I am back in the feed grinding business! The New Holland 358 is back together and has to come apart again...

When I was a kid, our Moline M670 Super was a new tractor. 1967 was not that long ago. It is a little hard to realize that my 1980's New Holland 358 Mixer-Grinder can't be that old. I mean didn't Sperry-Rand just sell New Holland to Ford? Or was it Fiat? All these recent changes in farm equipment manufacture ownership has got me mixed up. If only New Idea still owned White.

But, I digress...

I have the 358 back together. 

If you can. remember about ten days ago I pulled the gearbox apart as it started running just a little bit hot. Click here to timetravel to this event. I also talked about the process in this post. I was rebuilding the gearbox then.

Portrait of the Artist as an Old man..

Of course I have to take it apart again. 

After I make a ton of feed. I actually have an order for oat/alfalfa pellets. 

The coupler between the driveline and gearbox is split through the set screw hole. Did not see that until I was installing the gearbox. 

I wish I would have seen this was cracked ten days ago when I was ordering parts. But! another order from ABC Groff  might get me another refrigerator magnet and a Pen! I wonder how much I have to buy to get a hat? Oh man, a nice winter baseball hat. I do need one of those.

Gearbox installation is actually very straight forward. You lift the gearbox up with a floor jack, turn it 90 degrees to clear the frame, turn it back, install the four nuts holding it on. Don't forget the one bolt has a shim, and knock the coupler back on the shaft till the drive sprocket aligns for the unloading auger. Tighten the set screw till the collar splits and then back off half a turn to close the gap. I figure the locktite will hold it for a while.

The gearbox was not hard to install. You do need to block the mixing auger so it is centered. It is not real hard to move around from underneath but its all a bit awkward on your back on the gravel. I filled the gearbox and plugged the fill hole before installation. There is a filler pipe that you install later.

I ordered the Sprocket/coupler from A.B.C Groff in Pennsylvania.

It is New Holland Part Number 714700

It looks like I got their last one! Here is their info. Seems like a good place to do business with. 

Email parts@abcgroffinc.com or Call 717-354-8000

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Supplying parts...not empty wallets!

GET IT FIXED! DEERE & NEW HOLLAND AFTERMARKET PARTS!

Political rant, just ignore this one...

My brother got me a new hat for Christmas. Should I affect a gravel voice and start a podcast where I talk about how much i love cows and rant about big farmers harshing my mellow?

Liberals are now pro second amendment. Also, White Liberals just invented getting shot by the Police.

They are having a field day with this, as they can now make Kyle Rittenhouse memes and use the general annoying white liberal smug moral superior smile and claim irony. I am sure they will work the terms "gaslighting," and "narcissism," into the mix and hopefully someone will get to use the term "dog whistle," but not in the phrase, "I wish the lady in pink would shove her dog whistle up her arse..."

I attempted to get a good discussion out of my Black Liberal friend but he went into debate mode and started ranting about things like, did the man say he wanted to kill cops? Or, show me the exact stories of other people shot by cops for doing the same thing, and then it degenerated into a White people are evil speech. Not very useful.

I wasn't trying to exactly argue because it falls into the realm of what to do when rules don't match reality. 

The dude that got shot, brought a gun to a place where he came into physical contact with Federal officers. Its one of those things that you learn not to do from watching cop videos on youtube, conceal carry class, your relatives who got beat up by Cops, people you know who were hassled for concealed carry, ordinary folks who had a gun in their car and got stopped.  I there are examples online but I honestly don't know a lot of people who were foolish enough to conceal carry at a potentially violent protest.

So that is one thing. 

Second Amendment people have been complaining about people being shot by cops for years and no sympathy from the lefties. I now see some libertarian groups questioning the shooting but most of us "crazy right wingers," are still in the "well, the shoe is on the other foot now," stage.

Secondly, there were things the cops/feds could not know and so they made assumptions. Is this logical, well no, but would you do it, well yes... The whole, Was he legally carrying? Was he a nurse? Was he a wonderful person in real life? or Had he threatened to kill ICE agents, was he an activist? Was he going to use the gun to commit mass murder? Was he just afraid of being mugged?

They just go by their training. Good or bad.

Other questions that are being used to spin the event,  Was he helping a lady who fell down/pushed down? Was he a kind medical professional just trying to help or was he interfering with an arrest? Did he try to draw or did he have the continual "phone out recording," thing going on.

