Roller Mill

[Darren]

Does anyone here use a roller mill to crack corn and roll oats? If so who made it? The smallest one I can find takes a 1.5 hp motor.

[ET1 SS]

Our roller mill is a hand crank unit made by 'JSP'.

[Darren]

Thanks! That looks like a unit that can pay for itself.

http://schmidling.com/maltmill.htm

[ET1 SS]

The first few times our unit was very difficult to turn.

But with lub, and turning it eventually lossened nicely.

Now it turns easy.

I got it from 'Northern Brewer'.

[Mrs. Homesteader]

We have a small hand cranked one that rolls oats and other soft grains. It cracks wheat and other harder grains. I have never put corn through it.
http://www.amazinggrazefarm.com/stor...roducts_id=149

[unioncreek]

The first question I'm going to ask is what are it's intended use. Feed or human use. If for livestock they are pretty cheap, I got mine for nothing. It's an old Bearcat that's probably 50 years old. If your looking for one for human use I have no clue where to even begin looking.

Bob

[ET1 SS]

Originally Posted by unioncreek

The first question I'm going to ask is what are it's intended use. Feed or human use. If for livestock they are pretty cheap, I got mine for nothing. It's an old Bearcat that's probably 50 years old. If your looking for one for human use I have no clue where to even begin looking.

Bob

As you go from field to oven, grain goes through various stages.

Threshing / winnowing needs to be done if you wish to remove the outer chaff. You can do this for livestock or for human use, either way.

Polishing may be done to remove the hull [bran] to expose the inner kernel.

Crushing, crimping, rolling can each be done to begin the process of milling the grain. If you were to make porridge, or if you were brewing then this type of process is useful.

Gristing makes it flour.

For livestock feed you rarely need flour [unless you were making dog food kibble].

What other distinction is there?

[Darren]

My intent was to not get folks with hand cranked grain mills confused. That's why I mentioned cracking corn and rolling oats as compared to making flour. Until ET1 answered, the smallest roller mill I found was this one. Which I suspect is several hundred if not over a thousand dollars. I'm figuring out whether it's worth buying whole corn and cracking it for poultry feed rather than buying cracked corn.

[rancher1913]

best deal for a small producer is a hammer mill from somebody like northerntool. it looks like a brush chipper but uses hammers and screens just like the big guys use--only a lot smaller. you can grind hay, corn, soybeans, and just about anything you want. some use a small gas engine and some use a pto. you can control the size of the end product by the size screen you use.