What does a grainavator do

[Farmall m farmer]

I’ve seen them go for 100 bucks at auctions before but what do they do

 

[DanielW]

I see them come up fairly often too, and had bid on a couple at a local online auction. I belive the company made a few products. Some mix mills, but their most common product seemed to be small-scale grain buggies. The ones I've seen have been about the same size as a 250 bushel gravity wagons, but trailer-style (axles in center) with an unloading auger built in. A good idea, but I can see why they don't bring much at auction these days. They don't have the large capacity nor high-speed axles/suspension of the modern, massive buggies. And being a trailer style, they're not as handy for hitching/unhitching as the same size of basic gravity wagon. And and old-school gravity wagons are already bringing peanuts at auction these days, because of their small capacity vs. larger yields and combines.

 

[oliverkid]

I’ve seen them go for 100 bucks at auctions before but what do they do

They are a feed wagon meant for filling bunks in feedlots. There were several makes of them. Grainovator, transomix, helix, Case sold one I believe made by helix, Deere had the model 68. I’m sure there were more. They had rotating spouts on the end of the unload augers. When the augers were in the vertical position you swung the spout back over the box and it would circulate to allow you to mix a feed ration. When you were done mixing you lowered the auger and swung the spout down and you could drive down an alley dumping feed directly into a bunk on the fly. Or whether other kind of feeding system you had. They were the 1950’s and 60’s equivalent to a TMR mix wagon. Never meant to be an in field grain cart although they can be and were used that way.

 

[Farmall m farmer]

They are a feed wagon meant for filling bunks in feedlots. There were several makes of them. Grainovator, transomix, helix, Case sold one I believe made by helix, Deere had the model 68. I’m sure there were more. They had rotating spouts on the end of the unload augers. When the augers were in the vertical position you swung the spout back over the box and it would circulate to allow you to mix a feed ration. When you were done mixing you lowered the auger and swung the spout down and you could drive down an alley dumping feed directly into a bunk on the fly. Or whether other kind of feeding system you had. They were the 1950’s and 60’s equivalent to a TMR mix wagon. Never meant to be an in field grain cart although they can be and were used that way.

So can you mix a tmr mix in them or is it just for mixing a corn ration

 

[bob p mn]

Years ago when we had a lot of turkey growers locally they always had the birds out on the range like cows on pasture. The farmers would have the feed stored in bins and would load it into the grain-o-vators and go out on the range and offload from the grain-o-vators into the turkey feeders that were out in the pasture. Next door neighbor had a gain-o-vator brand and a uncle had a Case Helix. My Dad bought one from a neighbor and we used it to haul oats from the combine to the grainery.

 

[bradley martin]

So can you mix a tmr mix in them or is it just for mixing a corn ration

No, you could NOT make a TMR ration in one as they could not handle silage or forages. Strictly grain, whole or ground.

 

[8850dave]

No, you could NOT make a TMR ration in one as they could not handle silage or forages. Strictly grain, whole or ground.

Grainovator company made 3 models 10 and 20 which were grain only augers in the bottom and an unload auger and they made a model 30 with a chain on the bottom and larger auger on front which was designed for forages as well.

 

[8850dave]

No, you could NOT make a TMR ration in one as they could not handle silage or forages. Strictly grain, whole or ground.

Knoedler also made these type and some had a smaller bin on front which protein could be added and mixed as it was unloaded also was an ajustable setting to allow the farmer to set the protein amount it let out while unloading

 

[Brownie450]

We have a couple of Heider auger wagons. As far as
mixing feed/ rations, they didn't work. They tended
to unload from the front of the wagon & then worked
to the rear. If you tried to auger feed directly back
into the wagon, it would just auger the same feed
around & around instead of mixing it.
Jim

 

[David from Kansas]

We (brothers and I) shared the use of a Grain-O-Vator, I think it was a model 60 which had a box about 6' x 10', tandem axle, chain apron in the bottom of the box, PTO driven with a belt that drove the apron and beaters, three rotating beaters vertically in the front. Pretty reliable, replaced a few bearings on occasion and also the belt. We used it to feed silage in bunks. Fed from a trench silo with concrete bottom.

 

[bradley martin]

Grainovator company made 3 models 10 and 20 which were grain only augers in the bottom and an unload auger and they made a model 30 with a chain on the bottom and larger auger on front which was designed for forages as well.

Thanks for the information. I have not seen one of the forage model 30s.

 

[spacechem]

I’ve seen them go for 100 bucks at auctions before but what do they do

As others have said, not intended as a combine tender. There were several manufacturers and many different configurations available. Grainovator actually built some of the later Deere series (not the 68). We had a Knoedler- had a fixed vertical auger in back that connected to a horizontal auger that raised hydraulicly (with a lever in back like a hyd. jack) and a crank to swing it. Handy because we could reach across a fence to fill round pig feeders or back it into wooden walk-in feeders.

It parked next to a Letz burr mill in the driveway of the corn crib. Shelled corn for pigs or ear corn for cattle (occasionally some oats) were fed into the mill that had a similar up-and-over auger to fill the wagon. Often the same tractor was used to power the mill so was not hitched to the wagon- you had to be very careful to fill the front first!

An old push broom repurposed with a board was used to push/pull the feed to level the wagon. Once the load was at the desired level, mill was shut down and tractor hitched to the wagon. Over to another shed where we kept a gravity wagon with bean meal which was measured out by weight and spread on top of the ground feed. Any supplements were spread on top of the bean meal.

No need for 'mixing', it was neat to watch the feed fall into the horizontal auger on its own and was thoroughly mixed by the time it came out the spout.

 

[Farmall m farmer]

Ok this all make a lot more sense I have looked inside a few and I didn’t think they would hold up to putting hay or silage in them

 

[tomstractorsandtoys]

I’ve seen them go for 100 bucks at auctions before but what do they do

I have Deere 68 and it makes a nice seed tender for filling the drill. Sometimes we haul grain away from the combine.

 

[johnnmr]

We used to have supplement in one when we ground feed for dad's hogs. I don't think they'd be useful for anything else.

 

[Fixingfarmer]

We had 2 heiders that were shaped like the ones above. The grain-o-vater dad has is generally the same same but 2 axle two bins and a auger long enough to reach his hopper bins probably 14 foot long or so. out of the main storage bin into the feeding hopper is what he uses his for then you don't have to setup a second auger or move the one you have. Like said above the small ones were to attempt to mix and then fill a bunk. we used them to collect fines and before the grainovator to do the same bin to bin maneuver just needed a second auger. They worked kinda. and by the time you had moved it through the 4 augers you essentially had cracked corn. Thats mostly the opinion of others i've talked to as well since in my lifetime we didn't mix with them. if you went away for an hour it would be mixed good.