Montgomery Ward hammer mill with pre-chopper

Can anyone help me identify this model? It is an old Montgomery Ward hammer mill. This one is unique from the other Montgomery hammer mills I have searched because it has a pre-chopping unit in front of the milling chamber. The chopping unit has several blade with a twisted helix configuration like a real mower. The unit also comes with a toothed feed drum accompanying the feed belt. The gentleman I bought this from doesn't know anything about the unit. This unit does not have a name plate, but part numbers are still clearly stamped all over this thing.

Is it a hammer mill, or a burr mill? Hammer mill has free swinging hammers that grind and force the material through a screen. Burr mill often has the twisted roll to help it pull ear corn into the burrs. Post a pic?

It seems to me that it might be both. It has a hammer mill but also another stage in front that has blades like you deacribe. Do burr mills also have the hammer mill section with them; are burr mills two stage implements?

I think I know what you are talking about. It is a hammer mill either a 15" or 17" wide model with a self feeder for hay bales as well as for grain. Hor bales if narrower model lay on edge, wider flat and it will pull them in at a speed it cam handle to gring them up into alfalfa meal for hogs or chickens. But it can also be used to grind ear corn for cows or sheled corn for hogs or chickens and can be seet to feed to just what it will handle without overloading or pluging the feeder throught as a normal hammer mill with just the slide to put the grain on you can do. Built not later than 57 because it is not in the 58 catalog. And not sure where my older catalogs are now. I have never seen one only in the catalog and they cost about twice as much as the normal non self feeder models. The mill I used was a David Bradley 10" mill and we ground a lot of hay for hog feed with it but you had to tear all the slabs of hay apart befor tryimg to feed it in the mill. Ground all the baling chaff off the wagons after unloading to mow for use in hog feed. Way cheaper than the alfalfa meal you could buy at the local elevator to get mixed into your feed. And a lot better as that alfalfa meal as long as it tested to a certain abount could be 90% weeds where we had good high quality hay to put into the feed. A 1" screen will completely grind up any hay. We tried the 1/8" screen at first and found out things were better with the 1" but for cow feed the few tines we ground at home we would use a 1/2" screen. But trying to mix oats and corn and supplements with out a mixer was just too hard. Then we had to stake down outside barn every time wanted to grind feed. We would have a hundred burlap feed sacks filled at a time to take as needed to the elevator to be mixed into the hog feed when it was ground. That type of mill were very scarce as most were not conserned with the ability to grind a bale of hay into the feed. Were in the 49 catalog I have, not sure how much earlier they were made up to 56. I am now 74 and out of livestalk since early 80's.

Thank you. That is very helpful information indeed!

Hi spreadthewealth, my name is Sarah from Montgomery Ward. Thank you so much for sharing information related to your Hammer Mill. We love to hear how customers continue to use older Montgomery Ward products. After looking through our records, we unfortunately no longer have this information available to us. We're sorry we can't help you identify this. However, Montgomery Ward still offers an array of tools and appliances materials on our online catalogue: https://www.wards.com/Home-Store/Home-Improvement/Tools/All-Tools/index.cat. We hope this is helpful to you and thank you again for your patronage!

sarah_mw said:

Hi spreadthewealth, my name is Sarah from Montgomery Ward. Thank you so much for sharing information related to your Hammer Mill. We love to hear how customers continue to use older Montgomery Ward products. After looking through our records, we unfortunately no longer have this information available to us. We're sorry we can't help you identify this. However, Montgomery Ward still offers an array of tools and appliances materials on our online catalogue: https://www.wards.com/Home-Store/Home-Improvement/Tools/All-Tools/index.cat. We hope this is helpful to you and thank you again for your patronage!

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Huh, I thought Montgomery Ward died with the last dinosaur. I'm shocked to see this post. years ago i owned a Montgomery Ward walk behind garden tractor made by Simplicity. It was a very nice unit.
Andy

wheat straw said:

Huh, I thought Montgomery Ward died with the last dinosaur. I'm shocked to see this post. years ago i owned a Montgomery Ward walk behind garden tractor made by Simplicity. It was a very nice unit.
Andy

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From their website:
"In 2008 the "Montgomery Ward" brand was acquired by Colony Brands Inc., a family-owned direct-mail business that strives to continue the heritage, traditions and values of the brand that were inspired by the founder, Aaron Montgomery Ward."

They are strictly online sales only.

sarah_mw said:

Hi spreadthewealth, my name is Sarah from Montgomery Ward. Thank you so much for sharing information related to your Hammer Mill. We love to hear how customers continue to use older Montgomery Ward products. After looking through our records, we unfortunately no longer have this information available to us. We're sorry we can't help you identify this. However, Montgomery Ward still offers an array of tools and appliances materials on our online catalogue: https://www.wards.com/Home-Store/Home-Improvement/Tools/All-Tools/index.cat. We hope this is helpful to you and thank you again for your patronage!

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I had no idea Montgomery Ward still existed.

We had a Montgomery Ward Grain Buster hammer mill with a traveling feed table. With a 1951 JD G you could shovel ear corn as fast as possible with no lack of power, but if we put our 1946 JD A on it you had to ease back a bit. Dad mounted it on 2 long channel irons so we could move it in the corn crib so it was closer to the ear corn to shovel. One time the screen hanger broke and a piece that ran through the blower and straight up the pipe, creating a hole in the goose neck going to the dust collector. That piece is still stuck in the ceiling of the corn crib driveway. The paper flat drive pulley let go and Dad was still able to order a new steel one from Montgomery Wards (or Monkey Wards as I was used to hearing it said) to replace it. Over the years that pulley came loose and vibrated on the shaft. Dad died in 1970 so I was left to my own devices so I drove broken hack saw blades to try to fix it. I was only 16 and did not know how to fix it better. It worked for another three years until the rotor shaft broke off from too much vibration. I moved an older gravity fed hammer mill to replace it, but it's capacity was greatly less than the other mill. Through all the back aches and corn dust it is still a good memory.

Pipestem said:

I had no idea Montgomery Ward still existed.

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They've existed as an internet company for around 20 years. Don't think there are any stores left any more.

Mike