Best grinder mixer?

[Crookedcreekjerseys]

Im just curious where everyones loyalty is for grinder mixers. I personally have a John Deere 700 with a hydraulic intake auger. That is an absolute ear corn eating machine but it takes some serious ponies for a grinder of its age. It will kill the engine in my ford 5610 series II if engaged at less than 1/4 throttle and even makes my white 2-105 grunt under a load. I sometimes wouldnt mind down grading a bit to a clean NH 352. Any other good mixers. Pictures of set ups are appreciated as well.

 

[rustred]

this is my set up, long ways from what your after. the 70 years old way of grinding grain.

 

[rustyfarmall]

Dad had a John Deere 400 model. Usually powered with a 3020 or 4020, but occasionally the old Farmall H was the only tractor available. It did the job just fine as long as we were not in a hurry.

 

[jon f mn]

Case is by far the best made, past or present. Lol The 50 hp DC handles it fine, but the other tractor at closer to 70 hp will take about all you can run through it.

Grinding feed

 

[fastfarmall]

I had a Arts-Way with the HD 540 shaft but i liked the Gelh, 21 inch, better, it pulled easier,My M on the grinder and the 806 packing the corn into the bagger !!

 

[Eagle Beagle]

These were the best in our part of the country many years ago. Neighbor and I built an earcorn grinder we bought from a closed alfalfa dehydrator and pelletizer North of us.
We could bring a 1066 Farmall down to it's knees if we fed it too heavy. The original mill was run with a 125 hp electric motor.
Bear Cat grinder mixer

 

[SVcummins]

Good looking outfit

 

[Destroked 450]

Our NH 352 ground a lot of feed before it finally rusted out to bad to patch
The Gehl 95 we have now pulls easier than the NH and has a wet molasses pump as well, but the unloading auger is really slow to unload

 

[casecollectorsc]

Got a Lorenz mixer mill...hydraulic input and unloading augers. Simple machine.

 

[tomstractorsandtoys]

I have 2 John Deere 400's. They are a good grinder but are known for gearbox problems and parts are no longer available. What happens is the seal on top the box wears and lets feed fines get into the gearbox. After awhile you get a cake mix and finally concrete. I change gearbox oil every year on mine just to keep a check on them. I had a NH 352 for years and all NH grinders are very good machines. Mine had a short unload auger so I replaced it with the Deere to reach my feed bin. If I were buying today it most likely would be a NH 353 or 355. Tom

 

[chuck from neb]

The new holland 355 and gehl 125 were the best grinders out there ...i preferred the new holland and i ground a lot of feed with these two machines. Ground a lot with with a 400 deere when i was a kid but the new holland or gehl are better machines

 

[4520BW]

I will agree the new holland 355 is hard to beat. We also have an old 352 that works great.

 

[72supr]

I have a NH 355 its a good outfit. I had a Brady for many years and that was a good grinder. They both had the same size mill.

 

[DoubleR]

I had a JD 400 for a long time but got nervous about the main gear box going out and not being able to get parts. I did have the gear box full of corn head grease. The JD dealer laughed at me when I ask about parts, no offense but I never seem to be able to it off with my JD dealers around me anyway. About 5 years ago I brought a Artsway 325 which has been working good for me. I've run both of these grinders with a 40-60 hp tractors which would do good on running ear corn through a 1/2 screen on the grinder. I have ran both of these with a 25 hp Kubota and a Farmall C when a bigger tractor was not available. The little tractors don't like it but will get the job done as long as I shovel the corn in slow. Most parts are still available for the Artsway which was a plus in making my decision.

 

[RGMartin]

One of the local feed mills does all their feed through a Gehl MX170 which is just the last update of the 125 before Gehl dumped the ag business. I am sure it has worn out several 1466 engines, that thing is always running.

 

[big tee]

By far the best mill made was a Deere 750--We had Artsways when I was a kid and Dad bought the 750 when I was in the service. Had a flat bottom with a mixing arm and you could grind high moisture ingredients and the feed would never bridge. Don't know why Deere quit making the 750 and the 700.

 

[swindave]

big tee, that is one nice looking 750 Deere grinder-mixer!

i always wanted a 700 or 750 mill

 

[JayinNY]

My friend who are used to help out had a New Holland 355 he seem to like it not many problems with it as far as I know.

 

[coonie minnie]

I like our NH 358. We had a Deere 400 prior to it. It seems the NH mills are easier to get parts for than the Deere ones.

 

[J.Wondergem]

I had a, I think Farmdhand. Don't remember what number, but a big one. It had 4 wheels and a oval shaped mixing bin. I ran the thing with a 540 Cockshutt with fine screens for pig feed. Didn't seem to take much power to run it.


I found a pictuer of it. It's a F85.

This post was edited by J.Wondergem on 12/18/2021 at 06:11 am.

 

[SVcummins]

Some of the deere dealers are arrogant

 

[SVcummins]

 

[NY 986]

A couple neighbors had Farmhand grinder-mixers. They both seemed to like them. This thread takes me back to college when guys
actually debated what was the best grinder-mixer or what was the best forage harvester. It usually came down to Gehl versus New
Holland. When dad had cows he had the local mill prepare a grain ration including soy meal. This was at a time when mills had to
bring roasted soybeans in from the Midwest as none were grown in the region at the time.

 

[LonM]

There has been a Lorenz mill on my family's farm since the early 70s. The hydraulic infeed and unload augers eliminate a lot of cumbersome bevel gears, shafts, chains, etc.

It has given very little trouble, but any mill needs to be shedded if it is going to last.

Lon

 

[fixerupper]

There was a lot of Arts Way and IH in my area. The factory is about 60 miles away from here. Arts Way made IH and Massey Ferguson grinder mixers but Arts Way and IH were the common ones. They were an OK grinder mixer but All I had was Arts Way so I cant compare to anything else. The 420 I used had a painfully slow unloading auger. All of those bevel gears in the unloading auger made a lot of noise but never gave much trouble as long as I kept a grease gun handy. I blame some of my hearing loss on not wearing hearing protection while standing beside that howling hammer mill.

 

[big tee]

The first Artsway we had, had that tire drive--Don't remember the model #--We went through more than one tire---

 

[big tee]

Not mine

 

[fixerupper]

The 420 I used was made sometime in the 60's, dad bought it used and after awhile it became mine. It was belt drive. I didn't know they had a tire drive. i remember sitting inside the tank welding away dripping with sweat. I got tingled every time I put a new rod in the stinger. I finally laid the rod down on something and grabbed it with the stinger that way. Never did have gear box troubles. I always engaged the unload auger with the mixer stopped. A 50 HP tractor wasn't enough power to feed the grinder at capacity but 50 HP was what I had available in yard tractors. The 1086 had about a half load on it when the grinder was pushed but the smaller yard tractors were much handier compared to the 1086. I ground almost all of the ear corn with the 1086 because 50 HP was painfully slow grinding ear corn. I joked I almost had to feed the grinder one ear at a time when I had the A Deere on it. The Oliver 88 was the handiest tractor to grind with if I had enough time to wait around.

 

[caterpillar guy]

Still have an old NH 350 bought it used on the early 70's sure has ground a lot of feed. Used to grind 2 batches per week for several years. Held 2 ton.

 

[Super H Mike]

I have had an IH, NH ,Farmhand, Green Isle and I rented a Lorenz a couple times. I think the NH was the best of the bunch. In a pinch I would need to grind feed with an H Farmall, that would make it struggle, especially oats or cob corn.

 

[SVcummins]

Nobody had an international ?