Mash Pump

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bh10

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Anybody know of a decent, cheaper pump that I can send grains through? I do a lot of decoction mashes and now Ive got into bigger batches were the pot can weigh a ton full of liquor and mash, and Id like to save my back if possible. Any suggestions? :mug:
 
Are you talking about getting rid of the spent grain after your mash? The easy way to do it without lifting would be to suck them out with a wet/dry vac.
 
Are you talking about getting rid of the spent grain after your mash? The easy way to do it without lifting would be to suck them out with a wet/dry vac.

No to move grains from one vessel to another, like moving grain and wort from a mash tun to another vessel for a decoction mash or moving to a lautering tank.
 
you might be able to make a conveyor belt or some type of auger system, but you wont find pumps of any type that will pump 10lb of grain. they do exist for pumping huge vats of solids like a 10,000lb mash tun or in sweage treatment tanks, but you wont be finding any of them for any reasonable price that would work on 10 or 20lb of grain.

a shop vac is probably the best idea so far.
 
BIAB - use a bag, then rig up a hoist if you are in a garage or indoors. Outside you can put a ladder over the kettle and hoist with that. Using a bag has multiple benefits, one of which is easier clean up. You don't have to do the BIAB method - just the bag!
 
Look for waste pumps. They are used to move toilet solids. Marine ones are smallish and 12V (Jabsco). Check amazon. Make sure to find out max temps.

Macerator pumps grind "stuff" to a slurry for easy pumping, but you probably are not looking for that.

They are not as much money as you think. Most are < $200.
 
I think you are trying to create a solution to a problem that no one else has...for a reason. How much are you decocting? You shouldn't be decocting the entire mash, so you shouldn't need to lift a full MT/MLT.
 
I think you are trying to create a solution to a problem that no one else has...for a reason. How much are you decocting? You shouldn't be decocting the entire mash, so you shouldn't need to lift a full MT/MLT.

Well, he did say "the pot can weigh a ton full of liquor and mash" (what's that - around 8 bbls pre boil?) so even if he's doing "thirds" he's still moving around nearly 700 pounds of mash.

'Course, if he wasn't being literal about that tun weight, all bets are off ;)

Cheers!
 
Let's see, your "pot" can weigh a ton. So, you're mashing about 500 pounds of grain, with say, 1.5 qt. H2O/lb.? Since you're dealing with that much grain and no doubt, a seasoned professional, using a fine "pot". Buy an auger drive designed for moving mash. Used, they start at about 3 grand. Of course, you'll need to weld all kind of gizmonics to the "pot" to make it work. Now, if you wanna be a Wanna Be Rube Goldberg. You can remove the auger assembly from a junked 1500 lb. per day, Scotsman ice flaker. Replace the shaft seal with a high temp B&G stainless pump seal. Replace both bearings with Fafnir sealed high temp ones. You'll need to have the shaft and auger barrel milled to accept the seal. The inlet and outlet of the assembly is 2". You'll need to weld a couple of stainless flanges on the ports. You can chop off the refrigerant pipes as you'll not be using that part of the auger. The pipes can be used to fashion a toilet paper roller or wind chimes. Then, bugger up your "pot" with some 2", 4 or 8 bolt stainless flanges and bolt the auger to it. You'll need to replace the drive motor with a reversible motor. The entire assembly weighs about 200 lbs. You may be under 1.5 grand when it's all done. A peristaltic will move mash. One with big enough ports isn't cheap. I tri-decoction everything I brew. My grain bill is only 20-25 lb. I use a 15 gallon tri-clad on a burner, for a mash tun. I use a stainless pitcher to move the mash to a 5 gallon tri-clad decoction kettle or to the lautertun. It's not all that bad. But, I'm not in the big league using a 500 pound grain bill.
 
On the cheap, I would probably buy something like a winch on a swivel that could lower a bucket into the mash. Not a perfect solution as you would have to push the grains into the bucket somehow.

