Whether you’re feeding cattle, hogs, sheep, or other livestock, processing whole grains such as corn, oats, or soybeans into smaller pieces makes them easier for the livestock to digest and, as a result, get more of the nutritional value from the grain. A feed grinder makes the task possible.
When comparing feed grinders for sale, you’ll typically find grinder mixers, roller mills, and hammer mills. Grinder mixers use either a hammer mill or roller mill to perform the grinding operation while also allowing for mixing other feeds, minerals, or ingredients into a finished product. Hammer mills process the grain using either a series of swinging or stationary steel bars (hammers) to grind the grain. In most hammer mills, the hammers force the grain against a screen until the grain is the desired size and passes through the screen, but newer “screenless” models can use airflow instead of a screen to sort the grain that is the desired size. Roller mills use rollers instead of hammers to cut, crush, or tear the grain into smaller pieces.
Gehl is credited with creating the first hammer mill meant for grinding grain, and you’ll still find used Gehl feed grinders and grinder mixers for sale. Art’s Way, Automatic Equipment Manufacturing, New Holland, and Renn are among other manufacturers offering new and used feed grinders. Art’s Way offers its grinder mixers with three different-sized mixing tanks and either hammer or roller mills, along with portable and stationary hammer and roller mills. Automatic Equipment feed grinders for sale include a screenless rotary mill, along with a high-volume roller mill and other electric or PTO-driven roller and hammer mills.