Personally, I think it was pretty obvious he was deeply involved in anti ICE protests and had that gun with him because he thought he was a Freedom fighter and had truth and justice behind him. It was one of those vanity guns that people buy cause they do a lot of research and want to be tactical so its like he brought his freaking "Sword of Avalon." He just never had the balls to pull it out and use it. But that is just me. Not passing judgement as if he truly believed the Feds were evil bastards torturing kind and generous families then who am I to pass judgement on a true believer.

Personally, I think the Cops/Feds freaked out like they always do, (and are trained to do) at the cry of "Gun," and backed up and shot him. Maybe the Fed who pulled the gun out of his waistband, (seriously, he had it stuffed in his pants?) dropped it or pulled the trigger and the gun went off. I don't know that but you could hear the first shot and then they all back up and unload on him, as per cop training.

Also, the anti ICE people with the support of the governor of Minnesota were calling for armed resistance. There were pictures of "residents," protecting their neighborhoods with rifles. You really think the ICE agents were even thinking about 2A rights when they saw it on a guy who was in their zone of defense? (or aggression, if you are a lib)

Obviously this event will be/has been talked to death. People are going to do the serious debate thing and argue over the definition of "is," and miss the serious discussion points of this event.

I hate to see the deep entrenchment of opposing ideology. I find myself wishing the cops would have also shot the screaming harpies. The shite-eating grin on that ladies face just before she hit the gas kind of made me happy she got shot. I really shouldn't feel that way. I hate to see people being really happy for the over aggressive tactic of Federal agents because they would do the same thing to me if/when I have a cause I feel serious enough about that I would go toe to toe with the strong arm of the gubment...

The reason that really got me to this rant was that Art got me going down a rabbit hole when he brought up Biden's Immigration plan a couple days ago.

Upon research, (ok, I asked CoPilot) I discovered that what my former coworker said about Obama was true.

Obama has deported more illegals than Trump. This includes Trump's first term. But of course the only people angry about that were the Mexicans he deported and their cousins who imported them.

The difference between Trump and Obama is two fold. First, the immigration problem under Bush was single men of working age. Obama deported them at the border, or after identification checks, or as soon as they committed a crime and were caught. 

Secondly Obama kept a low profile. (also he didn't have a well funded and well organized "I hate Obama," group of deranged elderly women) 

Trump campaigned on deporting gangs and criminals. He has been high profile. He brags about it. This is one of the reasons he got support from Hispanics. They assumed he would go after the criminals came along with the unrestricted illegal immigrations policies of Biden's handlers.

Also, the profile of illegals has changed. Under Biden, many families were bought in and were settled basically as refugees but with somewhat questionable status. Their applications are pending or they were brought in by NGO groups and were quasi legal. Trump campaigned on deporting gangs but this proved to be pretty messy. Many of these felons were hard to find and some had families. In the push to fill quotas ICE agents would just detain everyone who fit a profile and make them prove legal status. Not a good plan.

This fell directly into the "made for press," scenarios the well funded and well organized anti-Trump fanatics were looking for. With a sympathetic press and an activist educational establishment suddenly we have a "humanitarian crisis," and ready made network of protestors.

My personal opinion that this will not end well for us, just leave us alone , types. Judging from what happened in other Socialist inspired revolutions there will be a severe liberal backlash and they will go for anyone remotely connected to trump or conservative religion, gun rights, individual property rights, the usual targets of the left. They are all insane with righteous indignation and religious zeal so it will go bad fast. (See NY and Virginia)

The people who don't get involved, the "Sims," the "NPCs" will vote for liberal lunatics or not vote at all because they are not that smart. They respond to emotions and perceptions. If the economy fails to improve they will vote opposition. If Trump fails to maintain the perception that there is order in society, they will vote opposition. On the contrary, Trump might tell a heckler to fuck off again and get a huge spike from the "disgruntled males in general," and there will be a huge spike again in Black and Hispanic votes. If the economy booms and interest rates go down then Trump aligned politicians will benefit. It has nothing to do with truth or justice.

The problem with NPC voters or bland christian voters is they all of a sudden decide Trump in a meanie and so all conservatives are hypocrites and well darnit, "I will just throw the baby out with the bathwater!" (True story) Then we get the results seen in the Virginia election...

To sum it up.

Things are going wrong and I don't see a good ending... Probably better having a reckoning now than later. At least we don't have Kamala and Waltz, yet...

Grandpa Champ says you should alway switch off Appliances before working on them but I say, what is the point of paying for a GFI if you don't use it!

Most folks do not understand electricity. When I say "most folks," I am actually saying, "I don't understand electricity, especially 220v)

Did you know that on most electric ranges, the oven heating element is energized at all times. The switch only switches one leg of the 220v line in. So, L1 is always hot and L2 is switched by the oven control.

