Six steps to getting your diet feeder in shape for winter feeeding

Regular maintenance is required for diet feeders

Check that all lights are clean and fully functional. Replace bulbs or entire lights as necessary. Many road accidents happen during winter as diet feeders with broken indicator and brake lights are brought between farms.

Ensure the display screen is kept clean. The display screen is linked to the four weigh cells on the machine. The accuracy of these cells can be verified by hanging a weight of greater than 5kg from the rear ladder. If the cells are returning bogus figures, check all electrical connections first. Look out for a faulty or dirty plug or connector.

October 28 2017 4:00 PM

Diet feeders require regular maintenance and now is a good time to do some pre-season checks before things get busy over the winter feeding period.

This week I give some pointers as to where to start, and the machine featured here is a Redrock 20 cubic metre capacity feeder that has a power requirement of around 90hp.

It is typical of many paddle type feeders in Ireland and so a lot of the tips will apply for other popular makes as well, such as Keenan and Hi-Spec.

As always, a special word on safety; before carrying out any checks or work on your machine, ensure it is parked on a hard, level surface.