Family shelling day - also, using cob in wood stove?

rockyridgefarm · Dec 30, 2020

I bought this lil sheller about a month ago. It supposedly had not been used in 40 years, but raccoons used it as a latrine all that time. I took the load auger off because it was total junk. The cob stacker works ok, but I need to find a better one. We only have a couple hunderd hens right now, so it does the job.

Has anyone ever tried to burn the cobs for heat? I assume I can just toss a bucketful in every time I load it with wood.

No, I am not using them for cleaning myself in the outhouse...

coonie minnie · Dec 30, 2020

They do burn.

You can also grind them for cattle feed with a roller mill or hammer mill.

paul · Dec 30, 2020

My entire youth, uncle next door and us would shell the cribs in August or early September, we typically shelled 2000 bu out of the crib. I shelled into the mid to late
2000s. Crib held 4000 bu if you really packed it. Now I haul 2 wagon loads of corn to the elevator, that’s 900bu a trip. Man things have changed rapidly in farming.

Save one spreader load of cobs for wood stove starting. The cobs make real nice fire starter. They tend to burn pretty fast and make a lot of ash, so maybe wouldn’t
want to depend on them for all the heat.

The rest of the cobs we would put a spreader load in the bottom of each of 3 manure pens, and then the rest we would spread out on the fields, in the better low
ground. They make nice organic matter, but they use up a lot of N as they break down so hated to put them on the poorer ground where there isn’t much N to start with.

Paul

Charlie M · Dec 30, 2020

I course grind my cobs and use them as part of bedding.

J. Schwiebert · Dec 30, 2020

What model sheller is that?

dzc3 · Dec 30, 2020

They burn pretty hot, I would experiment a little before I filled the stove with them

LonM · Dec 30, 2020

I was always told to be careful burning a
lot at once in a stove. They burn hot.

We shelled quite a bit of ear corn over
the years with a MM model E sheller. We
partially switched over to combining
corn, but still pick and grind ear corn
for cattle feed.

Lon

glennster · Dec 30, 2020

we had an antique wood burning water heater when i was little, next to the coal furnace in the basement. mom would use corn cobs in the heater.
made a hot fast fire. used it for laundry in the basement. here is a link to some pictures ours looked kind of like the montgomery ward or kiiji heater
poke here

Richard G. · Dec 30, 2020

They burn great and very hot in my shop heater.
Richard

flying belgian · Dec 30, 2020

Looks like a model D.

Hockeygoon · Dec 30, 2020

We used to grind ear corn for cattle, gave the 656 a real workout - would even pull the 886 to its knees when pushed.

MikeJM · Dec 30, 2020

We would burn them sometimes, more hassle than its worth. If I was really low on wood when Im not burning coal daily I would burn the whole ear with some wood. Burning the whole ear throws some heat.

fixerupper · Dec 30, 2020

We used to burn them in the kitchen range and the tank heater. They do put out good heat like the others have mentioned.

fastfarmall · Dec 30, 2020

Thy burn very hot, it melted some cast iron, in my friends stove!! and this is not s joke!

matthies · Dec 30, 2020

Neighbor and Grandparents used them for starting the wood stove into the late eighty's and early 90's. Grandparents had a shed that held two to three wagon loads, neighbor had a 20 foot ring four feet high
with some tin covering the cobs to keep them dry. Had a shed on the home place that was referred to the cob shed. Uncle stopped picking in the early 90's, just spread the cobs out on the driveway to stay out
of the mud and to get rid of them. Was a place in Fremont Nebraska that used cobs in manufacturing but don't remember what. The building caught fire in the early 2000's and smoldered for a long time, like 200
feet by 400 feet and maybe 50 feet high.

rockyridgefarm · Dec 31, 2020

Ruining a stove is definitely a concern. It may not be worth the risk. I'm heating with an OWB, and it has a baffle to cut off air when the water is at 195 degrees, so maybe that would keep them from overheating it. I'll proceed with much caution. Thanks for all the replies.

caterpillar guy · Dec 31, 2020

I don't understand why not just run it through the combine to shell it and save the cost and housing of a sheller. Already need a combine for the oats unless they are bought or kept in bundles. drop the elevator into the front of the combine and let it go to work. We have shelled corn off the stalk since the mid 60's. Gleaner E with 3 row cornhead on it.

showcrop · Dec 31, 2020

Well you sure know how to show your family a good time!! We used to have brush rush when clearing ground, and "rock 'n roll" when doing a seeding. When our daughter's best friend was visiting and helping she commented that she was glad that her father was not so much fun. Twenty years later when our daughter was visiting she came by when we were working on a project. I tried to enlist her help again but she objected. "But I am an attorney now!!"

Super H Mike · Dec 31, 2020

I made a rack in my corn stoves fire box and burn some cobs there, good and hot but burn up fast. I also grind cobs for chicken bedding. Farm Show once had a recipe for corn cob syrup, haven't tried that one yet

Jeff in ND · Dec 31, 2020

Has anyone ever tried to burn the cobs for heat? I assume I can just toss a bucketful in every time I load it with wood.

No, I am not using them for cleaning myself in the outhouse...

We had a D sheller like that, about the same vintage with the spoke wheels and script logo on the elevator. Ours had belt drive.

haha on those last comments....

Reminded me of Dad talking about growing up in the 30s/40s. They were pretty poor/broke. They fed hogs with corn on the cob tossed into the hog yard. Dad many times told me of being a kid and grandma yelling out the porch door for "more cobs, more cobs!!!". That meant having to go in the hog pen/yard with a rake and basket and rake up cobs (and you know what) and bring them in the house to go in the kitchen stove for fuel for canning in the summer :shock: Can't imagine anyone bringing stuff like that in the house nowadays!

Family shelling day - also, using cob in wood stove?

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