Randy Jones, Owner 
I'm Randy Jones, owner of Bitterroot Tool & Machine, exclusive builder of the GrainMaker mill. Back in 1998, my wife Bonnie wanted a hand-operated grain mill, but couldn't find one- so I made one! I don't think either of us imagined how our lives would be changed by that first GrainMaker mill. From that humble beginning for our own kitchen, today we ship our mills all over the globe. We've met literally hundreds of people who want to take charge of their food and improve the quality of their lives.
My wife Bonnie and I have been married for 24 years. We have 4 wonderful children. Justin our oldest is married and works for a local ammunition company. Levi, our second oldest is married and has a beautiful little girl. Levi is our ISO Quality Manager and our CAD man! Jessica our only daughter is married and has two beautiful babies! Jessica and her husband Miles are the ones starting Agape Youth Ranch. Cody is our youngest. Cody graduated from high school in 2009 and jumped right into our family business - he is the one now assembling and testing all our GrainMaker mills that we send out.
While I enjoy machining and designing new things in the machine shop, I enjoy the beautiful state of Montana most from the back of a horse. I was blessed to be able to ride over 300 miles in 2008, and most of it in the wilderness. One particular ride I count on each summer is a seasonal 'job' that takes me nine miles into the Bitterroot Wilderness. Along with eight other men, a cook and at least one dog, I am hired to clean out a high mountain lake that area ranchers use for irrigation water. Every year there are avalanches in the mountains around the lake which put root wads and trees into the water. These must be cleaned out to keep the water flowing freely. I call this a job, but it is really a wonderful weekend away on my saddle horse "ShyAnne", along with my Shire/Belgian draft horse "Slim" and a pack horse. It's not unusual to see moose on this ride either in the woods or swimming in one of the mountain lakes.
I feel particularly blessed to be able to have all my children living close by. As I mentioned earlier, we have two of our children working for us at the shop. As a father and husband it has been my prayer to see my whole family serving the Lord together. We are so excited to see them maturing into fine adults who have the same desire for their own children. We are very happy to be able to be a part of a new ministry that our son-in-law and daughter have started called Agape Youth Ranch. They are pairing disadvantaged youth, and folks of all ages, up with abused and abandoned horses. They just received their non-profit status, had a ranch donated for this ministry, and are in the process of getting the arena put in. They are hoping by 2010 to be able to have their first children arrive. God is so good- all the time! We praise Him for what He is doing and what He has already done!
Bonnie Jones, Owner's Wife, Mom, Secretary, Blessed by God!
Hello! My name is Bonnie Jones. I am the person who answers the phone most of the time when our customer's call in. In 1998 Randy and I were homeschooling our children and learning to become more "God reliant". I like that term much more than self sufficient. That is when I decided to start milling my own flour. Randy had the "design" for the mill in his head and went to work and asked his boss if he could use material out of the scrap pile. The boss said sure and that is when the GrainMaker mill began. In February of 1999 Randy set the first GrainMaker up for me to use. Little did we know that this little tool was what God was going to use to completely change our lives! We had wanted to have our own business and his boss was gracious enough to give him a year's leave of absence. In that years time we were able to start our business and today Bitterroot Tool & Machine is the result of 11 years of hard word work and perseverance.
When we started selling GrainMaker mills, I was a stay at home mom and as I said we were homeschooling our childern. As the children grew we continued to sell our mills and the business expanded to manufacturing parts for other companies. It wasn't long before we quickly outgrew our little shop - which was actually our barn - and our power supply. When we moved the shop, Randy built a room in the new building for our school room. This was such a special time for us all. To say that our children grew up with our business is very accurate.
I took a little break from the business after our children started graduating and getting married. I have been blessed to have been able to attend each of my grandbabies births! What a miracle to witness a new life coming into the world! I love to be at home, baking bread, canning and being a homemaker!
At the end of 2008 the GrainMaker sales really picked up. All our children were either married or getting ready to graduate. Randy started to get very overwhelmed with all the orders, and asked me to come back to the shop and help out. Stepping back in to work with GrainMaker orders was very natural to me. I am NOT a salesman, but I am very comfortable talking about our mill - after all Randy made the first one for me! I spent a whole summer baking bread and pies for our local Farmer's Market. Every Friday would find me baking 80 loaves of bread and 12 pies! I ground all my own wheat and rye flour with my GrainMaker grain mill.
As I said I love being at home baking and canning, but with my children now grown and moved out, coming back to the shop was very natural. God has truly blessed me with being able to work alongside my best friend - my husband and two of my children. Justin stops in almost daily for lunch and occasionally my daughter fills in for me when I have to be out of town! I truly do feel blessed by God! If you call and hear little voices in the background, that is my grandbabies stopping in to visit Nana and Boompa!
Order Now