But what if you were to put a pre-measured fraction of your grains into BIAB bags... Then just fish out those specific bags to do your decoction, using a hoist/ winch to lift them? Maybe add a little bit of wort to the mostly dry grains that you'd be pulling out.

You could even submerge something like a 55gallon SS kettle directly into your mash, then pull it out, rinse the bottom, heat it, then dump it.

I am not saying it would work, just throwing out some thoughts here.

Were you being literal when you said "a ton"? Give us an actual volume and I bet the smart folks here can come up with a decent alternative to expensive augers.
 
Let's see, your "pot" can weigh a ton. So, you're mashing about 500 pounds of grain, with say, 1.5 qt. H2O/lb.? Since you're dealing with that much grain and no doubt, a seasoned professional, using a fine "pot". Buy an auger drive designed for moving mash. Used, they start at about 3 grand. Of course, you'll need to weld all kind of gizmonics to the "pot" to make it work. Now, if you wanna be a Wanna Be Rube Goldberg. You can remove the auger assembly from a junked 1500 lb. per day, Scotsman ice flaker. Replace the shaft seal with a high temp B&G stainless pump seal. Replace both bearings with Fafnir sealed high temp ones. You'll need to have the shaft and auger barrel milled to accept the seal. The inlet and outlet of the assembly is 2". You'll need to weld a couple of stainless flanges on the ports. You can chop off the refrigerant pipes as you'll not be using that part of the auger. The pipes can be used to fashion a toilet paper roller or wind chimes. Then, bugger up your "pot" with some 2", 4 or 8 bolt stainless flanges and bolt the auger to it. You'll need to replace the drive motor with a reversible motor. The entire assembly weighs about 200 lbs. You may be under 1.5 grand when it's all done. A peristaltic will move mash. One with big enough ports isn't cheap. I tri-decoction everything I brew. My grain bill is only 20-25 lb. I use a 15 gallon tri-clad on a burner, for a mash tun. I use a stainless pitcher to move the mash to a 5 gallon tri-clad decoction kettle or to the lautertun. It's not all that bad. But, I'm not in the big league using a 500 pound grain bill.
Im not sure what breweries you've been to/worked at, but the one I trained at and worked/working at dont use auger drive system to move grain/wort. Besides that would be extremely unsanitary, you'd never get the proper volume, you cant push wort with an auger system, and if that did somehow work, how'd you get it back?

I think you are trying to create a solution to a problem that no one else has...for a reason. How much are you decocting? You shouldn't be decocting the entire mash, so you shouldn't need to lift a full MT/MLT.
1.5bbl.

On the cheap, I would probably buy something like a winch on a swivel that could lower a bucket into the mash. Not a perfect solution as you would have to push the grains into the bucket somehow.

But what if you were to put a pre-measured fraction of your grains into BIAB bags... Then just fish out those specific bags to do your decoction, using a hoist/ winch to lift them? Maybe add a little bit of wort to the mostly dry grains that you'd be pulling out.

You could even submerge something like a 55gallon SS kettle directly into your mash, then pull it out, rinse the bottom, heat it, then dump it.

I am not saying it would work, just throwing out some thoughts here.

Were you being literal when you said "a ton"? Give us an actual volume and I bet the smart folks here can come up with a decent alternative to expensive augers.
No, not literal.


Besides this threads a year old, I got a pump and got it working. Thanks for the suggestion though, I was thinking of a hoist system.
 
Besides this threads a year old, I got a pump and got it working. Thanks for the suggestion though, I was thinking of a hoist system.
I must have been a sleep , missed your thread:eek:
I am glad you got it working.
Many small pumps with flexible impellers can pump grain.
My mash pump is the second pump

CIPMashPumps.jpg


Mash_Pump1.jpg


Cheers,
ClaudiusB
 
So what pump did you end up using? Would love to at least have it documented somewhere since I hope to do the same thing down the road. Cheers!
 
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