3000 Litre Large feeder - Ultimate

The Ultimate Series is Universal Feeders new one adjuster saliva lick feeder design (patent pending).

Over a 16 month period, Universal Feeders have been developing and testing a new saliva lick feeder concept to improve aspects affecting the lifespan of the feeder, accuracy of feeding rates and usability for both the farmer and livestock. The aim was to make a feeder that was superior to any other feeder on the market. We have always been proud of the heavy material we use and the strength of the Universal Feeder but we wanted more.

The goals of the new feeder were:
1. Not to require a bottom adjuster that is susceptible to corrosion on itself and the base
2. Make it quick and easy and to adjust rates without any spanners
3. Reduce the number of edges in feed area and enclose any external adjustment
4. Make it easier to achieve lower rates
5. Finer and more accurate adjustments
6. Design a tongue restrictor that is easy to swing away to clean the feed area

The combination of saliva, rain and dirt creates the perfect environment for corrosion. The bottom adjuster in our original design (like most conventional feeders) is bolted against the base of the feeder. This allows moisture and dirt to penetrate and stay between the two metal pieces. Eventually, this can cause rust between the base and bottom adjuster and can also cause corrosion in the bolts and cage nuts even though they are marine grade stainless steel.

Our new patent-pending one adjuster saliva lick feeder has removed the bottom adjuster completely. This means that this is now a fixed plate that is sealed at the top to prevent moisture and dirt from being able to penetrate. It has also removed the need for any bolts for adjustment being in the feeding area. With any expense on a farm or station, the lifespan determines the true cost. The longer we can make our feeders last the better.

Simple tool-free feed rate adjustments

Accessing the feeding area to adjust the depth and the width of the feed isn’t always easy especially once the feeding area gets a thick layer of dirt and moisture over it or if bolts have been over tightened into the cage nuts. When the feeder isn’t empty, it can also be hard to change the bottom adjuster setting without allowing anything underneath the adjuster. It is common due to time spent and difficult access, for the adjusters not to be adjusted perfectly all the time, which can waste money.

Our new design uses easily accessible galvanized ratchets. These are all mounted on the side of the feeder to move the adjuster up, down, in and out. This means there are no spanners, bolts or cage nuts and it is so easy to make the adjustments millimetre accurate and no need to access the feed area for adjustment.

Remove sharp edges in the feed area and enclose any external adjustment

With our original design, the upper adjuster has four supports that are all within the feeding area. These can pose a risk for livestock when they are feeding if they hit these areas with force. When looking at shifting the adjustment to the sides of the feeder we wanted to make sure we didn’t create another area that livestock could harm themselves on. The one adjuster that is in our Ultimate Series is made from 7mm steel. This alleviates the need for any internal supports that could pose a risk to livestock. With all the adjustments being done from the side of the feeder we have made an easily removable reinforced shelter to cover all of these components. This protects the livestock from any sharp edges and also protects the components from the weather and damage caused by livestock.

Make it easier to achieve lower rates:

The limiting factor of getting very low rates of feed per day is getting the grain/pellets into the lick area. If the adjusters are too close the grain/pellets will not flow freely. When in drought situations or maintenance feeding this can cause animals to miss out on feed or excessive valuable grain be used because the adjusters are open too far. With our tongue restrictor the top 10mm are closed off which creates extra width in the grain tray. This means that if the tongue restrictor is set at 10mm the width of feed is actually 20mm in the tray. The more freely flowing feed makes it easier to achieve low rates.

Finer and more accurate adjustments:

With the cage nut system on our original design, achieving an even and accurate setting could be tedious. The galvanised ratchets that we are using on the Ultimate Series have a thread which makes is far easier to confidently set that feeder to the setting that you want. 

Design a tongue restrictor that is easy to swing away to clean the feed area: 

There are two problems with any tongue restrictor that is secured over the top of a bottom adjuster. The first problem is that there is an area between the bottom adjuster and the tongue restrictor that always catch feed, dirt and moisture until the restrictor is removed for cleaning. The second problem is that the restrictor is awkward to remove and then replace after the feed area is cleaned. 

The solution in our Ultimate Series is a swing-away tongue restrictor. The swing-away design allows the feed area to be very easily cleaned with the removal of only two pins on each side. This allows full access to the feed area for cleaning maintenance before it is simply swung back to its feeding position. Because of the swinging design, any feed dirt or moisture that goes between the bottom plate and tongue restrictor simply falls into the bottom spill tray. This alleviates any corrosion issues caused by alternative tongue restrictor guards.  The slotted arm design means that both the height and width of the adjuster can be changed and the restrictor will follow.