Hay Steamers

[teddybrowne]

I'm thinking of investing in a Hobby hay steamer, and wondered if anyone has one, and what the feed back is. It appears to be an excellent labour and water saving device, but at £400, I want to know that it does the job well!

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

Most people who want a steamer buy either a dustbin or wheelie bin & a wallpaper steamer stripper. Drill a hole in the bin & connect the steamer to it with a piece of hose & that will do the trick. It's alot cheaper than £400 & does the job just as well.

 

[parsley]

Thats what I did! But I wouldn't want to do it for more than one horse

 

[Racing_Gal]

Whats the difference between steamed and soaked hay? I guess steamed is allot drier? I need to soak Tazz' hay as she gets a really bad dust cough but she won't eat it when I've soaked it, I put a bucket of water next to her hay net and she dunks each bite she takes into the water before she eats it (I'm not even joking!!) Do you think Steaming it would work better?

 

[nijinsky]

Can I ask - how long would you steam the hay for and can you feed it straight after.

 

[poiuytrewq]

I too have been looking at steamers. Do you know you can get a smaller portable sort (1xhaynet) for just under £100? Prob no good if you have lots to do but ideal for single horse owner. I have lots of questions though!! So anyone who has used one post- would be very interested

 

[Persephone]

I made my own! Only one horse so I got my local sailmaker to make me a big drawstring waterproof and heatproof bag, big enough for the amount of hay I need. I bought a walllpaper steamer and hey presto! it works a treat. It cost me £ 40 in total.

 

[michg]

I made my own as well, from a wheelie bin and a wallpaper steamer. Much better than paying 600 pounds for one!

 

[MDJO]

Made my own too - water butt and wallpaper steamer £50 in total - steam for about 10 mins (once steamer is upto speed). It's a bit hot straight out of the steamer, but cools quickly within a few moments

 

[Paula18]

My horse got diagnosed with copd yesterday, was looking at hay steamers last night then saw your post, my wheelie bin is in the car ready to go to the yard and i've persuaded the parents to 'loan' me their wallpaper steamer. Brilliant idea! Can i just ask do you use a hose attachment and is there any particular best way of doing it? Was thinking of making a hole in the bin for the hose to go through?

 

[cas84]

Great idea! Thanks guys was thinking of getting a hay steamer myself but might try the wallpaper steamer first

 

[Nari]

I'm rather spoiled as my yard has a Haygain haysteamer. It's excellent! I'm still feeding last year's hay which is now rather dusty &, according to my fussy eater, poisonous

. Done in the Haygain he's eating it & no longer coughing! I'd tried steaming it in a home-made steamer but he wasn't convinced. The Haygain seems to change the texture of the hay too, maybe because of the temperatures reached?

 

[piglet99]

Does the butt not melt with the heat? I went the route of buying one rather than making one and it is fab...best piece of equipment i've ever bought!

 

[flyingfeet]

I think it depends on how much your time costs!

I have a big haygain and it is so easy to use. I am currently feeding 3 steamed hay and do not use haynets. Therefore just to fit up the steamer and plonk a bale in and cut the strings saves me a huge amount of time. Realistically I could only feed one soaked hay, and would be in haynets and produce horrible water that is supposed to be disposed of carefully.

The haygain is definitely an investment - at minimum wage of £5.93 /hr this is saving me £20.76 per week in terms of time. As I'm paid more than min wage the haygain has already paid for itself for me (I have two in on hay all year round).

 

[Smith123]

Is soaked hay or steamed better for getting rid of dust?

 

[TMB]

Hi, im actually in South Africa, i want to try build a hay steamer but I cant find a single wall paper steamer supplier here at all. Could anyone recommend a brand of wall paper steamer that works well and where I could buy 1 from so I can get it shipped to me here?

Thanks!