Corn grinder

[HighSierra79]

Got an old hand crank corn grinder I'm debating on powering. Have a 1/3hp, 1725/1140 rpm elec. motor sitting around. Think this would be enough juice and speed(pulley setup) to run this, or step up into 1hp.

 

[Daren Todd]

That would be an experiment I would love to see considering the rpm, a big pulley to gear it down would probably be in order I would be very interested in seeing the results

 

[D2Cat]

HighSierra79, Make up a 3 point bracket, mount it behind your tractor. You'd have plenty of power, choices of RPM and easy to move around. Besides, you'd have something different YOU made!

 

[olthumpa]

"A healthy human can produce about 1.2 hp briefly and sustain about 0.1 hp indefinitely; trained athletes can manage up to about 2.5 hp briefly and 0.3 hp for a period of several hours. for the second question, let's propose a task to be done two different ways..."

Depending on the type of moter it is, I would think that 1/3hp (0.33hp) would be plenty.

 

[Tooljunkie]

Winder up. Count how many turns in a minute. Then do the math. If you can jackshaft electric 1725/3450 to 120 or 180 rpm's. 10:1 or 20:1 depending on your motor 1725@10:1 is 172.5 rpm's. 2" on motor 20" on crank. A pricey venture. Better off with say two 10" and two 2" with a 1/2" jackshaft and a couple bearings.

 

[skeets]

Maybe this would work
http://www.harborfreight.com/router-speed-control-43060.html

 

[Tooljunkie]

Great idea,except brushless motors need a variable frequency drive. Routers are usually brush type. Vfd's are really pricey.

 

[ShaunRH]

I wouldn't want variable on a grinder. Consistency is what you are looking for. I'd to hand grind tests, seeing what RPM gives me the best grind. Then create a pulley set to match the speed from the motor to the grinder.

If speed doesn't change the grind, then you could make it variable but at that point I'd just target what my max hand driven RPM was...

 

[Tooljunkie]

i have been working on a hammer mill myself, a little larger for chipping wood. But it requires a fair amount of horsepower compared to hand operated.
Thinking 3/4 hp should grind the corn.

 

[CaveCreekRay]

My Troybilt Super Tomahawk II Chipper Shredder does corn at 8hp. Pick the grate you want for the right consistency. The drier the better, I hear. And, when doing corn, you better have on a dust mask.

I only use it for trees.

This thing is a monster.

 

[skeets]

Well what did you figure out on the corn grinder???

 

[HighSierra79]

Just got it going today. 2" pulley on motor, 10" grinder. HD steel pulleys to boost momentum. Used V belt, old guttering for chute, and pieced together platform it's mounted on. Ugly, but works. Wall mounted on/off switch. Ran power cable thru wall to shop side of building to prevent my kids or someone else from powering this thing without supervision. RPM lower than expected, considering ratio. Building pulley guard hopefully this weekend. Running syn oil as shaft lube on grinder.

Never posted pics here, but what's the quickest way I can from my wife's iPad. I'd like to show this, but also know the value of pics on here as a resource.