the same now as the first one produced but with improvements such as a plastic lining, all hinged points are replaceable, and so on, but the product is the same. The benefits have proved themselves. With a 30,000-head lot you can probably eliminate one feed truck and one driver according to Steve.

Some mills are set up to dump the flaked grain into a storage bin at ground level, while others elevate the grain to a storage bin to dump into the feed truck or a clamshell that dumps into the fed truck. Where the flaked, cracked, or high moisture corn and roughage are at ground level and a front-end loader is used to load the feed truck, the dump box can be a definite advantage.

A single dump box in use at Darr Feedlot in Cozad, Nebraska.

It is a matter of utilizing equipment and manpower to the fullest extent, which helps to make an operation efficient. This can be difficult if not impossible to achieve in a feedlot where so many different hats have to be worn, and of coarse size of the operation makes a great deal of difference. If the truck driver leaves the truck and gets on the front end loader to load the feed truck then gets back in the truck several things are taking place.

The feed truck isn't being used to feed cattle when the driver isn't in the cab. The front-end loader isn't being utilized when the operator is in the truck cab and not on the loader. From a labor standpoint one man can only do two jobs one at a time. So the time spent going from one job to the other is a waste of time and the equipment sitting idle is a loss. The solution from an efficiency standpoint is for the feed truck driver to drive the feed truck and feed cattle and for the front-end loader operator to stay on the loader and run it.

University researchers classify a difference of five percent as a significant difference. In this case the time lost in going from one job to the other and the down time of equipment would surely be a significant time loss. The under utilization of the two pieces of equipment would be a major loss or at best a low return on investment.

According to Steve, when the first dump box was put into use it immediately became apparent that two boxes would work better than one. With two, the front-end loader doesn't have to wait on the feed truck. When one box is full the loader can move to the second box and start loading it. The same is true of the feed truck -- there is always a full box to dump and no waiting on the loader. The feed truck pulls up to the dump box and within seconds is on its way to the feed bunks. Steve says two for sure work better than one, but it's hard to convince people until they actually see them in use. Also when feeding different rations two boxes work out better.

Two dump boxes as used at Niewohner Brothers Feedlot in Elgin, Nebraska. One box is dumping into the feed truck and the other is being loaded by the front-end loader.

The use of the dump box saves wear on the feed trucks. Steve said their mixing time was 11 minutes now it's down to three or four minutes that is about 1/3 of the wear on the feed trucks. "The less wear the longer they last and the less service you have. We figure the boxes will pay out in about a year."

The way they have it arranged at Niewohner Brothers Feedlot, everything comes together at the dump boxes. Cracked corn, high moisture corn, silage, supplements, dry hay, haylage, ground ear corn, whey, steep, liquid finish, molasses, and starter ration supplements. Liquid feeds and additives are all stored in tanks across from the dump boxes. Hoses go over to the feed trucks, and into the dump box holding tank. All the ingredients going into the feed trucks are added by weight and controlled from the front-end loader by remote control.

Liquids and additives go over the feed truck to the dump boxes holding tanks from there they are dumped directly into the mixer.

They are at 30,000 head now and Steve thinks they could feed 40,000 head with the present set-up. He said, "it doesn't look as impressive as a big mill but with the dump boxes we have been able to simplify our operation and our investment."

For more information contact Steve Niewohner at 402-843-5671 or www.feedingsystems.biz. ©