Double Tumble Mixer

Double Tumble Mixer FARM SHOP Miscellaneous 16-1-2 If you're tired of stirring feed premixes with a stick in a pail or dumping them back and forth from pail to pail, you'll want to check out this new "double tumble" drum mixer manufactured by Gordon Dom, Denver, Iowa, who's also developed a prototype feedlot-sized TMR mixer using the same design. The new mixer consists of a barrel mounted inside a steel frame. You place feed or whatever you want to mix into the drum, then lock the lid and turn the handle four revolutions in each direction. The barrel rotates 360 degrees on a steel shaft mounted at an angle through the inside of the drum, tumbling up and down from end to end. After you're done mixing you simply point the top of the barrel downward to unload the feed. "It works four times faster than other mixers and does a much better job because of the double tumble action. The feed is spun around and also thrown from one end of the barrel to the other," says Dorn. "Every time the barrel turns 360 degrees, feed is displaced four times. The entire mixing action takes only 15 seconds. It thoroughly mixes all types of ingredients, no matter how different they are in weight or density. For example, it'll completely mix soybean meal with long stemmed chopped hay. Another advantage is that there are no augers or baffles to damage grass seed. There's only one moving part so there's almost no maintenance." Available in 30 and 55-gal. capacities and can be custom built to any size. Depending on the bulk of your ingredients, the 30-gal. model holds about 75 lbs. and the 55-gal. holds about 150 lbs. "We don't recommend filling the drum more than 112 to 2/3 full in order for feed to be completely mixed," notes Dorn, adding that the mixer frame can be easily taken apart to fit through narrow doorways. The 30-gal. drum sells for $200 and the 55-gal. drum for $225. A spring-loaded door built into the lid is optional and sells for $25. Inside epoxy paint is a $25 option. A large hydraulically-operated, trailer-mounted mixer equipped with about a 300-gal. tank and a load-out auger is also avail-able. The first large tank Dom built was for mixing different varieties of grass seed. "It's the ideal feedlot-size TMR mixer because of the quick-mixing ability on any type of feed ingredient and low maintenance," he says. For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Gordon Dorn, Tumble Drum Ind., Rt. 1, Box 302, Denver, Iowa 50622 (ph 319 984-5374).

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