Motorized Grain Mill Help

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BeerGuy1000

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Hey I am going to make a motorized grain mill when I get back from this deployment, I have the 15lbs barley crusher, I was going to get a motor from surplus center but the one I wanted has been discontinued. Anyone have any ideas on what I can use or were to get one?
 
beerguy1000 said:
hey i am going to make a motorized grain mill when i get back from this deployment, i have the 15lbs barley crusher, i was going to get a motor from surplus center but the one i wanted has been discontinued. Anyone have any ideas on what i can use or were to get one?

+1
 
It's not as pretty as a gear motor, perhaps, but I've been really happy with my Harbor Freight 1/2" low-speed, high torque drill. It has a trigger lock, variable speed from 0-500 rpm that you can set, and is reversible.

It doesn't flinch starting with a full 10 lbs. in the hopper. To mount it, I re-purposed an old chair to use as stand, mounting the drill on its side at the same height as the mill base on top of a bucket, and then used a bolt through the bottom of the chair seat that threads into port where the side handle would mount to the drill. It's hands free operation for milling, plus I have a heavy duty drill to use to mix mortar or whatever, too. So it offers some benefits over a gear motor to me. They go on sale for $44 every so often (currently,through April) and you can use the 20% coupon in-store coupon on top of that.
 
Here's the picture...It was easy to set up and it's hard to beat the price, especially since the drill can have dual uses. The pictures are a bit big and obnoxious but you get the idea. The only trick is getting the drill mounted the same height as your bucket/base/mill set-up. After that, it's just drilling one hole through the platform to thread a bolt through and into the port in the side of the drill. Finger tight is fine, then you can take it apart when your done or configure it so the drill swivels out of the way and the mill and base can sit next to it like in the last picture. It isn't pretty but I had all the stuff handy (minus the drill) so it cost me $44 out-the-door (sale priced + 20% coupon) and that was with the 2 year replacement plan. Super easy to set-up and I've been really pleased. The drill is loud that's the only drawback I can think of besides the fact that it isn't going to win a beauty contest.

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