Hammer Mill/Bagger Bags High Moisture Corn

Hammer Mill/Bagger Bags High Moisture Corn LIVESTOCK Feeding Equipment 34-3-31 Custom silage bagger Marvin Martin wanted to offer his customers high moisture ground corn bagging. With no single machine on the market that would do the job, he knew he would have to build his own. "I used a Gehl 135 hammer mill for a base and mounted a bagger funnel top to the hammer mill frame," explains Martin. Using a hammer mill instead of a roller mill lets Martin adjust the grind to meet customer preference. Fabricating his own bagger funnel system let him make a unit more versatile than commercial alternatives. "The bagger attachment is unique as it has interchangeable funnel tops for either 7 or 8-ft. diameter bags," says Martin. "I can pull four pins and lift one top off with a fork loader and reinstall the other in only 15 min." To make his combination hammer mill/bagger, Martin stripped the Gehl 135 down. He removed all but the hammer mill unit itself with the dust collector and the auger screw that previously moved milled grain to the mixing tank. He also retained the pto drive system and hydraulics. "I had a local metalworking shop fabricate a larger and higher volume feeding auger with a variable speed hydraulic motor," he says. "I fabricated a larger mouth for the hammer mill to handle the higher volume and replaced the drive pulleys and belts on the hammer mill with heavier duty ones. I also changed the pulley ratio to speed the hammer mill up by 10 to 15 percent." Martin patterned his bagger unit after commercial units he uses for silage. The hammer mill auger feeds a large press auger that packs the milled corn into the bags. To ensure bags are well packed, Martin added an adjustable drag chain inside the funnel to slow forward movement of the mill/packer. He also uses brakes installed on the wheels. Martin admits that even modified for higher volumes, his hammer mill/bagger is unable to keep up with large combines like a roller mill might. However, the higher quality feed produced with the hammer mill makes up for delays on the 15 to 20 bags of high moisture corn he fills each year. "If I were redoing it, I would fabricate my own higher volume hammer mill," says Martin. "As it is, I only have about $15,000 in it versus the $35,000 to $45,000 needed for a new roller mill and bagger." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Marvin Martin, 1474 Walnut Ave., Charles City, Iowa 50616 (ph 641 228-3465).

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