Free: Contests & Raffles.
I thought I read somewhere that one of the gears in the Cabelas model, inside the motor was plastic. Maybe it was just a rumor started by a competitor.
Mine is a 1/2 hp Hobart that weighs in at about 300 lbs. It is 220v and would grind a whole elk feathers and all if you could feed it.
So, I know this is not going to be super popular, but I did a lot of web research and bought one that APPEARS to be cheapy and plastic. It is a Tasin TS-108. I was really only able to find it at one online jerky store. It is 1200 watt (peak) which correlates to 1.6 hp. I threw three blacktails through it this year for myself and my friend's animals. We did 75 lbs of venison, 7.5 lbs of beef fat, mixed them both and then reground together and wrapped and were done in probably ~3 hours. The grinder is a hog. All the reviews online are good, I have nothing bad to say about it. The best part is the price... $150. I know what you're thinking... cheap crap... but it worked fine for me and has for many others. For the price and the hp rating I don't think it can be beat and I was overjoyed with the speed. (It also has reverse). Worth looking at, mine has nearly already paid for itself.
I have the cabelas 1 hp and it is great we do at least 3 elk and up to 10 deer every year. We burned it up half way through my elk this year I figured it out and it did around 25 elk and over 30 deer it had a good life. We just boxed it up took it to cabelas and they replaced it no questions asked. They didn't even open the box. We had it for 4 1/2 years and they come with a 5 year warranty!