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  • From: Bill Scheffler <pureprairie AT gmail.com>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] as if farming weren't hard enough
  • Date: Sun, 7 Mar 2010 09:02:11 -0600

 
 If anyone has some experience harvesting, threshing and separating plots of grain using PTO or walking-tractor-driven implements, suitable for plots in the 5000 - 12000sqft plot size range, I'd love to talk to you.  Closest I've come to finding an appropriately sized implement in this area is an ancient John Deere model 12 pull-behind combine.  I'd love to hear about other options.  Preferably options that don't cost an arm and leg.
Kathryn Kerby





Hi Kathryn, great topic!

The October,2009 GFM has an article on threshing grain by Josh Volk.  Here are some relevant comments;

1) "The simplest way to thresh is by laying down a tarp on a hard surface, spreading out the whole
plants, or just the seed heads, and dancing on them until most of the seed heads have shattered."

2) "A small step up would be to use a simple lawn chipper shredder"

3) Gene Logsdon's book " Small Scale Grain Raising" has a Rodale design that is also floating around the web
somewhere..

4) For beans and peas there are two interesting "shellers".  The smaller of the two is from Taylor Mfg the
larger is "Rotofingers" from Welborne.

5) Basic winnowing; once the seed is out of the husk, he likes to separate the grain from the chaff with
Rubbermaid tubs and a box fan.

6) The article has a photo of a Clipper desktop seed cleaner but a google search wasn't successful
so go figure.

*************************************************
7) I did a quick google search and came up with this;   http://farmsteadproducts.com/index.htm
The small one is $3,000.

8) Italians are good at this kind of equipment; http://www.ferrari-tractors.com/PDF%20Articles/Portable%20Thresher.pdf
(California office)

Josh Volk started a grain blog that is very interesting;  http://www.grainsandpulses.blogspot.com/
I found the GFM article (mostly) on his entry from June 23, 2008.  It's the last post on the page.
Halfway down is a video of them using a hand corn sheller and that was fun to watch.

He farms in the Portland area so you guys have a lot in common.

I think this kind of thing is cool.  As GFM mentions in another article; "Raising grains doesn't make any
sense economically but something about it is deeply satisfying!" 

Only us farmers can relate to *that* one!

Hope that helps,

:-)

Bill
Chicago,z5



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