There are probably only about 50 people on the planet who need this information but we are putting it up here in an effort to keep these last few machines running for another 120 years.
In a true spirit of fair attribution, I should point out that the machines were in fact invented by Cummings, Mr Brown then invented a better flap folding mechanism and bought the original machine patent from Cummings. Brown also got rid of a few of Cummings’s cunning but fragile mechanisms for auto filling the seed drum. It is a ‘brown bag filling machine’ only in the sense that it is Brown’s Machine for Filling Bags.
Here is the Original Parts List which is really useful when referring to the manual or trying to reassemble your machine. Using the official part numbers and names will also help when ordering spares. This is the only technical manual available with pictures of all the parts in it. Unfortunately the field service manual does not seem to have survived.
Next we have the 1960s “Directions for Operating Bag Filling Machines”. This is really good, but the 1970’s one helps too. Note that at the end of this are some good instructions on resetting the timing from scratch by Bill Holder and we have used these to successfully reassemble our machines and get them running really smoothly.
Now we have the 1970s “Condensed Operating Instructions” dating from some time after the Ballard Machine Co took over the Brown Bag Machine Co.
You’ll see that they are picturing and pushing their new ‘improved’ funnel opener nose, which was a total step backwards in reality. I think it only necessary because when they got rid of the old horizontal envelope feeder and put in their new gravity fed angled feeder. Then it was really hard to adjust the envelope spring correctly, and this led to problems with timing the envelope opener. Most companies now use the original funnel noses, not the newfangled one pictured in this manual.
You’ll also see that they had tried to ‘improve’ their machines by adding a pneumatically powered glue dispenser. It was the beginning of the end . . . But the photos in this are quite clear – I think this was based on a well-written original Brown Bag machine manual – so if you overlook their ridiculous “improvements” this is another very helpful document.
do you have one of these to SELL or would you like to buy one?
If you want to buy a machine or spare parts to restore yours, you should contact Dan Buck at Ed Hume Seeds in USA as they hold all the remaining spare parts and rebuild secondhand machines as they come available.
Likewise if you have an old machine, or even just some parts, all are precious now whether working or not, please get in touch so they can be used to either create a new machine or repair an old one, depending on how complete it is.
Less than 50 are still in existence , and there is no modern equipment that comes anywhere near in speed or accuracy , so restored machines currently retail at $30,000 to $40,000 , so it is really worth saving any that might still be out there.
You can email Dan at: dbuckseeds [at] gmail.com
