Zero-Turn Feed Buggy

Zero-Turn Feed Buggy Bobby Colson converted an extra zero-turn mower into a self-propelled feed buggy. He needed a way to deliver feed to his six large quail pens each day. “I have a ton of feed delivered every month, but at 87 years of age, I didn’t want to have to lift buckets of feed into a pickup bed,” says Colson. “With the feed buggy, I am lifting the buckets up and down only about 18 in. It’s easy to transport the feed to the quail pens.” Quail aren’t just a hobby for the former beekeeper. He has 175 laying hens and a three-door freezer he repurposed into a 2,000-egg incubator. At any given time, he has several thousand quail spread across six pens and several brooder houses, all of which require feed. “I had a zero-turn I didn’t need, so I cut off the front end and extended the frame rails to hold a 4 by 4-ft. plywood sheet,” says Colson. “I mounted the old front caster wheels to the front of the extended frame.” Colson used 2 by 2-in. steel tubing for the extension and bolted it to the original frame. “With the extension in place, it did take me a little time to get used to turning,” notes Colson. “I’ve also found that if I load the weight close to the front end, the drive wheels will spin. If I made another one, I would try to center the load better.” Colson admits he likely won’t make a replacement. This version works well enough. “I just put the buckets on and drive from one pen to the next,” he says. “I get lots of comments on it from customers who stop by to pick up quail.” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Bobby Colson, 945 Sinkhole Rd., Register, Ga. 30452 (ph 912-515-0294).

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