4700 Bayshore Rd., Sarasota, Florida 34234
In the November 1991 GEM on page 29 an article about the New
Holland Machine Company interested me, especially the part about
former Dellinger Manufacturing Company employees buying the New
Holland Company.
In the thirties, looking for an ensilage cutter/silo filler with
large capacity and speed, we bought the large size Dellinger
machines with a balanced flywheel/blower and six blades.
Fortunately, we had the power to run it at capacity.
The main feature we liked, aside from being a well made machine,
was its ability to cut as small as three sixteenths of an inch.
This would guarantee a kernel of corn being cut in two, thus would
be digested by the cow or other animal which in turn meant more
food value per ton of ensilage. It also permitted better compaction
in the silo, preventing spoilage from air pockets.
At the time, of course, corn was still bundled in the field and
brought to the silo to be chopped and blown into the silo. We ran a
test, using two men throwing bundles into the machine as fast as
they could, and yet the Dellinger kept right on chopping and
blowing to the top of the silo, without the slightest hesitation.
It also had a pipe big enough to handle anything at any capacity it
could chop. It was very well made, and required very little repair,
other than keeping the knives sharp. It was precision built, so the
knives could be kept very close to the hardened anvil required for
easy cutting and a low requirement for power.
This machine was retired when field choppers came into use, and
it was still in very good useable condition after 10 or 12 years of
chopping 200 acres of silo corn annually. It is now in the hands of
the Roseland, New Jersey Historical Society. Our farm was in
Roseland, New Jersey.
When we bought a field chopper we also, of course, bought a New
Holland ensilage blower, which used an auger feed into the blower.
It did not have a quick disengaging lever like the Dellinger had,
and a serious injury or death could occur should someone get caught
in the open auger.
We devised an inverted cage over the top of the auger that would
permit material to feed into the auger but keep a person’s hand
or body out of it. Feeling I was doing New Holland and other
farmers a favor, by promoting a very simple and inexpensive
attachment to improve safety, even save a life, I gave them my
idea. I was very clear in that I did not have any or want any
patent rights, royalties, etc.-it was just a matter of safety.
Nonetheless, a letter from their attorney came back saying they
would not use it unless I signed a bunch of releases! They were
evidently not very interested in safety. Now they have OSHA to
contend with.