Horizontal Feed Mixers
Herd-Boss’s Line of Horizontal Mixers
Herd-Boss manufacturers a wide range of horizontal feed mixers in two styles:
Horizontal mixers have a horizontal layout with a single or double auger mechanism for mixing ingredients along the length of the mixer, ensuring thorough blending.
Auger Mixers feature a unique 4-auger mixing chamber featuring an unequal belly height and raised auger design, with a capacity range of 420 to 900 cubic feet.
Overview
Horizontal feed mixers are machines used in agriculture for blending various materials like grains, seeds, and forage on farms. Horizontal mixers have a horizontal layout with a single or double auger mechanism for mixing ingredients along the length of the mixer, ensuring thorough blending. These mixers can incorporate premixes with lower inclusion rates, enhancing flexibility in mixing formulations making them suitable for a wide range of feed formulations.
Horizontal Mixers Versus Vertical Mixers
Horizontal mixers prioritize uniform mixing and high capacity, while vertical mixers focus on space efficiency and versatility in ingredient mixing. The choice between them depends on factors such as space availability, mixing requirements, and desired feed mixing quality.
Mixer Types: Reel & Auger
Horizontal feed mixers differ primarily in their mixing mechanisms and how they handle ingredients.
Reel mixers utilize a horizontal rotating reel with paddles or blades attached to it that rotates within the mixing chamber, lifting and tumbling the ingredients for thorough gentle blending. They excel at handling fibrous materials due to their tumbling motion, ensuring even distribution and often require less power compared to auger mixers, resulting in lower operational costs.
Auger mixers offer efficient blending, particularly for dry and dense ingredients, ensuring uniform distribution. They can handle a wide range of feed ingredients, including grains, supplements, and concentrates and often have higher mixing capacities compared to reel mixers, making them suitable for larger-scale operations.
In summary, reel mixers are advantageous for gentle mixing of fibrous materials and are suitable for smaller-scale operations, while auger mixers excel in efficiently blending dry ingredients and are ideal for larger-scale operations. The choice between them depends on factors such as the type of ingredients, desired mixing intensity, and the scale of the operation.
Advantages
Horizontal mixers are ideal for blending large quantities of feed ingredients, ensuring uniform distribution throughout the batch.
They are well-suited for incorporating premixes with lower inclusion rates, offering greater flexibility in formulation.
Horizontal mixers can handle a wide range of feed ingredients such as grains, seeds, and forage, making them suitable for a wide range of feed formulations.
With their higher capacities, horizontal mixers are efficient for mixing large batches of feed, increasing productivity on the farm.
Best Suited Applications
Reel mixers are commonly used in dairy operations for blending pre-processed high-forage rations.
Reel mixers excel in mixing delicate ingredients such as pre-processed hay and other forage, ensuring minimal damage during the mixing process.
Reel mixers are suitable for smaller-scale farms due to their lower power requirements and gentle mixing action.
Auger mixers are commonly used in beef and feedlot operations for mixing high-energy rations efficiently.
Auger mixers are ideal for mixing dry ingredients like grains and concentrates, ensuring thorough blending.
Auger mixers are well-suited for large-scale farms and feedlots due to their higher capacity and efficient mixing capabilities.
