The Cummings-Brown and Ballard
Bag Filling Machine Archive
We pack some of our seed by hand, but we also pack a lot using our two "Brown Bag Filling Machines" dating back to the 1890's. These incredible devices have been packing seeds ever since and this is a series of pages devoted to their history and use.
Do you know of a Brown Bag Filling Machine somwhere? Less than 50 of these 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. In 2022 we found four that had been abandoned in a warehouse that was being redeveloped, and saved three of them from scrap.
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.
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. You can email Dan at: dbuckseeds [at] gmail.com
Coming soon... A set of pages dedicated to the history and current use of these amazing machines in use for over 120 years packing seeds all over the world.
In the meantime if you want to purchase replacement measuring scoops for your machine, we have them for sale!
Use
Early History
Current Day
