Tub Grinder Doubles As A Bedding Blower

Tub Grinder Doubles As A Bedding Blower HAY & FORAGE HARVESTING Bale Handling (5) 21-3-39 Looking for an easier way to put corn stalk bedding in his 80-ft. long Cover-All "hoop" hog buildings, Douglas Batz, Lytton, Iowa, converted an old Farmhand 880 tub grinder into a "bedding blower" by mounting an Allis-Chalmers silo blower - equipped with the spout off a Fox pull-type silage chopper - on back of it. "I use it to shred round corn stalk bales and then blow the chopped stalks into both ends of the buildings. It blows the stalks 30 to 40 ft.," says Batz. He bought a used tub grinder from a Colorado dealer for $3,000 and paid $100 for the silo blower. The tub grinder's knives are pto-driven and the tub is rotated by a hydraulic motor-driven rubber tire mounted on back. The tub grinder was originally equipped with a chain conveyor at the bottom that delivered shredded material onto a belt conveyor that stuck out the back of the machine. Batz removed the belt conveyor and replaced it with a small U-shaped steel trough that delivers shredded stalks directly into the blower. The blower was originally equipped with a 12-ft. conveyor which Batz removed. The tub grinder's driveshaft turned in the opposite direction required by the blower so he had to find a way to reverse direction to power the blower. The blower was originally equipped with a pto shaft and right angle gearbox that belt-drove the fan. He added a second gearbox (salvaged from an old New Idea 717 combine) in front of the blower gearbox and ran a shaft from that gearbox to an adaptor on the tub grinder driveshaft. He mounted the silo blower on a frame made out of 3-in. sq. steel tubing that bolts to the back of the tub grinder. He also bolted the Fox silage chopper's directional spout on top of the blower. Batz finishes out about 200 hogs in each of three 30 by 84-ft. Cover-All buildings. "I had been using a loader to drop the bales over a 4-ft. high gate at the end of each building. Then I had to roll the bales into the building, cut the twine, and spread the stalks. Corn stalk bales aren't easy to roll around, especially after they settle. "I use a 160 hp tractor to operate the bedding blower. I mounted a crank on the blower chute so that I can manually direct it from side to side. "It works better than commercial round bale shredder-blowers which can blow corn stalks only about 15 ft. or less. Some tub grinders can distribute material onto the ground in a pile or blow it onto a wagon, but they can't blow the stalks over a gate. I got a good deal on the tub grinder - normally a used one like mine would sell for $6,000 to $7,000. My total cost was less than $3,500. "I wanted to use an in-line reversible gearbox with a 1:1 ratio to drive the blower but I couldn't find one. I decided to use the Allis-Chalmers silo blower because it al-ready had a right angle gearbox. "The frame that holds the blower on the tub grinder is hinged so I can swing the blower away whenever I want." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Douglas Batz, 2452 Fletcher Ave., Lytton, Iowa 50561 (ph and fax 712 466-2446).

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