Let's talk Corn

No one has mentioned the possibility of weevils in corn you carry over from spring to fall. This will produce small white moths that fly all over the house and possibly small brown worm like critters that you will see squirming around in your hopper. This is a important reason to get rid of your corn in the spring and buy a fresh batch in the fall.
One should also expect to get refused when you say you want corn less then 15% We get paid for 15% corn and drying it any further just costs us more money and no return. It also is a nuisance to hook up augers etc for a small amount of grain.

No-one mentioned the oyster shells to control the clinker? Keep it from sticking to pots and augers.

rona said:

It also is a nuisance to hook up augers etc for a small amount of grain.

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i have a former coworker that farms, had talked to him about corn and was told to come on out and get some. I built a box in the back of my ranger, nice and square and easy to clean out I wanted to avoid getting the corn out of the corners of the bed and i added a side swinging gate to control the flow out the back into the chute going into the basement. Off i went to the farm and looked at his auger setup used to fill semi trucks, about half an hour he tells me and says we can try to bump it off and on and fill the little ranger. The auger gets with in about 12' of the truck and he proceeds bumping the controls. It filled the truck well but nothing like i had planed, there was corn everywhere, only good part was it got the redeyes out. He is a true friend, we did that 3 times for me. I did get a 4th load and that we were able to crack the silo gate and fill buckets and i dumped them in the truck.
I did offer him a stack of $20's and was told don't worry about it. Yep "free" corn. I helped him repair some of his equipment in return. Need to get out and help him some more.

If you can pull a wrench and are willing to trade some labor you might be able to come to an arrangement with a local farmer. And if your a hunter?

I have used moth balls for several years in left over corn in tighter containers and have no problems with mice, squirrels or anything flying. Naphthalene is commonly used for all sorts of vermin chasing. Flakes make for one heck of a pyrotechnic device too.

One other thought is a smaller gravity wagon. I have a much older wagon that only holds 120 bushel when it's full. If you have some older farms around they may have some smaller wagons retired to a fence row or old barn that can be bought reasonably.

I have burnt both corn, pellets and a mix. I currently burn 100% corn, to me it's hotter, cleaner, and cheaper. I have a set up very similar to jp99 in my garage, yes it's a bit more work than carrying in a bag of pellets and dumping but I enjoy the work. Good luck.

B Smithers said:

One other thought is a smaller gravity wagon. I have a much older wagon that only holds 120 bushel when it's full. If you have some older farms around they may have some smaller wagons retired to a fence row or old barn that can be bought reasonably.

I have burnt both corn, pellets and a mix. I currently burn 100% corn, to me it's hotter, cleaner, and cheaper. I have a set up very similar to jp99 in my garage, yes it's a bit more work than carrying in a bag of pellets and dumping but I enjoy the work. Good luck.

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Both your stoves were designed as corn being the primary fuel. I Did inspections on couple truck loads of Countryside installs. They are pretty happy with corn and not so good with pellets but they are not at all close to automatic so if kept clean they will do their job.

View of our old gravity box. About 45 years old.

Burd said:

Tsmith
Thank you for the great info on the prices
I noticed that there where no fines in the feed corn that I bought yesturday then again i'm not at the bottom of the bag.
Could you tell me where your buying the shelled corn from?

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Sorry for the delay, I buy my corn at Albright's Mill in Kempton, PA.

Anyone have luck using those 275 gallon IBC containers to store corn? I also had too many fines from the corn when I tried burning it. It would kinda melt coming down the auger and create a jam. I even made a corn kan cleaner, but it did not work well enough.

I had thought of using them and making a auger system but vacuum moving system would work better. Most have a 2 inch tap on the side bottom.

Bioburner said:

I had thought of using them and making a auger system but vacuum moving system would work better. Most have a 2 inch tap on the side bottom.

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...and a threaded 6" on top. I use 2 for rainwater collection.

Far as I'm concerned, buying corn pre cleaned for feed (air and magnetically cleaned) is the only way to fly. I have no fines or cob issues at all and very little wings either.

jp99 said:

Just in case it helps, this is my 40 gallon drum setup. One important thing about using it with a vacuum - use a method to reduce the suction vacuum at the drum. My PVC parts in the top have a fitting with holes in it to do that, by screwing a fitting in or out.

