Post Equipment has been buying, rebuilding, selling, and maintaining mixer wagons for a number of years. Here is a quick guide on how to maintain your farm equipment based on what we have seen in the field. The following notes are organized by vertical mixer wagons, reel feed wagons, and auger discharges. Call our knowledgable sales department for information you may need regarding your current or next feed mixer wagon.

Vertical Mixer Owner Notes

• It takes at least a 450 cubic foot mixer to grind up a 5 x 6 bale of hay
• It takes around 8 minutes to process a bale of alfalfa – longer for grass hay, cornstalks are similar to alfalfa
• A single screw vertical mixer will unload faster than a twin screw because you have to wait for the feed to get from the back of the mixer to the front

VERTICAL MIXER MAINTENANCE:

Plow blade

• The plow blade is the piece of metal on the back of the screw. On the new
  Pentas it is bolted on and it is welded on in most other wagons
• Make sure the plow blade is not wore and is a ¼ “ from the side wall
• Even though the plow blade looks like a small piece of metal (it is not along
  for the ride so to speak) it is a very important piece of the puzzle for fast
  and proper mixing action
• If you need help with determining how worn your plow blade is or what
  action you should take, call Post Equipment and let us help you determine it

Mixer Knives

• Check to make sure your knives are not dull if you are cutting a lot of hay or
  roughage (especially dairy)
• If you are not worried about your knives and do not do a lot of cutting, check to
  make sure your bolt heads are not worn to the point where your knives
  will fall off. We’ve had this happen before and it can cause major damage.
• If you are wondering how far to let you knives go before you replace them
  depending on your application give us a call.

Discharge

• Make sure you have proper chain tension on the conveyor chain (3?of slack)
  and the hyd. motor drive chain (normal roller chain tight)

Planetaries

• Make sure you have no leaks
• Make sure the oil level is at the proper intervals
• If you haven’t changed your oil in 2000 hours you should change it
• 2 speed oil every 1000 hrs.

Reel Mixer Owner Notes

• Red frame knights are older than yellow frame knights
• A 2 spider reel is newer than a 3 spiral reel
• A 2 spider reel takes a high roughage ration better than a 3 spider reel

REEL MIXER MAINTENANCE:

• Take a look in your wagon and make sure your reel bars are not thin (especially where the bolt and the reel spring is). We have seen reel bars get so thin, break off, and then get stuck and cause auger damage.
• Check your gear box for proper chain tension and their aren’t any tensioner springs broken. This is a common problem when we trade wagons in.
• Make sure your bearings (set screws) are nice and tight on the augers and shafts.

Auger Discharge Owner Notes

• Make sure your drive chains are tight
• Make sure your augers are not worn
• Make sure your auger bushings are not worn badly
• Make sure your orbit motor is not leaking

You can read more about feed wagon maintenance in a recent post by Bud. Call Post Equipment if you need your mixer wagon repaired or replaced. 712-476-4500.