Sheller Strips Sweet Corn Kernels Fast

2021 - Volume #45, Issue #6, Page #19

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Imagine stripping sweet corn kernels from 50 cobs in a minute. That’s how fast David Grotegut can process sweet corn with the aid of one helper and his Bullet Corn Sheller.
“We’ve always put up a lot of sweet corn, and I was always one of the guys who took the kernels off the cob with a knife,” recalls Grotegut. “I thought I had a better idea, so I went to my shop and designed a crude version of my Bullet Corn Sheller.”
What Grotegut came up with was a pan with a twin-walled tube at one end with an opening in part of the outside tube that extended over the pan. He put an edge on the inside tube, which was sized to allow a cob to go through.
“I used the original one for five years before I retired from farming,” says Grotegut. “Every farmer who has made something has probably thought about patenting it, so I decided to patent the Sheller.”
Along the way, he took his original design to a metal fabricator to make the parts he needed out of stainless steel. He began welding and assembling them, selling to friends and neighbors. Some friends had first-hand experience, as processing sweet corn was a joint event.
“My buddies and I have races putting ears through the sheller,” says Grotegut. “We processed a 3-ft. deep, 8 by 16-ft. trailer of sweet corn in five hrs. this year. We used to have four people cutting kernels off. Now we have two guys trading off on the one machine and have to wait for ears to be blanched.”
Initially, he had the machine shop make the Sheller to handle several sizes of cutting heads to fit potentially different sized cobs. He quickly discovered that was not needed.
“I got sweet corn from farmers’ markets and neighbors, and they all had the same size cob,” says Grotegut. “Some guys who bought them from me said the inner tube was a little tight, so I made it a bit larger. After they tried it, they all went back to my original size.”
“I wanted to make something that would last for multiple generations, like the old sausage grinder that almost every family has,” says Grotegut. “I would like my grandkids or great-grandkids to see one in an antique store someday and say, ‘That’s what my papa made.’”
There is a good chance they will be able to do just that. He has sold 125 of them so far and already has orders for more than 60 yet to be made. They are priced at $425 plus shipping.
“I get orders and put the names on a list,” he says. “About 98 percent of the people I have already sold to are farmers. I’ve had some call back to say how much fun they had putting up corn.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Bullet Corn Sheller, 802 S. Avondale St., Amarillo, Texas 79106 (ph 806-736-2432; https://bulletcornsheller.business.site)

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Sheller Strips Sweet Corn Kernels Fast FARM HOME Food Imagine stripping sweet corn kernels from 50 cobs in a minute That’s how fast David Grotegut can process sweet corn with the aid of one helper and his Bullet Corn Sheller “We’ve always put up a lot of sweet corn and I was always one of the guys who took the kernels off the cob with a knife ” recalls Grotegut “I thought I had a better idea so I went to my shop and designed a crude version of my Bullet Corn Sheller ” What Grotegut came up with was a pan with a twin-walled tube at one end with an opening in part of the outside tube that extended over the pan He put an edge on the inside tube which was sized to allow a cob to go through “I used the original one for five years before I retired from farming ” says Grotegut “Every farmer who has made something has probably thought about patenting it so I decided to patent the Sheller ” Along the way he took his original design to a metal fabricator to make the parts he needed out of stainless steel He began welding and assembling them selling to friends and neighbors Some friends had first-hand experience as processing sweet corn was a joint event “My buddies and I have races putting ears through the sheller ” says Grotegut “We processed a 3-ft deep 8 by 16-ft trailer of sweet corn in five hrs this year We used to have four people cutting kernels off Now we have two guys trading off on the one machine and have to wait for ears to be blanched ” Initially he had the machine shop make the Sheller to handle several sizes of cutting heads to fit potentially different sized cobs He quickly discovered that was not needed “I got sweet corn from farmers’ markets and neighbors and they all had the same size cob ” says Grotegut “Some guys who bought them from me said the inner tube was a little tight so I made it a bit larger After they tried it they all went back to my original size ” “I wanted to make something that would last for multiple generations like the old sausage grinder that almost every family has ” says Grotegut “I would like my grandkids or great-grandkids to see one in an antique store someday and say ‘That’s what my papa made ’” There is a good chance they will be able to do just that He has sold 125 of them so far and already has orders for more than 60 yet to be made They are priced at $425 plus shipping “I get orders and put the names on a list ” he says “About 98 percent of the people I have already sold to are farmers I’ve had some call back to say how much fun they had putting up corn ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Bullet Corn Sheller 802 S Avondale St Amarillo Texas 79106 ph 806-736-2432; https://bulletcornsheller business site

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