You may ask me how I know that and I will only answer that now I have amazing super powers and can throw lightning bolts. 

But the oven works and now my wife can make more cinnamon rolls...

Look at that! A working oven element. I fixed something. The first thing I have successfully repaired this year.

This was so funny that I had to post it. DT on a dollar! I am going to order a few to give out at Christmas. I tried to get CoPilot to add a big ole spliff and change to motto to High AF but CoPilot told me this was disrespectful and wouldn't do it.

I go slightly off the rails and explain Immigration Policy to you Racist Colonizer arseholes! Nothing about feed grinders in this post!

When I worked at the University I would occasionally have coffee with the President. It was nice and made me feel more important than I was. 

Actually, I would drive my little cart over to his office and take him to a baseball game or once in a while we would go to the real Starbucks in the Albertson's parking lot. This probably didn't make me popular with management but I am pretty much clueless most of the time and I thought it was all in good fun.

He would ask me my view on topics he thought grumpy conservative farmers would have opinions on, and I didn't take offense at the time. Sometimes I would try and divert the conversation as I figured it would start to go wrong.

When he asked me how I felt about "Replacement Theory," I made a joke about aliens inhabiting human bodies or something similar because I knew where that conversation was going.

I was right...

Now to admit my bias. 

This is a topic which adds to my view of liberalism as a kind and benevolent ideology in which we debate for the sake of positive social change.

Conservatives, perhaps I should say, "right wing crazies," started been noticing an influx of brown people for years. It was not that much of an issue as most of those people were coming from next door and were hardworking people we could identify with.

There were the occasional "They took our Jobs," angry protests usually ginned up by opportunist and mean politicians who were using "hate," to divide people and get elected so they could oppress women and minorities.

But as time went on it two things started to appear as trends to many people who were generally clueless about politics and just wanted to be left alone.

First was the widespread illegal immigration, which seemed to go hand in hand with drug smuggling, or at least that is what the local barely legal folk seemed to be terrified of. 

Also, there seemed to be a priority for resettlement of refugees that were people of color but people of color whose beliefs were easily radicalized and if so, essentially incompatible with traditional American Values. These people were being resettled in places where they could form voting blocs and where they did not have to assimilate into local culture.

At the same time... It became harder and harder to legally immigrate legally if you were White. Especially if you were from a place hated by the libs. Like South Africa. 

For the casual observer it was not that much of a stretch to think that the point was to make up for our declining birthrate by importing nonwhite, nonChristian people. 

Here is the punchline... Essentially REPLACING white people with people of Color... 

Of course this is racist because it implies that someone is doing this on purpose. Everyone knows this is just a random correlation because White people exist to oppress Brown people and so Brown people need to move to places where they can have a better life.

This racist frustration by people who probably have Southern Accents and have guns must be codified and labeled so the Southern Poverty Law Center can track them. Thus, the term "Replacement Theory," was developed to label those bastards as the racist hateful people they are.

Now I went to college and I used to hang out with Ed-u-cated people and I know that we just want to make the world a better place and so putting a priority on people who are not part of what we perceive as the dominant culture/religion/ethnicity and therefore don't have what we call PRIVILEGE is only fair and just. 

This is not "REPLACEMENT THEORY," this is Diversity and Inclusion and is driven by high mindedness, kindness, compassion, and the desire to make the world a better place! (white guilt is a good thing. We should all have it because we are Evil Bastards)

In fact, when the liberal elites in our taxpayer subsidized Educational/Industrial complex talk about how great it will be when we have removed the "old white men," from power and have broken the White European Colonialist stranglehold on this country, they are NOT talking about Replacing White people with everyone else (preferably those who hate White Folks), they are talking about making the world a FAIR and Equitable place.

In conclusion, for all you racist arseholes who read this blog (5), 

Replacement theory=RACISM!!!! 

Making the world a more equitable place by promoting Diversity and Inclusion by promoting People Of Color and giving them money to start daycare services and Quality Learing Centers is just making the World a more fair and Just place. Cause Love=Love! Also, you can't hug a kid with Nuclear Arms! (Unless you are Steve Austin) Save the Whales! Also, MORE BICYCLES!!!

OBVIOUSLY!!!

A good COB mix that I turned into chicken feed and I try to find parts for my New Holland 358 mixer-grinder

It appears that the low commodity prices have finally filtered down to the local feed sales. I have made one sale in the last three weeks. That was the batch that killed the mixer grinder.

