Farmall H grinding corn

460anger

Member
This is me and grandpa coming back from fixing fence with his 1952 H, that he bought brand new. Must of been a hard day, as that"s me, sound asleep. That was in 1972. This is the same H me and my nephew are using to grind corn for the pigs. He used it in the woods, farmed everyday, and still didn"t cave it all in. Amazing!! Makes you wonder what some people do. Tractor was over hauled twice, rear end once and still running strong. I also have his 1949 John Deere M, that me and my dad were in the process of restoring when my dad passed away. So, it"s up to me to finish it now. My dad used both of these tractors plus Farmall M and MTA up until 1980 when we sold out and quit dairy farming. Now it"s just for fun, and to keep the tractors limbered up. And a couple pictures of the pigs.
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Nice pics! When i was about 15, i clipped the tips off two fingers on my left hand in the impeller fan on one of those hammer mill grinders. Doc stitched em back on, they still work pretty good!!!!!
 
Nice pigs. Mine are coming along. 7 go to butcher at the end of April. 5 more the middle of May. John Deere M is put away til next summer. Just need to finish painting sheet metal. I'll try to get a picture tomorrow. Have to keep telling the nephew not to put his fingers past the door or they'll be a little shorter!! Thanks for replies.
 
Looks familar ! Same thing I still do at my farm too, hammer mill ear corn into drums for the livestock. My old Gehl has wheels though, which is quite handy. Good looking hogs you have there.
 
Super H Mike,
I like your hammer mill better. I put a chain on mine so I can hook in the bucket of my back hoe to move it in and out of the building. Just the way my grandpa did it. Trying to go back to the old ways. Alot easier life. I shell my corn before I grind it for the pigs. Never tried feeding cob and all. Is that what you are doing?
Thanks.
 
Yes, when I had hogs I just fed the whole ears and let them shell it themselves or eat it all, whatever they wanted, just threw the whole corn in the pen with them like in your picture. Now I have some steers that I grind the cob and all,mixed with ground oats and alfafa. They like it very much and seem to do well on it. I add supplement in too. To have it come out mixed in the barrel I just alternate the ingredients that go into the mill in small amounts at a time. I do shell the corn before grinding that goes to the chickens.
 
Gramps always said, had to shell the corn before grinding for the pigs. So I always have. But I'm going to try grinding cob and all,. I'll see if they'll eat it or not. You're mixing ratio is about the same as mine. Like you said, works just fine.
 
(quoted from post at 14:35:07 02/03/13) . I shell my corn before I grind it for the pigs. Never tried feeding cob and all. Is that what you are doing?
Thanks.

We used to feed some ear corn to the sows, but the feeder pigs got ground shelled corn with minerals, oats, ground alfalfa and other stuff mixed in... don't remember what all was in it. Sows would not eat the cobs, or at least very little of it.
Wonder what ever happened to Tamworth hogs... I had PB Tams 6 or 7 years when I was in 4-H... never see them any more.
 
I have heard of grinding ear and all for sows. It bulks the feed up and they fill up more without so much nutrient intake. A lot of show pig people tend to make their sows too fat. All my feed comes on a quad axle truck ready to go. :oops: During planting and harvest I am kind of glad feed is only a phone call away, but it sure would be cheaper to grind my own.

I agree, Tams were at their strongest 6-7 years ago and now they are falling behind. Seems the Herford hogs were bigger then also. Part of the reason Herfords were so strong here is because a local FFA chapter was farrowing them at school. My last year in FFA there were 3 Berks at our barrow show and last year there were about 25. That is one class of pigs that has really increased it's numbers and quality.
 
Thanks for all the info I'm getting. Buying feed is alot easier, but at $24.00/100 it's hard to swallow. I buy most of my ear corn from farmers around me that have a little left over that won't fit in the silo. Have my own tractor, picker and wagon, and willing to travel. Usually end up trading off for mechanic work. Like they say... one hand washes the other. And I do this just for a hobby. Raise and sell a few pigs, and it keeps the freezer full.
 
When I had the Tamworths was back in the mid-late '50s. To start, I bought a bred gilt from a guy just N of Marion, Ia that was the Reserve Grand Champ (a litter mate was Grand Champ) at the All Iowa Fair. Next year her offspring were champs at our county fair and for the following few years. That would have been about '53 thru '58 or '59.
We ground cobs and all when we had dairy cattle through 1955, but not for the hogs. Sows just got some ears thrown on the ground.
I tried to look Tamworths up on the 'net some time back and it seems they are now considered a "heritage breed" and not many people raise them. They were so tame as to be pretty much pets... very easy to handle compared to some other breeds.
 
I don't think I could name three people that still pick ear corn around here. I can think of two, but one doesn't pick it every year.

I think my feed is closer to $40/100. IIRC it is around $800/ton. I actually just switched to a more expensive company because the quality and service was TERRIBLE at my last feed supplier.
 
You can add water or milk if you can find it cheap to the ground feed made with the cob and all, it makes a nice mash that they will eat up real good. When you grind cob and all the feed gets a little dry and even dusty sometimes depending on how dry the ear corn was.
 
Like you said, you are doing it for a hobby and freezer meat, so if they dont gain as fast on what you feed em , wont matter as much to your operation. The big thing would be to find cheap or even free feed.
 
(quoted from post at 10:28:01 02/04/13) Like you said, you are doing it for a hobby and freezer meat, so if they dont gain as fast on what you feed em , wont matter as much to your operation. The big thing would be to find cheap or even free feed.

I don't think pork from the store has the flavor it used to have. It's my thinking that when all pork producers are concerned with is fast gain, or gain per cost of feed, the quality suffers. I realize they are in business for as much profit as possible, and might do the same if it were me. It may also have something to do with the faster gaining breeds, I don't know.
For several years, I bought a hog from a friend that raised just a few and sold them to individuals and took them to one of the local processors. I didn't buy them at 210-220, but had them fed to about 265-275... much better flavor, but gain is not as efficient when the hog gets bigger. Then the guy had the nerve to die and I couldn't get my meat from him any more.
Up to 1955 Dad fed out about 350-400 hogs a year, but when he downsized the farming he sold feeder pigs at about 40#. Now almost everything is BIG producers.
 
Thats pretty much what I did too until about 10 years ago. My hogs were older than most market wieght ones, and heavier. Processed at the local meat market. I fed them anything I could get my hands on that was cheap, even put a barrel at the local bakery for the old bread and stale donuts. That was really good meat.
 

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