Got a little over a gallon ground up so far. Me and that hand grinder needed a break after that. So now for the taint and then make some bait. I've got a recipe using honey and fox urine I'm gonna try. I've got another couple of bags of mice to go. Might try some other blends, see where it goes.. Made me feel almost like a serial killer disposing of the bodies. LOL

Hand grinder???????

get you a cheap motor and pulleys and tune it up like this!

got this off t-man yrs ago and don't know who to thank!...possibly Jaime....ADC himself.

Got my mice all ground , the "hard" way.. So now it's just wait for the taint and make it up and jar it.. I ended up with a little over a gallon of ground mice from 2 gallon bags of mice.
That's one mean looking grinder setup !! I'm jealous , but I'll be looking for parts to make one of my own. This was my first experience hand grinding frozen mice. I'll find an easier way next year. Thanks for the pic. that helps a lot.

that grinder has ground a lot of stuff. still use it. not cheap but lots cheaper than one of equal capacity ready made. that motor I bought new at a farm store. was sold for use on a grain auger. bought the belt tensioner at the same store. its parts for a garage door.

What size motor is on that?

Its still dark out Yes Sir. I don't remember what its rated at now. Works on 110. When the sun comes up Ill go out and look in the shed at the tag. If I was going to sell lure and bait I'd want something lots bigger but for personal use and maybe a little bartering here and there its a dandy.

FWIW in the picture that five gallon bucket has ground whole fresh shad in it

For consumer work a 3/4 to 1 HP motor with a gear reducer would do a good job. A timing belt type drive will allow you to grind some bone well without stopping it a lot if you use good judgement. A Belt drive system will begin to slip if you work it too hard with more stress.

Bob a hatchet gets stuff small enough some bone isnt a big deal. hide and fur stops it up worse. have to drop in small pieces at a slower pace than grinding just meat. Like i said works great on a few gallons for personal use. way to slow for comercial use. takes the better part of an hour to grind up five gallons of meat bone and hide.

tag says 1/2 h.p. with 115 volts. can also be wired for 230 and i gues that would increase the h.p. tag doesnt say

for all you electrical guru's

I'll never need a commercial level grinder, but that one looks to be all I could ever need. As you said , personal and bartering level stuff.. I like puttering and tinkering, so a little bait making is right up my alley.. I'll look into getting the parts and seeing if I can make something similar . Thanks for the pic and explanations .
During the grinding I did , I had caught some of the small rats that are here too .. So I had to chop them up as I went. .. It all worked out , and as you said the fur was more of a problem than the bones. I figure it's just a case of "MORE POWER". LOL

Just hook up Industrial Strength Heavy Weight Grinder with Tractor PTO (Power Take Off), you can grind up about Anything! Maybe not an elephant but close!
Then reduce the mass with the smaller 1/2 HP, 3/4 HP, 1 HP to 3 HP Grinders! Large production put out set-up!
then load up the large container holding vessels!
You would be surprised what hydraulic power can out produce!

Another Fur Boom is coming gotta be ready!

i feel sharp blades will over come horse power in certain situations my 32 with sharp blades will keep up with my uncles 22 commercial hobart

A sharp knife and good plates make grinding much more efficient. Clean your knife and auger every now and then when doing a good volume and that should keep things moving thru nicely.

I went to cabelas for a new blade. They had one that fit the plate but not the square end of the grinder screw. I filed the grinder screw end, a little at a time, off each side, one at a time, till the new blade fit. works great and replacement blades are not an issue now.

a cordless drill and a piece of 180 grit sand paper makes quick work of a dull blade it also trues up the plate

A blender works for small amounts

I had thought for the price of the motor, grinder and parts I could buy a pretty tough elec. grinder. It won't be as cool though LOL.. So the plan is to scrounge at Auctions for the stuff I'll need. Till then it'll be the hand grinder. I'll only do about 2 to 3 gallons of mice a year for now anyway. So I should have plenty of time to find the stuff cheaper than buying it new.

Reminded me of an article in Trappers World bout 10 yrs ago......I think it was OGorman ???, who bought a grinder from Nelson ???,,powered by a Chevy 4 cyl motor!
He could throw entire beavers and bobcats in, sans heads, in LOW tranny gear.

x2
Hobart = maybe 7.5 HP,
(PTO) = Enormous HP, ate a man up back long ago, very tragic accident, (Be Extremely Careful/110% Alert) If built right WILL be Safe!
4 Cyl. Gas/ Diesel Block Engine with the correct motor mounts = 170 Horse Power with Zetec, may wish to reduce the Gear Ratio = Enormous power!
You'll be finished by Noon, while everybody is sharpening grinder knives (tungsten carbide) China junk, you'll be All Packed Up!
Any of those (2) WILL laugh at a Hobart!

You could use a big block 454 HO, GTO, Chevelle block engine with Good Motor mounts, blocked in, rivaling @438 HP @5300 RPM, punching @ 500 LB/FT @3500 RPM, may beef it up a bit MORE, just special order a covered dump truck full of high-grade mice, you'll be punching them critters out within a few minutes or less!
Just do some fine tuning, you'll be in good shape!

Simple as putting one of them half moon steel buildings together!

You don't have to look for parts, The Big One comes in a Crate, Cash & Carry (Cash & Delivery)! A REAL Beauty!

http://www.chevrolet.com/performance/crate-engines/big-block-454-ho

It's nice to know there is always a way to step it up a notch on power. LOL I worked on the mouse bait today. It turned out pretty nice I think.. It'll be a milder smelling bait, I didn't want rotted down mice .. I used Blackie's Stop It, honey and Fox urine .

You should go on Amazon and look at electric grinders.

I just bought a pretty nice one for $48 shipped. If it makes it for one day, grinding 4 gallons of beaver and 1 gallon of mice, it will have paid for itself. If it doesn't burn up, and lasts into the next season, it'll be money well spent.

Al ive got 80$ in mine brand new #32 hand grinder just omit the handle and replace with a 10-12 " pulley wheel. Old fan motor out of a dead furnace. F.y.i look for the old belt driven fan motors easier to convert and already has the rite size wheel on the motor. A .3/4 HP is your best option. A 1/2 hp will work in a pinch but it cycles on the thermal overload alot! Most of your old lennox pulse furnaces 90,000 btu and above had 3/4 hp belt drive fan motors

AL I hope that works for you. my experience with those 40 dollars grinders has not been good. Haven't bought one though in several decades so maybe they have improved to the point they work now.

lol no the grinder it self was 70$ I got the pulley at a discount return that was scuffed up manager asked if id give 5 $ so tax an all it was $80 I cant remember the name of the grinder but ive saw them from over 100$ to as low as 65$ the grinder I use is exactly like yours danny

Danny, I'm not saying it'll work...lol, but I want to give it a try. For that kind of money, I'll consider it disposable. Just the cheapskate in me coming out.

I'll bone out all the beaver, and grind the mice half frozen, to hopefully make things go easier.

If it makes it thru this grind, and doesn't crap out, I'll send it down to TONY to use for light duty grinding up liver.

you do that I will save you back a motor for your new grinder! at one time I had around 30-40 used motors. but I let my son scrap them awhile back! DUMB!