It ended up being 4600lbs due to a failure to shut off a bag when loading barley. Instead of 800lbs I put in 1400lbs and had to recalculate everything.

This is a Corn, Oats, Barley mix that I fortified with peas, clover seed, and alfalfa to hit 14.5% protein. I also added 8 gallon of molasses.

I forgot I had an order for chicken feed so turned some of it into chicken feed by adding red peppers, garlic, and Oregano, and I added peas and clover to boost protein. I had to re-pellet it to add the extras and put it into 45lb bags. I did 30 bags so I have extra to sell.

The mixer-grinder project is getting expensive. The gearbox was in pretty bad shape. I had to order new input and output shafts. I am have a lot of trouble getting the drive hub off the shaft. I got it red hot and let it cool and then applied ATF and Acetone mixture. The mixture penetrated the splines and leaked all the way through but the hub won't budge.

I repeated the heat process and letting it cool over night. I will apply another done of ATF/Acetone tomorrow.

The slightly glowing part is the drive hub for the 358 New Holland Mixer-Grinder. There is an update but the kit is no longer available. I am in the heat-cool-reheat stage. Monday I will try the press.

ABC Groff is a company in Pennsylvania that makes new parts for the mixer-grinder. They were quite helpful. And Cheaper the New Holland.
Another excellent reference/supplier is Walt's Tractor Company. They sell complete use gearboxes and would have been cheaper than buying the parts. But, they were out.

This is the old input shaft. The splines are usable but the seal surface was worn past putting a sleeve on it.

I have a book so I have some point of reference. The first thing to do when buying a used piece of farm equipment is go on Ebay and buy a service manual

It started with the idea that most people act like the Sims in an old computer game, and then I go off subject

Why do groups of people do what they do and believe what they believe?

I have been watching the TV and I am completely amazed by the cultural divide and how both sides interpret events completely differently and in my opinion, completely wrong.

When I was in college I did a paper on the 100th Monkey. The study is now discredited but the idea was based on a study of monkeys on uninhabited islands. Supposedly when a certain number of monkeys on one island (one hundred) all started doing one behavior, then other monkeys on other isolated islands also started doing the behavior.

It was an idea of collective consciousness. Modern research does not support this concept but I wonder if it has merit. Especially after watching the progression of Trump Derangement Syndrome.

The Monkey Theory presumed there was no communication or observation, so the only way for the behavior to have been transferred was through shared consciousness.

I remember many years ago when I first played Sim City on my Machintosh SE. I stayed up half the night watching my city grow and trying to manipulate the Sims to move into my neighborhoods. The sound of Godzilla emerging from the ocean to wipe out my City still haunts my sleep. If you were to say, "Skywatch 1 Reporting Heavy Traffic," I would immediately recognize a kindred spirit.

Why did the Sims move in and why did the Sims move out? Obviously an algorithm in the game which I could never see.

I just read a post online talking about Oregon politics. Us conservatives go off on crazy liberals and vote by mail. Every lost election is a result of Vote By Mail fraud. I have been saying this as a joke for years but didn't realize Republicans actually believe this.

We as people believe things to be true based on something other than facts. In fact the very term, "The Cold Hard Facts of Life," (Check out Travis Chandlers version of this song) is biased to the perception of the person describing what they believe to be the cold hard facts of life.

The truth as I see it. (See what I did there)

We curate our intake of information to support what we need to rationalize our lives. We adopt deeply held beliefs for instinctive reasons that we don't understand.

What I find amazing is the manipulation of public perception. A major part of the public is convinced that ICE is arresting and deporting every brown skinned person they see. 

Many people in my peer group believe ICE is only targeting criminals.

I have gotten in trouble for calling BS on this. Cops are cops and Feds are just cops with no accountability so they go after the low hanging fruit. They don't want to get shot going after gangsters, plus the gangsters probably have bought off someone higher up or the gang is a CIA front so gangsters are pretty safe. (Most Hispanics I know tend to agree with me)

So, being lazy, I asked CoPilot. "What are the statistics for number of innocents detained by ICE vs actual criminals."  Note: I understand the phrasing of my question affects the answer of an AI source.

CoPilot gave me this statistic, "Current most authoritative data shows roughly three quarters of people detained by ICE have no criminal convections at all."

So I asked, "How often does ICE detain U.S. Citizens. CoPilot responded with a lot of incomplete statistics but I did manage to get this quote, "ICE's own systems have repeatedly misidentified citizens as, "removable aliens," leading to wrongful arrests and detentions."

The opposition says that only criminals are deported. Lars Larson gets to 100 percent illegal as he says every illegal is a criminal because they violated the law to get here. His usual lazy logic...

