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.

How to avoid the Pearson's square when formulating a feed ration, how to get corn out of a bulk bag, and a better mouse trap

Its been a week.

I am tired. Lots of rain. Not a lot of motivation. I have been trying to clean my shop. That is depressing.

Friday it was finally decent enough to make feed. 

I have a couple pallets of feed in my shop to keep dry. The sheer volume of rain overwhelmed the aluminum roof and it leaked on my oat/alfalfa mix.

And mice have moved in.

So Friday I set about cleaning up the random 800lb bags of oats stuffed in the barn and trying to get the 3,000lb bag of corn off my truck so I can haul the oat bags to a better location.

I borrowed this handy tool from my neighbor.

You screw it into a bulk bag. I has little razor knives that cut the bag and then you thread it in to the bag. It worked amazingly well. Note: Just because 3,500lbs of corn will fit into a bag doesn't mean you can actually pick up the bag without the handles ripping...

Earlier in the week I made pig and chicken feed and then diluted it into cow feed for my friend. I just boosted the oats to get the protein down to 13%.

Friday I started getting messages about my Oat/Alfalfa pellets. They haven't been selling so I told the first guy that if he got there in an hour I would knock off $50. He showed up!

But I got more messages! This continued through Saturday. I sold another 1000lb bag. Then took an order for two more, and then another two. I figure I will actually sell three bags. I probably need to get up early Monday.

This is my current mix below.

I made this mix because my friend likes corn. But then he was worried about too much corn. So I put more oats in it. I was going to add 500lbs of alfalfa but the alfalfa was mixed with third cutting canary grass which was like 100 percent leaf and smelled good so I figured it would work.

It made nice pellets

I got a special order for a little extra. I can't believe this got mold. It has been a couple years. It stinks! 

I need to find a building. Everything is now mud.

I bought electronic mouse traps. I catch at least three mice a day

I have been trying to read. My daughter got me a couple Piers Anthony books for Christmas. I do have quality reading material already. I miss books. 

I rant about an Ag Lender who doesn't know what a three-point mounting system is...

The three-point tractor hitch was invented by Harry Ferguson.  It was patented in 1926. The version that we know of today was patented in 1928. In the 1930-40's Ferguson partnered with Henry Ford to produce tractors with this hitch.

Since that point in time this basic system has been become a standard with tractors worldwide. 

This is how you attach/pick up a plow, attach a grader blade, rototiller, and the pellet mill I was attempting to buy.

HOWEVER, the lady in charge at AgDirect does not think the three-point mount on a PelletMasters 16" pellet mill makes it portable. She feels  it is a stationary mounted machine which they could not hook up to and repo, and so they decided not to loan me $10,000. It was actually not even $10,000 because I was putting $4,000 down. I think I was borrowing like $6500 over three years.

Ok... I have excellent credit.

I could walk into my local dealership and borrow like $100,000 or more to buy a tractor I couldn't actually pay for! Insanity...

Obviously this is not a lot of money, but I am small scale and I need a way to spread my purchase over a minimum of two years. Also, if I spend $10,000 right now I will be broke until spring planting season. I don't want to use a credit card or any thing sketchy. I want it simple.

The other irritating issue is that I get turned down two weeks from the end of the year. I have like ten 1,000lbs of bags of oats crammed all over the farm. Next week I am getting peas, I have 10,000lbs of barley, 8,000lbs of rye, 6,000lbs of corn. It is going to be a long winter making pellets at 300lbs per hour...

The pellet mill I was going to buy, setting in the shop. Pictures were sent to AgDirect. I asked then nice loan officer if she was familiar with three-point mounted farm equipment. (not so much) I asked if they had made loans for rototillers or three-point grader blades. She said yes. Apparently three-point pellet mills don't have a box to check. 

This picture did not prove the portability of the mill. I actually send pictures with it on a different tractor in a different location to show portability. But, it must have wheels and a tongue. I suggested this mod to PelletMasters but I don't think it is going to fly...

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.

A few random pictures driving in the woods

Yesterday I hauled Christmas again. I had a break for Thanksgiving. 

It is amazing the narrow roads and little fields you can find in three counties worth "just off the beaten track."

Last week it alternated between fog and rain with sometimes a sunbreak. All of these events were a bit hard on the visibility

This is the same road where I took the picture of the helicopter loading the truck in the sunlight. This week the fog has settled in.

