How to Make a Tapered Bottom-Feed Bin

Bottom-feeding bins, also called hopper bins, allow farm animals to eat more tidily than might otherwise occur when animals are eating out of troughs. This is especially important when the cleanliness of the animal has value, such as feeding animals raised for their fiber, such as sheep, or animals whose appearance is important, such as those shown at a 4-H or county fair.

Things You'll Need

  • Plywood
  • Nails
  • Hammer
  • Bandsaw
  • Measuring tape
  • Pencil
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Instructions

    • 1

      Determine the desired dimensions of a rectangle-shaped feeder. This will depend on the number of animals, the amount of food the animals require per day, and how often the farmer wants to refill the feeder.

    • 2

      Cut two identical long sides of the rectangle out of the plywood, according to desired dimensions.

    • 3

      Mark the bottom edge of the long pieces with a pencil, 1 inch in from the bottom corners, on each side. Connect this tick mark up to the upper corner on each respective side, and cut these two lines with a band-saw. The results should be the long side of a rectangle, with slight 1-inch tapering to the bottom.

    • 4

      Cut two identical pieces of plywood to create the two short sides of the rectangle. Height should be the same as the long pieces and length should be as long as required for final desired dimensions.

    • 5

      Nail the four pieces of plywood together to create a box that tapers gently.

    • 6

      Cut one piece of plywood the length and two times the depth of the feeder box. The result should be a bottom to the box created in the steps above, but whose depth juts out deeper than the upper larger box.

    • 7

      Cut one piece of plywood the length plus 2 inches of the feeder box, with a height of 3 inches.

    • 8

      Cut two pieces of plywood two times the depth of the feeder box, with a height of 3 inches.

    • 9

      Nail these four pieces of plywood together in a shallow box formation, with one open side.

    • 10

      Fit the larger feeder box directly into the small shallow box, leaving the larger feeder box approximately 2 inches above the bottom of the smaller box, and nail together. There should be an approximate 2-inch gap between the bottom of the shallow box and the bottom of the large feeder box. This allows food to slowly feed into the shallow box.

    • 11

      Fill the large feeder box with dry animal food.