Well, that didn't go as expected...

I wanted to believe ICE was not as incompetent as I feared. I suppose now is the point where I question my sources and fall back on ideology. Plus, I have to go to work.

In conclusion...

1. Trump and Co. is screwing up the next election the same way he manage to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory six years ago. I was a little worried when I saw the Crazy MTG lady depart. The administration was tasked with deporting illegals. They failed to keep discipline and the usual Jackbooted Feds are doing what they always do. Going after the easy pickings.

2. I really dislike the Democrat establishment more than ever. Their cynical maneuver of open borders flooded us with illegals and switched our illegal immigration problem from individuals sneaking in at night, to cartels and major money in human smuggling and all the graft, corruption, drugs, and violence that comes with it.

3. Probably the only plan that the government is capable of carrying out with any success would be a lockdown of the border and general amnesty of people already here. However, it didn't work before due to an utter refusal by both parties to come up with a coherent immigration policy.

4. We are screwed...

On another topic

Why do the Cat and Dog always take my chair????

Animals do NOT belong in the house.

How to remove the gearbox on a New Holland 358 Mixer-Grinder

My New Holland 358 Mixer-Grinder failed.

This is an embarrassing post. It is entirely my fault.

I didn't change the oil!!!

I bought this mixer-grinder ten years ago. I had been making feed for a couple people and the deal was that I was to borrow a New Holland 357 in exchange for making the people feed. When I took my groundskeeping life detour my neighbor reclaimed the mixer-grinder and bought his own no-till drill and the other neighbor hired someone else to chop his silage.

This could have been a clue... I was out of the club...

But, I digress...

Mixer-Grinders are impossible to find. I found this one on Craigslist and it was like three hours away. It had a hay feeder and the fellow swore it was ready to run. In fact, he agreed to deliver it for the moderately high price he was asking.

I had forgotten about this detail, but one of the selling points was that he had filled the main gearbox with corn header grease and it would never need to be serviced again. (corn header grease is solid at room temp but quickly melts when used in a gear box)

Now here is where I went wrong. 

It is really hard to crawl under the New Holland 358 mixer-grinder. But, I have a forklift. I needed to get the gearbox warm and drain the grease. In fact, I really thought I did. I can remember working on it when it was 100 degrees and draining crap out of the gear box and refilling it with 90 weight. I don't know.

BUT....

What I never knew is that the seal between the gearbox and the mixing auger was out. This allows fines to work into the gearbox and mix with the grease. The grease will never completely drain through the small drain hole and so it forms a goup.

I did succeed in getting 90 wt into the gearbox because when it failed there was a puddle of 90 wt underneath.

What I did to make it fail.

The hydraulic conveyer I use to meter material into my mixer grinder quit. The belt broke. So I used the unloading auger on the Mixer-Grinder to fill the mill. I just idled the tractor down and let it run slow. I NEVER do this.. I always make a batch and then dump it into bags or the loader hopper and then shut of mixer. If you run the mixer too much at too high a speed all the fines settle to the bottom. You also wear hard to change bearings.

Yesterday I dropped the gearbox out.

It was surprisingly easy. (With a forklift)

First I blocked up the mixing auger. Then I removed the unloading auger drive chain from the main shaft and pounded the main drive to gearbox coupler back on the splined drive shaft. I used lots of penetrating oil and steel wedges to get the shaft moving.

Next I blocked up the gearbox and removed the four nuts holding it on. I rotated the gear box clockwise (I think) 1/4 turn and got out of the way.

When I pulled the cover off the gearbox it was solid burnt grease and fines. I cleaned it with a pocket knife and a big screw driver.

The gears are pretty bad. All the bearings and seals are bad. Probably need at least one new shaft. Plus, I have to figure out how to build a new seal. CoPilot says they can find me a more modern seal if I give them the shaft size. I think I will just cut one out of a truck mudflap...

I will drop some photos and then I have to go to work. My Nephew says I have to help deliver a load of hay today. I think he is trying to kill me so he can live in my trailer house and have my Studebaker car...

Bottom line is this: If you buy a 30 year old mixer grinder for cryin out loud, CHECK THE GEARBOX! Better yet, just remove it and clean it out. It wasn't that hard to do...

I uploaded my pictures in reverse order...

There is supposed to be a felt seal under the red shield that keeps dust out of the slightly charred gearbox. 

This is what came out of the gearbox with a fair amount of work

Digging out the crap

Solid crap under the shield

The gearbox is out!