Yesterday was a pretty nice day. Not sure why I didn't take any pictures. I did manage to get a video of going through the roundabout. I really kind of hate the roundabout as it lacks good signs that will notify you to start slowing down and you have to slow down to 15 mph to make the turn with a tippy feeling Christmas tree truck.

The video shows the best roundabout experience of the day. Good visibility, low traffic, plenty of time to coast down to 15 mph, no one stuck going in circles.

The clouds are nice! Also, apparently there is a chip in the windshield. Didn't really notice till I looked a the video!

It doesn't show one of the most frustrating parts which is the little s-turn the engineers through in to slow down your SmartCar which is a tad disconcerting in the truck, and the supered surface which makes the truck tippy.

Oh well.

I have the next couple days off. I hope to work a couple more just to get my FREE CHRISTMAS tree. which is the only reason I took the job!

More failures in carpentry

I have had a couple days off from hauling Christmas Trees. I needed to make chicken feed and finish my floor yesterday.

I got off to a good start. I found the locations for the shower drain and the toilet. I drilled the holes in the right location! 

I made a tool to layout the holes. It was just a piece of paint stirrer stick which I drilled a hole for a screw and a hole for a pencil and then traced the outline to cut the holes.

Apparently there is a difference in radius, diameter, circumference, and I learned this in like elementary school. But I get easily confused. So in stead of taking half of 4.5 inches I doubled in and cut a 9 inch hole. 

Can you see a problem here?

This worked out for the best as when I got confused about finding flooring that was close to 21/32 I went with 3/4 instead of 5/8. I mean, go big or go home! Right?

This is a very handy tool. If I would have used it before I bought sheet of the wrong thickness it would have been better! I like the fraction feature.

So I cut a ring out of the better flooring material and put it under the toilet flange. That sucker ain't movin again!

I thought I would have to split the plywood to get it under the flange. But by accidentally cutting the hole twice as big I may have made a better floor.

I did not get a lot of work done. I mostly worked on five projects I had already started. 

A friend called me that he was cleaning oats and he was getting a lot of the hard inner oat seeds without the hull. I think they are called "grotes." He didn't want to dump them with the screenings and did I want them. So I took over my bag stand and we put a 1000lb capacity bag under the cleaner. 

It took six hours to fill and I got 1000lbs. This bag usually holds 850lb of whole oats so I am thinking there is good feed value there.

We also had people come out and repair posts in our hay shed. This was a relief as I figured for the past 8 years that I was going to have to stand on a pallet high in the air and work on this post.

Better them than I! Of course we don't have the bill yet...

I had to move a few things and of course the forklift was out of diesel, the battery in the pickup with the diesel tank was dead. 

I got them a couple loads of gravel out of the stock pile with the 2-60 White, then let them use it. I could hear them using the clutch as a torque converter a couple times in afternoon but just kept my mouth shut. The guys really liked my little tractor.  I think it is because it has no muffler...

In other news: One of my customers showed me an advertisement on MarketPlace for oat/grass/alfalfa pellets for $200 a ton bulk or $400 in a one ton tote bag. Then I see All Stock pellets down to $300 a ton. I wonder what is up with feed prices. I absolutely loose money below $400 a ton.

Perhaps I should stop negotiations on upgrading a pellet mill? Or just double down as I have raw materials stuffed in every spare nook and cranny!

I build a bag filler hopper but don't show you how I built it...

This weekend was nice. Very little rain. I thought I would sell two ton of pellets. I had three customers who wanted big bags. I figured at least one would show.

I have a new customer (maybe) who wanted 200lbs. I was borrowing a bagger from my neighbor but he had the audacity of taking it back to bag his own oats.  So, I built my own out of scrap plywood I have been saving for 20 years and my new 2x4's. 

I immediately left my plan and it turned out completely different that I expected. It does not have a slanted back wall as I failed with my math and made it wrong. I was going to put peg board in the back and a fan to cool the pellets as they come out of the conveyer. I didn't succeed in my plan.

I am trying to buy a bigger pellet mill so I can actually make money at $85 an hour for the tractor powering the mill. Then, something goes wrong like I am stuck with two ton of pellets in my shop and I want to sell everything and quit. No really sure what the plan should be...

This is not fancy. The bag hangs on hooks to fill and there is a metal slide to shut off the flow. It all sets off the ground and a pallet will slide under it. That was not my best plan. I need to add a bench to hold up smaller bags. Best feature is it is tall enough I don't have to bend over all the time.

This is what I need to be working on. My bathroom floor is missing. I found another water leak yesterday so I fixed the leak and put a fan in the bathroom.