A new Hustler Combi RX148 multi-feeder wagon is saving time for Shane Moxey and GCS Partners
New South Wales farmer Shane Moxey recently invested in a Hustler Combi RX148 multi-feeder wagon for his mixed farming operation.
Not only does the machine save him time with less travel to the fields, but it is also a very safe one-man wagon, which was essential as the farm is crossed by a highway.
Shane is part of GCS Partners In Farming, a family farm owned and operated by his parents Glenn and Colleen Moxey, along with Shane and his family, near Forbes in central-west NSW.
“We produce mainly lucerne and hay in the summertime, somewhere between 50,000 and 60,000 little bales of lucerne,” Shane says.
“We have about 20,000 to 30,000 little bales of cereal and then we do about 5,000 to 10,000 big bales of hay for our own cattle and for sale.
“We were looking for a much easier way to feed out and now [with the Hustler], things are just so much easier.”
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The Hustler Combi RX148 multi-feeder wagon
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Shane was using hay feeders before owning a Hustler wagon, however multiple trips to the paddocks and increased soil compaction due to the herd’s concentration and foot traffic meant the paddocks “ended up being a boggy mess” during wet times.
The Hustler Combi RX148 multi-feeder wagon feeds out bales of any type in a long windrow, encouraging the cattle to move and to spread around the feed over hundreds of metres.
As the feed is never concentrated in a few spots, the soil can regenerate quicker, offering a better pasture efficiency.
“You load the Hustler up, take it out to the field, spread out the feed and all gets eaten, no waste, less compaction on the paddock,” Shane says.
The Hustler Combi range can feed out every supplementary type of feed, including all bale types, shapes and sizes and any type of loose feed including fine chop silage, maize silage, root crops, vegetables and more.
For Shane’s operation, the most important aspect was to find a large capacity feedout wagon able to handle the big 8-foot square bales made on the farm, as mixer wagons were not suited to the job.
“Once we started feeding out with it, that was when we really knew that it was the machine for us,” he says.
“It fed out, presented and it was safe to use and quite easy to use.”
The Combi wagon is completely hydraulically powered, making it less dangerous than a PTO-powered machine, and Shane says safety is definitely “one of the main reasons why we’ve got this piece of machinery”.
The Combi wagon is also an easy to use piece of machinery, even for low-skill operators. This becomes an asset on large-scale farms as it takes less time to train new employees on the equipment.
Shane has improved his feeding efficiency thanks to the Hustler Combi RX148 feedout wagon and can spend more time on other important tasks around the farm.
“The biggest commodity wasted on a farmer is time,” he says.
“The best thing about the Hustler for us is pre-Hustler it was taking nearly half a day when we’re in the drought feeding, and now we can feed more cattle in two or three hours in the morning.”
The full Hustler range can be viewed at the company’s website.