# How can I grind or crack corn



## jeremynj (Jun 29, 2011)

I has access to a lot of different tools and such so I would like to come up with a way to crack some corn, about 100 lbs a year.
A coffee grinder or blender seems like it will take way too long, and really kill the life of the blender.

If anyone cracks their own corn, could you post some pictures or ideas of what you use. Thanks


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

What do you plan to do with it?


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B0018E8BEY/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=284507&s=kitchen

I have seen them on Ebay for $20.00. It will crack or grind fine for flour. The finer the harder it is to turn....James


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## PD-Riverman (May 24, 2007)

I have been using one of these







for several years. I took one wheel off and added a big V belt pulley and a DC motor to turn it. Hung a big funnel made from a discarded light fixture above it---it will hold 50lb of corn. I built a timer that allows the grinder to grind every how long I set it. My grinder is adjustable from a cracked corn to a finer grind. Been working good for me. I grind about 50lb a week with it.

I picked mine up at a auction at a deal because the clamp was broken off the front which affected its Antique value-----1 C clamp and 2 minutes later I was grinding corn.

It will grind a 5 gallon bucket full in about 12 minutes using the finer grind setting. About 9 minutes for the cracked corn per 5 gal bucket.




jeremynj said:


> I has access to a lot of different tools and such so I would like to come up with a way to crack some corn, about 100 lbs a year.
> A coffee grinder or blender seems like it will take way too long, and really kill the life of the blender.
> 
> If anyone cracks their own corn, could you post some pictures or ideas of what you use. Thanks


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## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

I have a couple pics in here of grinding hay useing a hammermill


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## Honey Berry (Oct 22, 2005)

I've used a wood chipper/shredder to crack corn for my chickens.


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## MD Steader (Mar 11, 2010)

jwal10 said:


> http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B0018E8BEY/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=284507&s=kitchen
> 
> I have seen them on Ebay for $20.00. It will crack or grind fine for flour. The finer the harder it is to turn....James


If you are just trying to crack it you can get a grinder such as this or even an old hand crank that you use for meat etc, find a 5 gal plastic water jug cut the bottom off and tape it to it liek a big funnel. All you nee dto do is power the crank somehow OR just turn it. If you are just crackign it down for feed it will go quick.

i have something in the lines of this

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Ent...528?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3365baaf78


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## Ken Scharabok (May 11, 2002)

If you are only doing 100 pounds a year, check into local feedmills. All should sell at least cracked corn as feed. Ground corn (as in corn meal) or finely ground corn (as in corn flour) may be doable in small quantities on hand-cranked tools.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

Are you grinding it for yourself or your chickens? Don't grind or crack corn for chickens.


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## CoonXpress (Sep 20, 2004)

There's some guy named Jimmy that might be able to help with corn cracking.
[youtube]1ardNXjE-_I[/youtube]


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## achrap (Sep 28, 2009)

We use our Vita-Mix. Use it for making apple sauce, tomato sauce, juice, grind wheat makes it very fine. We no longer grind any grain for our livestock. Chickens, goats, pigs all eat whole grains. Sure makes life a lot easier.


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## PD-Riverman (May 24, 2007)

Are you saying "Don't" because it is not safe or not good for them or are you saying "Don't" because its not necessary?




Maura said:


> Are you grinding it for yourself or your chickens? Don't grind or crack corn for chickens.


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## farmmom (Jan 4, 2009)

I have a small grist mill. It takes a while to do 50lb, but it does a good job. I got it as part of a trade.


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

I like my corn ground fresh for eating, I grind as needed. Corn stores for a long time whole but breaks down quickly when ground. Cracking for animals is a good thing, they get a lot more good out of it. Chickens convert it best, but make sure they have grit. In cold weather it takes more feed, animals have to use energy to stay warm AND break the feed down. I do make mash with whole grains but even then it is better cracked....James


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## unregistered168043 (Sep 9, 2011)

PD-Riverman said:


> Are you saying "Don't" because it is not safe or not good for them or are you saying "Don't" because its not necessary?


I'm pretty sure it's 'don't because it isn't necessary'. Chickens can obviously eat ground or cracked corn which constitutes a large part of commercial feed.

I feed my chickens feed corn right on the cob, no problem, they like to peck it off.


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## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

Never heard of doing that, but if u say it works, I guess it does. Ive heard people say that you cant feed shelled corn to chickens that have had there beaks clipped. I think thatsa horse hockey too.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

jwal10 said:


> http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B0018E8BEY/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=284507&s=kitchen
> 
> I have seen them on Ebay for $20.00. It will crack or grind fine for flour. The finer the harder it is to turn....James












This is an imitation of original Corona mill. There are several brands. I think all are about same, the Corona too, though I had one long ago calle OB mill I think that was better than Corona. I have seen them as cheap as $9, but that was a close out thing in a Chinese tool store. They do well for cracking grain, thats what they were designed for. Werent really designed for wheat flour. I have a Corona with modified burrs that can make nice fine wheat flour, I removed handle and geared it down so its easy to pedal and use with an old exercise bike.

The hand crank works ok to crack grain, but hard if you are trying for fine meal or flour.

If you modify one of these Corona clones to be powered with electric motor or with engine (or like me with bicycle), you dont want to make these mills turn over 50rpm. They have no bearings, shaft just turns in cast iron hole, so running them faster than 50rpm will create lot wear and heat.

However just to crack 100# corn a year, I see no reason one of these run off an electric motor (remember that mill should turn no more than 50rpm) couldnt easily handle it. Slow but steady and job gets done.


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## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

yeah I got one of those. Never used it.


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

HermitJohn said:


> Werent really designed for wheat flour.


Mine is really old, belonged to my Grandparents, they got it in 1917 when they married and moved to their first farm in Kansas. I was talking about grinding corn, it will make very fine meal or flour but is slow. Grandma made corn cake as light as any flour cake. She cracked all her chicken feed with it until1980....James


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

For flour it all depends on the burrs. They have to be flat and even surface to be able to grind fine flour. In other words, the two burrs have to fit VERY close together as the outer burr turns with the shaft. That OB mill I mentioned was able to grind fine flour just as it came. I foolishly gave it away cause wasnt using it and it was a pain to use with hand crank.

When I wanted another, OB brand no where to be found. Coronas all over the place. Well Corona I got had burrs that were uneven, you could grind coarse corn meal but not flour. Then found place out of Utah selling Coronas with modified burrs and it will grind very fine flour. Thats what I have and its staying with me rest of my days. But cranking it with hand crank is still royal PITA so I got to thinking and used sprockets and chains off bicycles and mounted it on exercise bike and gear it so every three turns of pedal crank on bicycle turned the the shaft in mill once. Easy as pie... Too easy for some things so I further modified it so had choice of 2:1 and 3:1 gearing. For average adult should be able to grind anything into fine meal or flour with 3:1, but if you wanted even easier, heck go for 4:1. Be slow as anything but even a small child should be able to pedal it with little effort.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

I preferred the bicycle but the other way to make cranking one of these easier would be to modify the handle so its much longer. Instead of a foot long handle, make it three foot long. Like putting a pipe on the end of a wrench to loosen a stubborn bolt. I'd rather pedal a bike and use different sprocket diameters than hand crank a very long handle but each to their own. Its all about leverage. And the more leverage needed, the slower the job gets done, but the easier it is to do the job.


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