A view from below

How to safely and properly lift a New Holland 358 Mixer-Grinder

Carefully blocking up the auger

Selling Feed to people with different cultural backgrounds

I am not a good salesman. I don't start high and dicker. I start low and get grumpier.

Friday morning our friend Jose was out for coffee. He wanted a plastic barrel for water. His wife is convinced the power is going to go off again and she wants water for dishes and the bathroom.

Jose, being a farmer like the rest of us, over achieved. He brought his wife a 350 gallon plastic tote. "We will never have to fetch water again," says Jose.

The wife did not approve.

This was pretty funny as I could imagine the reaction to a giant Round-Up tote in my front yard, even with the best of intentions.

I found him a nicer 55 gallon barrel that was clean and didn't look bad. 

We were talking about selling oats. Oats are not selling. There are not as many cows out there as we imagine. The price got so high people just sold them. 

His buddy has cows and is always looking for cheap feed. I told Jose I would sell a big bag that weighed 800-1000lbs for $120 or $100 to him. He gets on the phone to his friend and makes the sale. I did tell Jose he could have it for $100 and keep the difference...

Later in the afternoon his friend shows up. New pickup and fancy wheels. He is overjoyed to get such a good deal on my "special," oats and hands me $150! He just bought a 1000lbs of screenings for $300 a ton. (groats-oats with the hulls stripped off by the combine)

Sad thing is that this guy will not buy my oat, barley, corn pellets for $350-$450 per ton. Too expensive... But he will pay $350 a ton to his friend who seriously upsold a bag of screenings!

Got a good laugh out of that one...

These are Baylor Oats which had the hulls knocked of in the combine. (groats) They should be higher protein in proportion to fiber without hulls. Are they a premium product or are they screening?

On top of the world! Newphews are now on there way home. Oregon or Bust mode...or so I hear

 I just got this "proof of life," picture in my messages. They are at the top of Monarch Pass in Colorado and headed home! It is running fine. The word is vacuum leaks and a spark plug problem. One plug had the electrode bent down some how. We did not get an update gas mileage report.

The illustrious 1970, 71, 72 Ford F250 Hi-Boy at 11,312 Feet atop the Continental divide. Its all downhill from there!

You got to stand and face it, Life is so complicated-License issues with Making feed from your own farm grown ingredients in Oregon

Yesterday was cold and wet. Yesterday was not a day that inspired productivity.

However, I had a customer who ran out of pig feed and I had a bin of Chicken feed pellets setting in the barn absorbing moisture. So I pulled myself out of my easy chair and went to work...

I was thinking I should boost the peas and corn ratios for pigs or add barley. The mix was 17 percent protein but much of the protein was from clover seed and I feel peas are better for the pigs.

But, my customer was happy with the mix and so I filled a couple barrels for her.

I set up to bag the rest and put an ad on FaceBook marketplace when it hit me.

I can't sell a whole feed ration in Oregon without a license and label.

Well, that is not a big deal, I will get the license and three labels. Sum Pig, Super Chicken, and Oats/Alfalfa.

Except, that is not as simple as I thought.

If I am doing a custom mix for a customer, the label or invoice must include, my name and address, the customer, date of delivery, net weight, ingredients by name, guaranteed analysis, Crude Protein (min), Crude Fat (min), Crude Fiber (max), Moisture (max)

This is where it gets sticky. 

I can make custom mixes with a basic license. I can sell the customer the grain and then process it to the customer's specifications because I can take the customer's grain and charge him to process it. It seems like I don't need a license for that.

But it is a grey area.

AND, I can't sell what is left over.

If I go with a labeled feed then I have to keep the ingredients constant and I have to provide more information on the label. Of course I just have to do that once and print a bunch of labels. But, I just wanted to do batches for individuals. The business model was not to be selling 40lb bags to random individuals on Marketplace, the idea was to have regular monthly customers who would buy 40lb bags or 1000lb bags, or 55 gallon drums. Technically this also won't work because I can't make one batch and sell to 15 people.

Here is a link to the actual law. (Click Here)

This is my current build sheet for a ration. I can use this to figure the cost to me or the customer. I then add on the processing fees. Mixing grinding 1/2 hr $60, pellet mill 1 hr $120, extra ingredients: Garlic (1lb) $10, Red Pepper (1lb) $9. It appears I need to add Crude Fat and Crude Fiber. More complicated...

In the past I consulted with a local feed seller and I called the Department of Agriculture. No one really seemed to care what I was doing as I was raising my own ingredients and selling from my own farm.

At the minimum I am going to have to add columns for Crude Fat, and Crude Fiber to my spreadsheet. 

