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.

Feed musings... I get rained out, I make a plan for Chicken feed

Today it is raining. Actually, it is a down pour.

I have had renewed interest in feed pellets. But now it is in 50lb bags and not 1000lb bags. Also, they want chicken feed and not oat/alfalfa pellets.

The mixer is full of oats and alfalfa. 

Yesterday I thought I could empty it out and fill bags. I had a customer coming for five bags and I filled ten earlier. I felt a pallet of 20 was just a good place to be. But it poured down rain!

I have potentially three chicken feed customers who use 500lbs per month. I think the mix will be corn heavy. I used CoPilot to come up with the mix. Which some times gives odd results. I will go back and change it a bit. 

One ton mix, 750lb Corn, 400lbs Barley, 200lbs Rye, 250lbs groates, 150lbs peas, 100lbs Clover seed screenings, 100lbs Canola, 80lbs alfalfa. 

One major problem is that I ended up needing storage so the rye, groats, and some of the corn got mixed together and when that bin was full I dumped another 1000lbs of groats on top of my bin of peas. I am going to end up guessing on the peas and groates so I think I will put in 300lbs of clover and drop the corn to 500lbs and I may add more alfalfa. I am almost out of peas which is a problem.

The nice thing about this mix is that is also good for pigs. I make 4000lbs and put it in a bin and then I can sell it as ground feed for pigs or pelletize for chickens.

I will probably just make 500lbs of chicken pellets at a time and then add red peppers and garlic to keep the rats out of the bags and also chicken people like peppers in their feed. It is also hilarious to see goats try to eat it.

 

Production capacity of 400lbs an hour would be fine if I was inside and the pellet mill was electric. This just takes forever to get anything done.

The M670 Super is working really well on the pellet mill. Fuel consumption is similar to the White 2-60 but rpms are lower, and hydraulics are more suited to the conveyers. I have been getting three days out of one tank fill up of diesel. About ten gallons a day. However, it took me three days to get 3,000lbs of pellets. I need to record the hours. It was not 23hrs of use.

Of course I had to pick up my daily bag of groates. 

Of course, I didn't start at 7 a.m. 

Of course, it started pouring rain just as my customer arrived.

The pathetic small scale of my operation is starting to wear me down. I have four ton of oats, four ton of clover seed screenings, 12 ton of barley, and a similar volume of rye. Plus a stack of alfalfa. Of course these material are stashed in bags, trucks, and bins all over my farm and two nearby farms.

I would kind of like to quit. 

The nice lady from AgDirect does not get back to me on the financing of the new pellet mill and I am starting to thing of better things to do with the money. Like, put a couple grand into retirement. Or buy a potentially better farm truck, or a mower tractor, or new coulters and press wheels for the Great Plains 1500, or just spend it on diesel and fertilizer for next year.

But I got a free tree yesterday. My nephew brought me one. It is my payment for hauling Christmas Trees.

This is really a nice tree! Now we just have to put it up.