Grinding Feed

Took this shot on Sunday. Might be a new favorite for me. That's my Dad raking corn into the mill.

Reminds me of my youth.  We had a gehl grinder, no mixer, first we had to move a truckload of corn from the corn house, to the grinding room, shovel it through a 36" door, then shovel the pile back, then pull the little grinder forward, through the door, hook it to the D-19, then shovel it all through the grinder, and then shovel the ground pile back, and then move the grinder back.

can still hear the ears hitting the hammers, didnt have ear plugs in those days

DiyDave wrote: When I was 15, I parked the D-14 with the bush hog and the heavy grille guard, aimed at the cinder block wall, down hill, put it in N, and went up for lunch.  As luck would have it, that damned parking brake , failed, and the tractor knocked enough of the wall down, that I was able to move the grinder over to the corn house...

That outfit sure looks good. I have ground a lot of ear corn in my time but with a red and yellow feedgrinder and a green and yellow one. I always enjoy grinding as the fresh feed has a good smell to it. Tom

Don't see pics like that much anymore. Looks good.

What kind of implement do you use to harvest the cob corn ? Some kind of modified forage harvestor or ?? Just curious.

Oldred wrote: What kind of implement do you use to harvest the cob corn ? Some kind of modified forage harvestor or ?? Just curious.

Like shameless says, a corn picker. Fairly simple concept. A set of rollers straddles the corn plant and they counter rotate and pull the plant down through the rolls as you drive forward. The plant fits through but the ear doesn't, so it pops off. From there it gets conveyed to some more rollers that "attempt" to take the husks off the ear, and eventually gets conveyed up an elevator to dump in a wagon you're hauling behind you.

That's a good picker used there. Notice there is very little shuck left? That's the way to feed cattle in my opinion.

Kenny L. wrote: as usual the old timers doing the work. Kenny L.

You notice the "Old Timer" was on the ground and not way up in the crib? That picture wasn't taken with a selfie stick! lol

DiyDave wrote: Reminds me of my youth.  We had a gehl grinder, no mixer, first we had to move a truckload of corn from the corn house, to the grinding room, shovel it through a 36" door, then shovel the pile back, then pull the little grinder forward, through the door, hook it to the D-19, then shovel it all through the grinder, and then shovel the ground pile back, and then move the grinder back. When I was 15, I parked the D-14 with the bush hog and the heavy grille guard, aimed at the cinder block wall, down hill, put it in N, and went up for lunch.  As luck would have it, that damned parking brake , failed, and the tractor knocked enough of the wall down, that I was able to move the grinder over to the corn house...

You can bale them for bedding, turn cattle on them, plow them under or just leave them be and notill through them in the spring.

I had to post a couple of videos here.  Here is the corn picker we used for many years.  Now don't shoot me for the tractor, it's just an illustration of a picker in use.
[TUBE]http://youtu.be/S1P4SsHKbV8[/TUBE]
[TUBE]http://youtu.be/E-hCT0yVaRc[/TUBE]
Also here is picture of my dad grinding corn.  Always had some extra and would just pile it on the ground over winter when the cribs were full.  Kept very well if gone by spring.  All the bare cobs were where deer had eaten.  My dad was pointing at that to get me to record all of the corn they had eaten.
[TUBE]http://youtu.be/TtFeeF6XM9o[/TUBE]
Finally, to make up for the first videos, I'll show how we harvest the corn since there aren't any cows at home any more.
[TUBE]http://youtu.be/_QlKnnaWJko[/TUBE]

Ground a lot of ear corn for cattle. Used a new idea picker just like that one. Used the 180 with year around cab on it. Ground corn for around 150 head of cattle we were feeding out so ground often. Used a bear cat 950 grinder mixer then later a New Holland 358 grinder mixer which we still have. Used to also fill a trench silo with ground ear corn every year. It worked very well and kept good cut down on labor. And yes we piled some corn on ground and ground it up over the winter. Just grind shelled corn out of bin now. Easier and quicker. Those pictures bring back lots of memories. When you were young that kind of work kept you in shape. Running a hammer mill also made you deaf. Really enjoyed those pictures.