As the Straw Man said to Dorothy, "I wish I had a brain..."

This is the 4 mm pellet out of the new PelletMasters mill. This is the above mentioned chicken mix. Pellets held up pretty well in an open bin

This is my rather crude hopper. I have it mounted on a pallet so I can move it with the forklift. It is tall enough I can fill a 55 gallon drum. I need to put a block under the 40lb bags.

My plan to dedicate my PowerBook 180 to calculating feed has come to naught. For some reason it will not start up. The power supply still puts out 7.5 volts. It might be that storage in a damp shop has finally killed it. It also means I can't play Bolo on my AppleTalk network anymore...

Vicegripgarage is a bad influence on my Nephews-They drag a vintage F250 out of the blackberries and attempt to drive it to Colorado

My nephews are on a road trip to Colorado...

We live in Oregon.

I think they are stuck in Idaho...

They decided to drag the 1971 F250 out of the black berries. They found the original 390, reinstalled the 390, gave it a tune up. Put disk brake front axles and a different rearend and transfer case, fixed the lights, and took off.

Most of this was done over Christmas Break.

I blame binge watching www.ViceGripGarage.com.

There should be a "Sponsored by The Lazy Farmer," sticker on the back as I gave them four beef sticks, a box of Chicken in a Biscuit, and $8. (it was a slow feed sales day)

Those of you who read the Daily Strumpet newspaper may recognize "Mom's Pickup," from 1996. It was red and came from South Beach, OR. Eventually the cab just rusted off. This cab was applied but it was not driven long in this format. This truck has pulled a Freeman 200 baler, rakes, had a big fuel tank (which we almost lost in the Yamhill river late one night) and generally been around the block. It was a slight embarrassment to my Mother who did not appreciate junk but somehow ended up with her name on the title.

All the essentials for a trip. Handiman Jack, extra gas, a spare, and yellow/black totes for storage.

Lots of stickers are important. MacAuto Supply provided extra stickers. I donated my last "Keep America Beautiful," sticker. 

What could go wrong? We all Support the rainbow flag!

Unfortunately, they kept the Edelbrock carburetor... After about ten hours she started pulling down and backfiring under load.

They cleaned the fuel tank, changed distributor, coil, plug wires (maybe), cleaned fuel lines. They pulled the filter in the carb to discover it was actually missing and there was dirt in the filter housing area.

I spent some time on the phone with them Sunday. They left Friday and had struggled their way to Post Falls, Idaho by then. This is a common problem with Edelbrocks and FE 390's. You start by removing the Fuel cap, checking the rubber lines to see if they suck shut under load, check filters, check fuel pump, check carb filter, check for vacuum leaks.

The last I heard, they suspected carb gasket leak. Hopefully it is not a manifold gasket. I know they did the spray starting fluid test.

Hopefully they are out of Idaho...

7.7 mpg...

Someone is doing a Best of The Daily Strumpet, but I can't figure out the traffic source

Something strange has happened to my blog.

Someone is reading old entries. Like they have posted a best of. Well, 12 hits in one day will set off by excitement meter as this blog has become pathetic.

I used to be a lot more entertaining!

Back in the old days, 2013. I was more entertaining and better looking an no one had backed a forklift into the store air conditioner. I also had a big wrench.

Stanley was still alive. Stanley was an awesome dog!

You never know what you have until it is gone. 

The first story that caught my attention (13 views) what when Scooter boy lost his pigs and shocked the piss out of himself by picking up a live fence wire! I had forgotten about that one. I actually laughed out loud! (Click here for Scooter Boy, The Pigs, and What not to do with electric fences...)

Of course there is always the old faithful (20 hits this week), "An affront to German Engineering, I repair a Dual 1019," this one is linked somewhere and brings in a steady stream. Also the one about the Freeman Baler Company which isn't a very good post.

Next with 22 hits is just a random straw baling post with the MM G1355. (Click here)

This one called "Sunday Decisions and my Lack of Enthusiasm,"  had 18 views and it is about me staying home from Church to read a book and fix the sink and the book is boring and the waterline breaks and makes a fountain. I also rant about men's groups and I sound rather antisocial. Sort of funny.

"No news is Good News," is about bicycle crashes. Lots of comments.

This one got 18 views and is one sentence about finding eggs in the barn!

There are a few others but I am going to bed. I was a lot more entertaining before I went to work Linfield and got the soul depleted from my body...

Speaking of soul depleting jobs, this one also got 20 hits, it is titled, "I have yet to get fired..." That was prophetic. 

