mixer-grinder

i am considering buying an old mixer grinder to feed a few hog and was hoping you guys could point me in the right direction. I probably wont spend a lot on one so I will be looking at older machines. what are the better built grinders and witch ones should I avoid? what are some of the problem prone areas? can I run a mixer grinder with a 50 horse tractor or do I need to use a larger tractor. any info will help, thanks

I don't know to much bout the older ones, i run a newer Gehl 125 that has its own hydraulic system to run the feed auger and unload auger (which is extremly nice). I run it with a Oliver 77 (roughly 30 horse) and it handles it fine. have done cob and shell corn, it grunts with cobs. big thing is a bigger tractor is nicer in winter so you have more tractor weight to get traction on snow and ice for moving mixer around when its full

Back in the day I would rank them as I have listed these. Gehl New Holland John Deere Arts Way(arts way also made IH ). I do not know if anyone makes a new one anymore. Parts are a problem with all I have listed. A 50 hp tractor will run them just fine.

I grind with a Farmall M. I like using that one because it is so maneuverable around bins and feeders. It does just fine with everything except alfalfa bales. It doesn't like those but it grinds them just fine. My M is my loader tractor and has loaded tires - it is stout. Growing up we used a Farmall H which was fine but that isn't a very big tractor (we had sugar sand and didn't battle mud). When you have to drag a loaded grinder through the hog pen after it has rained 3 inches you are going to want some size behind it.

I have a JD 400 that I really like. They say to stay away from the 700's. Mine has the side auger which is a must as far as I am concerned. I don't have scales or hydraulic anything and do fine without. I don't use the grinder every day so I am good with driven augers and such. I know my mix ratios so I don't have a use for scales. I'm not that exact with my hog feed.

I have heard that the gearbox on them (400's) is obsolete but I see parts on eBay. I haven't needed anything but bearings and those I bought generics and had no problem finding them. If the seals go in my box I am going to fill it with grease and keep grinding.

You get what you pay for. Look at resale and that will tell you quality of the machine. I would either go with JD, New Holland, or Gehl. Look it over close. If it has ever been stored outside run from it as fast as you can. Like I say, I wouldn't do without the side auger. The rest is all extras. Look at the hammers, too. They can usually be turned three times. If they have been turned to the last side you had better bet the whole works is about worn out. Mine had been turned once and I have left them there.

I run a John Deere 400 with thirty hp with no real problem. You got to baby it a little with ear corn and a fine screen. I will then hook my 40 hp. tractor if its not tied up elsewhere. As the machine is getting old I baby it and don't get in any big hurry. Since I shovel my eared corn in, the older I get, it has no problem keeping up with me. I like you, was concerned when I got the grinder years ago, especially when the book showed it hooked to a 4020 JD.
I see allot of usable machines go for around 1500 bucks. Ones that a big operator wouldn't want to mess with but would work OK for a small guy just feeding a few head. I paid 1500 for mine about 15 years ago. I take good care of it and keep it inside and I've had no problem with it. I finish about 10 steers a year that I grind feed for about once a week.
There is a big Dairy guy down the road that has a almost new New Holland grinder mixer that he runs with about a 50 hp tractor. He has a bunch of big tractors sitting around he could use on it. So the 50 hp must do fine with it.

I have ground a lot of feed with just an H Farmall, it will make it work hard though depending on what you are putting through it. I have so far owned a New Holland, a Farmhand , a Gehl , IH , and a Green Isle. Each had their good and bad points but all were good units. I got in the habit of greasing before each use. Like the others said , check it over good, some of the bearings are a SOB to replace.

I started farming in "72 with a Gehl 65, then a Lorenz 100 (local MN brand), then a Gehl 100. Downside on Gehl now is they are out of ag equipment. 65 had some troublesome gears on unload side, but after replacing, was ok. Just a b to do that. I have no idea about current models and support- just so little small time livestock now. Over the years, power was everything from a WD-D17-3020-4020. All could handle them.....just shovel in accordingly.

My brother needed a grinder mixer. After talking to the neighbors and finding that they had to replace belts wuite often, he found a machine that used a double chain drive that eliminated the belt problems.

Don't remember the name of the machine, but he used it until he discontinued having livestock in the 70's.

Alway had Farmhand grinders good easy to run machine had a sheller that was built right into the machine just had to take a door out, now have a new holland not near the grinder, but have heard the IH grinders were built well and parts not hard to get.

I have a NH 355 but you need a bare minimum of 60 hp to get anything done with it. The main problem I find with this model is it's hopper tank. It's not a particularly effective mixer as I find a lot of stuff bridges in the void at the top of the cone where it meets the wall. A straight wall mixer with a wide sweep vertical mixing auger would work a lot better... As far as the rest of the machine goes... it's OK for moderate use. It's got a lot of open bevel gears and jaw clutches that will no doubt take a dump sooner or later.

Rod