Talk to me about hay steamers?

[pistolpete]

Following on from my thread about hay-soaking made we wonder about investing in a steamer. What makes have you used? How quick to do half aa bale? And how expensive to buy and run?

 

[Milkmaid]

I used a big blue barrel, a wall paper steamer and a timer, works brilliantly! Lots of peeps use wheelie bins ( you can buy on ebay)

 

[muffinmunsh]

I have a haygain. Quite expensive but sturdy and works brilliantly. Half bale takes about 15-20 minutes, depending on weather. The important thing is that you get the right steam temperature throughout, so if you are doing DIY, make sure you implement a way to monitor temperature at the core of the bale

 

[Zerotolerance]

We looked at getting a steamer but weren't impressed by the £1600+ price tag.

We use 2 big storage trunks on wheels - can easily get 4 slices in each. Plus 2 wallpaper steamers with 4.5 litre water capacity. Drilled hole low down in the centre front of trunk - an exact fit for the steamer hose, so no leaking steam, plus a few small drain holes in the base. Easily made a removable wire mesh base about 3" deep to stand the hay on, hose goes through hole in trunk into mesh, so steam spreads evenly throughout the hay. Trunk lids clip down tight. Takes about 30 mins to steam thoroughly.
We already had the trunks so our only cost was £25 each for steamers plus a couple of £ for the wire mesh. The trunks are about £35 each without wheels, £50 with, so even if we'd had to buy those too, the total cost would only have been around £200.

 

[Triskar]

I've a Happy Horse hay steamer - I put night net, and day nets in at night, fill the steamer with water and have it on a timer to steam (on economy 7 electricity) from 5.30 to 7.30. He loves the warm hay after a cold night! Just take the other nets out as I need them.

 

[poiuytrewq]

We use a steamer that holds a whole small bale. The temperature gauge shows the optimum steamed heat in the centre of the hay to be at 70 degrees. This takes 90 minutes.

 

[victoriaclement]

I have a hay gain.
they are fantastic and would highly recommend one.
We got a bag with ours thats about the size of a bale. This takes about an hour but if you put it on before riding, this will be done by the time you come back.
My horse loves the hay that comes out of it as its warm, smells good and i bet it tastes great too.
Another one of our friends has one on our yard and she loves it too.
You cant get to 100 degrees with a bustbin or a barrel and it doesnt kill all the bacteria that a haygain does.
you can get various sixes and a travel one too but we have the largest one that was about £900 but you can pay in instalments.

 

[Zerotolerance]

Sorry, but we can get to those temperatures with our sealed trunks....

 

[victoriaclement]

feel free to contact HayGain company and ask them...sure they will say the exact same thing as i have.

 

[Zerotolerance]

I am glad that you are pleased with your hay gain bag system - as are we with our home made version. We are happy with the thermometer readings we are getting so don't feel the need to call them.

 

[CBAnglo]

Zerotolerance - your version sounds exactly like what I was thinking of making. Would you mind posting pictures (and also details of how you made it please)?

thanks!

Also whoever said the largest version was £900 I think you will find it is closer to £1.6k on the website!

 

[Zerotolerance]

Zerotolerance - your version sounds exactly like what I was thinking of making. Would you mind posting pictures (and also details of how you made it please)?

thanks!

Also whoever said the largest version was £900 I think you will find it is closer to £1.6k on the website!

Will take some piccies.....

 

[ponydi]

If you use a (dead) chest freezer the insulation will get the temperature up quickly and keep the hay hot for longer...

 

[poiuytrewq]

I am glad that you are pleased with your hay gain bag system - as are we with our home made version. We are happy with the thermometer readings we are getting so don't feel the need to call them.

Totally agree home made can do the job just aswell. Although like I say we use a Haygain at work the actual steamer broke many years ago and was replaced with a wall paper steamer from Argos and it works just as well.
Im going to buy a paper steamer myself and make one for next winter.

What I don't agree works at all (even slightly!) is pouring kettles into dustbins! complete waste of time.

 

[maccachic]

feel free to contact HayGain company and ask them...sure they will say the exact same thing as i have.

Hahaha of course they will they make money out of selling units.

 

[Ditchjumper2]

We have a Haygain too. A full bale one and it cost £1000. Easy to use and produces hot, dust free hay. I love it as you just put the whole bale in, none of this opening a bale and stuffing it in a bin. I use a timer on ours so we set it for when we need it.

Was an expensive treat but worth it.

 

[exmoorali]

If anyone wants a cheaper option without building it yourself, I had one of these. Works really well. Yes, it is just a wheelie bin with a wallpaper steamer attached - but I haven't got the knowledge to put my own together, and hubby hasn't got the time.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HAY-STEAM...=WDVW&rd=1&ih=016&category=90860&cmd=ViewItem

 

[Meredith]

We tried a chest freezer as a hay steamer. OH rigged it up and it worked perfectly and got very hot. A short while later the freezer lining buckled and the inside of the lid distorted into huge bubble shapes. It was a mistake I suppose putting heat into something that's supposed to be cold. We use a big wheelie bin now. It's not as efficient but at least it hasn't melted!

 

[ponydi]

My chest freezer has a metal lining, so no problem there - and I don't mind what the lid looks like inside

 

[Meredith]

So was ours.