This one didn't get any hits, it was from day three of my new job. I can't believe I was there eight years... What a Maroon!

Edit: Five minutes after posting I see that someone in Portland is reading this blog! Its a Sunday night, you should be in bed! You probably have a real job...

I increase production by 500 percent-Upgrading to a 16" Pellet Mill

I got a new pellet mill!

I found private financing, or rather, private financing found me...

I went all out and got the PelletMaster 16" PTO flat die pellet mill. I traded in the stock 6 mm die for a 4mm.

They even sent me a new hopper for my old 9" mill which I want to dress up a little and sell.

The mill takes a little bit of set up.

It does not come with oil in the massive gearbox. You have to fill it with oil and grease everything. It does come with its own grease gun and tools. 

I had to build brackets to get the PTO geometry to fit the Minneapolis-Moline M670 Super. This was not a huge problem. I will later build a better stand for it to set on. I want to be able to move it with a forklift and I want to have the PTO shaft set up so there is not an angle when running. (I currently have it setting on a pallet.)

I greased the rollers and the gearbox. Gearbox takes a lot of oil. I used 80/90. There is a level plug on the side that you pull out and you put oil in until it runs out. There is also a dipstick which is hard to read. (I probably should also read the instructions but I have trouble concentrating.)

It is very important to condition the die before starting. The die is a pain in the arse if you plug it up. You have to drill out all the little holes. I made that mistake with my 9" mill. 

I made a mixture of sand, vegetable oil, and oats. You start with it really goopy and then add oats until you start getting somewhat of a pellet. The instructions said run this mix for a 1/2 hour.

Save the mixture because if the mill sets in damp conditions if may need to be conditioned again.

This took all day and so I did not really get a chance to run the mill. I finished up a mix of oats/alfalfa as I had a sale. The mill ran smooth and there was definite boost in production.

Friday I did a run of chicken feed. Oats/Peas/corn/rye/alfalfa/clover screenings. I timed my output. I did 1,9500 lbs in one hour with the 4mm die. The old mill would never pass 500lbs with the 3mm die. I would spend all day on one batch.

This time I was able to do a 2400lb batch and then stop for the batch to cool. I will have to build a cooler for continuous production but I generally don't do it that way. However, I used to take me all day to do a ton! So now I can do a batch and possibly bag it in a day. (if I can get it cooled down) 

I do need to check the fuel consumption. The M670 Super was only using like 2.5 gallons an hour with the old mill. I suspect fuel consumption will increase doing a 1900lbs an hour vs 300lbs an hour.

It arrived all shiny and red, The last day of December. My accountant says I have to show it in service before the end of the year!

It is significantly larger than the 9" mill I have been using. Note the comparison in roller size.

I was happy to see it came with tools. The big socket is for the nut that adjust the roller pressure. Roller pressure is pretty important. Too much pressure will make excessive wear and horsepower usage. Also smears the pellets. Not enough pressure and it obviously doesn't make pellets. I adjusted it so I could spin the rollers by hand and there was no drag on the PTO. There is a lock nut which screws down onto the adjusting nut. Sort of a hokey setup but I bought what I could afford...

I had to laugh at the category one three point. It takes 65 PTO hp to run. Also, why did they put the slip clutch on the tractor side??? I probably should buy a new PTO shaft and swap this around as I need to use the tractor for other things. OR, I could buy another M670 Super! Or a G900! Or a White 2-85, or a G950 or a G955!

First thing is to condition the mill. I used playground sand, vegetable oil, and oat pellets. Start with a lot of oil and then add sand and oats. I mixed up half a bucket and ran that through into a second bucket while adding oats. I added oats until I started getting a gooey pellet and then just swapped buckets and added a few oats until I got a good pellet. Takes about half an hour to do it correctly. I didn't have the patience so I went into full oats after 15 minutes and it worked fine.

Making pellets in the mud! Note the size of the mill. Very heavy duty.

I will say that the key to making these pellet mills work properly is controlling the feed. This mill has a adjustable grate. I was tempted to cut it out but was in a hurry to get going. The grate turned out to be a great feature. While my mix is super fluffy going in, it did not plug up as long as I kept my feed conveyer the right speed. If I did over feed and cover the rollers the mill pulls really hard and production does not increase. I could shut down the grate and the mill cleaned out right away.

The pellets are pretty good. I need to add a binder I think. These pellets are Oats, Peas, rye, corn, alfalfa, and clover screenings. I also added garlic and red peppers. This is a chicken feed. They could be more solid so I will fool around with moisture but I really think I am going to have to buy kelp meal or clay.