The old grinder is ready for storage, waiting until the cherry crop comes in. (I grind the sour cherries when making preserves.)
I think my main grinder got knocked off to me for a buck at an auction. The board, belt, and cord have been replaced and the safety switch installed. All in all, I have about ten bucks invested.
This year we ran over 200 pounds of meat through this, 400 if you count that most was ground twice. Not bad for the old tool, made in America about 120 years ago and "electrified" much later.
This is a size 22 and we also have a smaller one, set up the same, that is size 12 (I think). It is older than the hills too but we don't use it unless we have more people helping with the butchering.
We put up about 60 pounds of burger, 25 pounds of breakfast sausage (loose), 25 pounds of Italian sausage (loose), 15 pounds of potato sausage (stuffed and tied into rings, frozen raw), 40 pounds of sticks (stuffed, smoked and baked till done), 50 pounds of summer sausage (stuffed, smoked, and baked to 155 deg+).
It gets to be work.
One change I made for both of my grinders is the addition of two washers to each of them. The washers are made out of the sides of gallon milk jugs, about 2 1/2" in diameter with a 3/4" hole. The washers are lubricated and go on the shafts of the augers before the grinders are assembled. The washers form a very thin bearing between the auger and the grinder body. More power goes to grinding meat and less to friction; also, there is no fluid leakage along the shaft of the grinder. This also keeps the shaft lubrication from washing away. There is a lot of pressure on these washers and they get silky smooth.