Does anyone actually use Tubtrugs as a feeder?

[LMH]

I know there are 100 other uses but does anyone actually ground feed from one?

Can the horse flip it if it is not secured?

[Doodlebug1]

Yes and yes.

I'm lucky in that my stalls are huge (25' square) and so I only bed half. The area I feed on is just rubber matting with no bedding contamination so it doesn't matter if they tip their feed over the floor.

Generally I find they eat fine but my youngster will pick up the empty tubtrug and place it over his water/hurl it out the stall or find any other way of causing trouble! Not sure this would be any different with any other type of manger :D

[manyspots]

I was going to buy these to use as feeders as well. Right now I use the heavy rubber floor pans. Like them, but a B*$%H to clean!!!! :lol: Stuff always seems to get stuck in the crevices. I also do the clean mat thing (12 x 12 stalls).

Maybe I will give them a go!

[Ghazzu]

I use them to feed soaked hay.

[jn4jenny]

I use them to feed my horse beet pulp/alfalfa cube snacks before our ride. Yes, a horse could flip it but they can flip almost anything that's not tied down. Built-in feed tubs or feed bags are a better choice if you're anti-flip.

[jen-s]

We use them and LOVE them! Yes, they can get flipped, but so can any other type of feeder. But I find that the horses usually don't flip them except at non-food times when they might get stepped on or played with. They've held up beautifully and it's so nice to be able to say "put Pumpkin's food in the pink and Dobbin's in the purple."

[ChocoMare]

I feed out of them every day. They take all the abuse and still keep going. The mares know the difference between just any ol' bucket and the TubTrugs. TT's mean BEET PULP! :yes:

[LMH]

Well I tried the large shallow pans on the foals and am liking them. Less noise and hoof banging on the buckets.

No flips-just lots of dragging around hunting for pellets!:lol:

They seem easier to clean the regular feeders and I can't for the life of me figure out why.

[pokesaladannie]

My rowdy geldings were tearing the big heavy black rubber tubs in half regularly - expensive toys!
I sure was skeptical when I first tried the tubtrugs, but after 4 months of constant abuse they are undamaged.... they even have little handles which they use to play tug'o'war with and to carry them to the farthest end of the paddocks.
Best Buy of 2009 - hope they don't crack in the winter!

[ChocoMare]

... hope they don't crack in the winter!

Three GA winters and no cracks. Maybe deep, bitter, longer cold might do them in, but for me, so far so good!

[sixpoundfarm]

Yes, but I used mine like a nose feeder, and the horse is supervised. I attached a heavy duty elastic legstrap to both handles, and slide it over the ears. It is a deeper style, but not the smallest one they make. No spilling, no feed flinging and she even polishes it clean for me.

[pokesaladannie]

ChocoMare, thanks for the positive feedback on cold weather and tubtrugs. Sadly, I think our testing of them will be quite different during our wretched, freezing winters in Ontario.
I am going to give it a go - let you all know how they cope!

[SkipChange]

These look like what we used to skip (aka muck) out the horse's stalls when I was in England. I didn't see any with cracks while I was there.

[pokesaladannie]

I have only been able to find these at tack shops. Are they sold in any other stores like Walmart, garden centers or hardware stores? Can you get them somewhere on-line? My tack shop has trouble getting them in. Any ideas?

[ChocoMare]

I have only been able to find these at tack shops. Are they sold in any other stores like Walmart, garden centers or hardware stores? Can you get them somewhere on-line? My tack shop has trouble getting them in. Any ideas?

These are the generic ones from Fortex: http://www.horse.com/Tubtrug-Flexible-Tub-BSA71.html - I have four of them!

[equineartworks]

I was looking at these the other day and wondering what I could do with them :lol:

They stay upright easily? That was my greatest concern. Katie and Paco are fine but the TB insists on killing everything he eats (he is the sweetest horse too...go figure? ) and would have it launched all over.

As an aside, does anyone use the muck tubs in tires for feeding hay? Do they stay in the tire? I need some moveable hay feeders and have a surplus of decent tires and muck tubs. I bought a zillion of them when they were on sale. Would the tub trug work with this too?

[ChocoMare]

TT's are not the greatest for hay. Just too small to hold very much.

For the TB, consider getting a 1/2 a stall mat and a rubber ground-pan feeder. Drill a hole through the pan and a matching/corresponding hole in the mat. Insert a bolt through the pan and the mat and then screw on the appropriately sized nut. Therefore, TB must stand on the mat to eat out of the ground-pan feeder, yet cannot fling it across the pasture like a frisbee :winkgrin:

[equineartworks]

TT's are not the greatest for hay. Just too small to hold very much.

For the TB, consider getting a 1/2 a stall mat and a rubber ground-pan feeder. Drill a hole through the pan and a matching/corresponding hole in the mat. Insert a bolt through the pan and the mat and then screw on the appropriately sized nut. Therefore, TB must stand on the mat to eat out of the ground-pan feeder, yet cannot fling it across the pasture like a frisbee :winkgrin:

Bowing down to worship queen Chocomare! Perfect solution for playful TB's!

I thought the TT's would be small...but this boy is a nutball lol! I need options!

[ChocoMare]

Oh pshaw.... :D Just glad to be of assistance :cool:

Actually came up with the idea because of my friend's gelding, Cruiser. That boy must have a toy at all times and if he doesn't, feed pans are his substitution of choice. He'll whack himself in the face, whack his 1/2 brother, Brighton, with it and then chase his full yearling brother (who is terrified of it :lol:). Then he gets frustrated because the pan whacks him in the nose, so he flings it, with deadly accuracy mind you, and SPLASH....into the pasture tub it goes. He'll then watch it sink. What a goober :lol: :lol: :lol:

Consequently, you could feed him in a ground pan, but the grain would be on the ground and the pan at the bottom of a water tub, sooooo bolting it to a mat was the only solution. Drive's the poor bugger crazy! :winkgrin: