"Chews All" Chipper Chops Cull Potatoes For Cows

"Chews All" Chipper Chops Cull Potatoes For Cows DAIRY EQUIPMENT & IDEAS Dairy Equipment & Ideas 27-6-29 Although culled potatoes make good cattle feed, there's a risk: sometimes a cow chokes on one and dies. Jason Martin of St. Francis, Maine no longer needs to worry about this possibility, thanks to a potato chopper built by a nephew using old wood chipper knives. His brother, Richard, and nephew, Nathaniel, experimented in the garage until they had designed what they call a "Chews All" chopper that processes 165 lbs. of potatoes in about a minute, cutting them into 1/2-in. or smaller pieces. The Martins obtained some old wood chipper knives from a mill that was discarding them because they had become too dull for their purposes. They mounted them on a round piece of tubing, which is turned by a 2 hp electric motor. "There's a funnel-shaped hopper at the top of the cylinder which feeds the potatoes to the knives. A barrel underneath the knives and hopper collects the cut up potatoes," Jason explains. "It works really well and took only about two days to build. The materials, which included rough lumber, plywood, chipper knives and the motor, totaled about $400." If there's interest, the Martins could contact a manufacturer to build more units. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Jason Martin, J.A.R. Farms, 636 Main St., St. Francis, Maine 04774 (ph 207 398-3396).

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.