New Cone Grinder Uses 50% Less Power

New Cone Grinder Uses 50% Less Power HAY & FORAGE HARVESTING Bale Handling (5) 12-2-36 You've never seen anything like this new "cone" grinder that uses a knife-equipped, horizontally mounted spiral to slice through bales. "It does twice the work with 1/2 the horsepower of a conventional tub grinder," says Bill Ertle, a Colorado farmer and custom feed grinder who's been one of the first to try the new-style grinder manufactured by Sterling Grinder Co., Sterling Colo. "It grinds 50 ton of hay or more per hour. There's no way you could ever grind 50 ton of hay with even the biggest tub grinder." Sterling Grinder Co. has so far developed two big commercial sized units. One is engine-powered and rated at 55 ton per hour and the other, rated at 40 ton per hour, is ptopowered. On the biggest unit a 16-ft. long feed table carries bales into the grinder cone. The cone is 7 ft. in dia. and rotates at 850 rpm, spiraling its way into the material. Long-lasting tungsten steel sickle sections mount on the flighting and slice the bale into long pieces that are hammered into shorter pieces by 72 hammers that free-swing at the base of the cone. The adjustable hammers can be adjusted to cut hay in lengths from 1 to 8 in. The hammers chop the hay and then feed it to a 30-in. wide, 27-ft. unloading conveyor. Company representative Dick Dixon says the simplicity of the grinder is the key to its success. "There are no screens and only one main moving part - the cone. It does an especially good job in wet, tough hay because 70% of the cutting is done by the sickle sections while the hammers do the rest. Farmers tell us they like the fact that it doesn't pulverize the leaves. Because of the simpler design, it's much more reliable and requires little maintenance," he says. The Sterling grinder is shaft-driven by a 318 Detroit diesel. Engine speed and power is controlled by a built-in governor that automatically adjusts to the amount of material fed into the grinder. "We've used a prototype machine for a year with few problems," says Dixon, noting that the company has plans to make a smaller, farm-size unit as well as a vertically positioned unit for chopping wood chips and other tougher tree or crop residue. The 55-ton engine power grinder sells for $88,000. The 40-ton pto model sells for $40,000. For more information, contact FARM SHOW Followup, Sterling Grinder Co., Inc., P.O. Box 787, Sterling, Colo. 80751 (ph 303 522-6710).

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.