Dairyman Designed New Grinder-Blower

Dairyman Designed New Grinder-Blower FORAGE HARVESTERS A Pennsylvania dairy farmer and part-time equipment dealer combined a used stationary hammermill with a 2-stage forage blower to produce a versatile new machine that grinds high moisture corn and ear corn for his dairy operation Ron Bender territory manager for Art’s Way the company that’s now manufacturing a production model machine says it will grind corn and blow it into bags or a silo for storage “The farmer put a lot of thought and work into designing building and testing the machine and it really shows ” says Bender “He built it one winter using an Art’s Way 26-in hammermill and a 2-stage 42-in Gehl blower fan as the main components He tested it for 2 seasons on high moisture corn and dry ear corn with different drive options different horsepower tractors and different screens It produces consistently-sized ground materials because fan air flow can be regulated to draw material through the screen Consistent size feed is very important for dairy cattle ” Bender says the machine was built and tested so well that Art’s Way made only minor changes and added decals and a few shields to meet OSHA requirements on their production model It has 96 reversible knives in the grinder and can use 13 different screens from 1/8 in to 2 in An 80 hp tractor with a 1000 pto can grind about one ton a minute with the machine “The grinder-blower is ideal for dairies and feedlots because it can grind ear corn and high-moisture shelled corn into consistent material sizes for better digestiblity ” Bender says Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Art’s Way Mfg P O Box 288 5556 Highway 9 Armstrong Iowa 50514 ph 712 864-3154; www artsway-ag com

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