The Clipper Office Tester is a compact seed cleaner well suited to a small farm. The machine has a small foot print, approximately 16” x 25”, and weighs about 50 pounds. It is light enough to move outside when cleaning dusty seeds. We originally purchased the machine to clean friken and grünkern (parched green wheat and spelt). We now use it to clean all manner of grains and beans, including the silk and husk debris from popcorn and grain corn.
The office tester does a very good job, saving us a lot of time and producing a very clean batch of seed. For example, popcorn with small amounts of corn silk lacks charm when someone thinks it might be hair or worse. A couple of passes through the seed cleaner and it is spotless. With dry beans, they look much better when the small, poorly formed seeds are removed, a tedious task when done by hand.
The design of the machine is simple. It accommodates two screens on a shaker, one for scalping and the other for sifting. The seed passes through the scalping screen, removing the large material, and then over the sifting screen, which separates out the small debris. The seed then falls past an adjustable blower which removes very light trash such as corn silk and chaff. The machine takes but a few minutes to clean when the job is done.
The screens can be configured to size seed as well as clean it, and a single sifting screen can be used with large seeds, such as favas, that don’t need scalping. The screens come in 175 different sizes, shapes and opening types. For most seed cleaning we use a round holed screen for scalping, and an oval hole for cleaning. For unusual jobs, such as cleaning frikeh, you can send the company a sample and they will configure the machine correctly. We have eight oval hole screens and 13 round hole screens. These allow us to clean seeds from mustard to cranberry beans, and all types of grain.
We have made two modifications to the machine. Rubber pads on the base keep the machine from crawling across the table and reduces noise. The original clean seed tray is relatively small, 11 x 16 inches, and 2.75 inches deep. We made a new tray that is 11 x 32 inches, and 3.5 inches deep, more than doubling the capacity. We may go to a 48 inch long tray in the future.
The Clipper is constructed by the A.T. Ferrell Company of Bluffton, Indiana. The cost of a new machine with two screens is about $1,750.00. Additional screens run $38.00 each, with a 10% quantity discount. Not cheap, but the machine is beautifully made and portable. The operating instructions are a bit inscrutable, but its operation is pretty intuitive.
The machine’s purchase substantially increased our farm’s capacity to handle seed crops, and increased their quality as well. Seed cleaning is now measured in minutes rather than hours. We do not miss the rustic chore of sifting and winnowing grains and seeds by hand.

Anthony and Carol Boutard
Ayers Creek Farm