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Do you happen to have a Picture of the Fittings? I am thinking about Using 275 Gallon Totes to store the Corn in our Basement. But have heard that it wouldn't work with the Negative Pressure in the 275 gallon Tank. Thanks for your help.

I also burn corn. I use the 55 gallon, blue, plastic drums.

The farmer I get corn from, fills a couple gravity wagons, while he is combining in the fall.

He figures two 5 gallon buckets to a bushel. I can fit eleven buckets in each drum.

When it is really cold I mix wheat with my corn. This gives an even hotter fire.

My house has electric baseboard heat. In the 3 years we have lived there we have not used it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

SHBates2009 said:

Do you happen to have a Picture of the Fittings? I am thinking about Using 275 Gallon Totes to store the Corn in our Basement. But have heard that it wouldn't work with the Negative Pressure in the 275 gallon Tank. Thanks for your help.

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Here's the fitting I used and modified. I added drilled holes to the threaded areas so as I screw the fitting in or out I adjust the amount of bypass air flow (and hence the negative pressure in the drum). You could also just drill holes in a plain pipe and use tape to cover or partially cover them for the same effect.

jp99 said:

Here's the fitting I used and modified. I added drilled holes to the threaded areas so as I screw the fitting in or out I adjust the amount of bypass air flow (and hence the negative pressure in the drum). You could also just drill holes in a plain pipe and use tape to cover or partially cover them for the same effect.

View attachment 193797

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Thanks for the Response. That Should work for What I am looking to do. Couldn't tell in your other picture where you had the Fittings.

i been happy running a 50/50 blend pellets to shelled corn in my PC45 you seam to get the best of both worlds no clinkers to deal with along with more heat and i really had to slow my auger speed down as the corn burns so much longer.

jp99 said:

Here's the fitting I used and modified. I added drilled holes to the threaded areas so as I screw the fitting in or out I adjust the amount of bypass air flow (and hence the negative pressure in the drum). You could also just drill holes in a plain pipe and use tape to cover or partially cover them for the same effect.

View attachment 193797

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With having the Fittings did you notice much of a Difference for the amount of time it took to fill you barrel?

rona said:

No one has mentioned the possibility of weevils in corn you carry over from spring to fall. This will produce small white moths that fly all over the house and possibly small brown worm like critters that you will see squirming around in your hopper. This is a important reason to get rid of your corn in the spring and buy a fresh batch in the fall.
One should also expect to get refused when you say you want corn less then 15% We get paid for 15% corn and drying it any further just costs us more money and no return. It also is a nuisance to hook up augers etc for a small amount of grain.

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you are absolutely correct on that and a great point to bring up that many folks may not know

SHBates2009 said:

With having the Fittings did you notice much of a Difference for the amount of time it took to fill you barrel?

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It is somewhat slower, but that's ok. It means the corn (or corn/pellet mix) is hitting the corn vac parts slower and breaking up the corn or pellets a lot less than at full vacuum. I have a 6.5 hp shop vac so it pulls pretty hard and the speed going up the tube is fast. It's hits the filtering screen pretty hard if I run full vacuum.

Bioburner said:

View of our old gravity box. About 45 years old.

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I had to post this. This is my cleaner set up.

Watcher1 said:

I had to post this. This is my cleaner set up.

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looks like it works well good job.

Mmmmmmm, corn!

ruger243 said:

I also burn corn. I use the 55 gallon, blue, plastic drums.

The farmer I get corn from, fills a couple gravity wagons, while he is combining in the fall.

He figures two 5 gallon buckets to a bushel. I can fit eleven buckets in each drum.

When it is really cold I mix wheat with my corn. This gives an even hotter fire.

My house has electric baseboard heat. In the 3 years we have lived there we have not used it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Have u tried wheat mixed with pellets? Just wondering what that would be like. I've tried corn mixed with pellets, i couldn't tell any difference.

tsmith said:

Sorry for the delay, I buy my corn at Albright's Mill in Kempton, PA.

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Do you burn just corn in your accentra or a 50/50 mix in your accentra? I have the same stove.thanks..

Has anyone tried lentils or dried peas? I have a buddy who works at the docks and he can get either corn, wheat, lentils or dried peas in 40# sacks that are set aside to be thrown out due to damage and or vermin.

dozerdean said:

Have u tried wheat mixed with pellets? Just wondering what that would be like. I've tried corn mixed with pellets, i couldn't tell any difference.

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Wheat will burn the same as pellets except being smaller you may have to slow down the auger.