Maltmill vs. Crank vs. BarleyCrusher

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Bobby_M

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So I'm comparing all the mills and there seem to be some major differences.

JSP Maltmill: Nice big 10" x 1.5" rollers. Good price for the BBAA at $130 shipped. The one thing I don't see is how the adjustment is done, and how that adjustment is held in place. Does anyone know? I don't have a problem building the hopper.

Crankandstein CGM-2D has a nice adjustment system but smaller 5" x 1.5" rollers.
$144 shipped. Other downside "we build as orders come in, expect shipment in a week or so".

Barleycrusher looks nice and the price is right considering the hopper is included BUT what's with the tiny rollers? 5" x 1.25". Is this enough diameter to really pull the grain in? $132 shipped.

I expect building the hopper for the two barebones would cost me $0-10 so it's barely a motivator. The Crank seems to be the worst deal for size of rollers and mostly the shipping delay and higher price.
 
I have the Barley crusher, I went to his place of buisness and picked it up. I love this thing it is a very good grain mill. He stand behind his product with a lifetime warranty.
 
I have an old fermentap Grain Gobbler it's small it has 1.5 inch long rollers and has a fixed opening of 0.035 it is bare bones and will crush grain at a rate of about 1lb a min or so. It's old and slow but work great I consistantly get a 75% efficentcy so I'm still happy. Butt..... I sure would like to have the biggest and the baddest!!!!!!
 
Hey Bobby, if you're not set on the detents you can get the crankandstein GCM-2A for $112 shipped. It's still fully adjustable and is basically the same thing as the CGM-2D, just no detents.
 
They are all good mills. The Barley Crusher comes ready to go on a base that fits a 5 gallon plastic pale nice and snug.
 
I pulled the trigger on the Crankandstein CGM-2D. Great price and despite the week wait, I just wouldn't feel right without having to DIY some part of the mill like the hopper. It's the only way I can justify all these tools.
 
I too bought the Crankandstein CGM2A,Great mill.

As for a hopper I used a 3 gal distilled water bottle ( plastic of course).
Just drill a hole in the top plate and cut off the bottom of the bottle it will hold about 12 lbs and grinds it up fast enough fot me.
You may get faster delivery through Northen Brewer. ( not sure .)
 
Bobby_M said:
I pulled the trigger on the Crankandstein CGM-2D. Great price and despite the week wait, I just wouldn't feel right without having to DIY some part of the mill like the hopper. It's the only way I can justify all these tools.

This is what comes next



Here's what you need to motorize your mill all from Grainger:

V Belt, Nominal Outside Length 44 Inches, Top Width 3/8 Inch, Belt 3L, 7/32 Inch Thick, Smooth DAYTON
3L440-G

Die Cast One Groove Sheave, OD 1 1/2 Inches, 3L Belt Pitch Diameter 1.05 Inches, 4L or A Belt Pitch Diameter 1.35 Inches, 1/2 Inch Bore Size CONGRESS
CA150 1-1/2A X 1/2

Die Cast One Groove Sheave, OD 10 Inches, 3L Belt Pitch Diameter 9.55 Inches, 4L or A Belt Pitch Diameter 9.85 Inches, 1/2 Inch Bore Size CONGRESS
CA1000 10A X 1/2

Belt Drive Motor, Split-Phase, Open Dripproof, 1/3 HP, 1725 RPM, Number of Speeds 1, 115 Volts, 6.6 Full Load Amps, 48Y NEMA Frame, Service Factor 1.35 DAYTON
6K778G
Adapter Bushing, 3/8 Inch ID x 1/2 Inch OD, 1 1/8 Inches Length, For Adapting 3/8 to 1/2 Inch Diameter Shaft DAYTON
6X452


This is what I used to make mine:
1332-P1010109.JPG

__________________
 
I think I'm going to hold out for a dumpster dive motor find. Maybe the drive motor from a cloths dryer would work. There are a ton of spent appliances at the local recycling center but I wonder how they'd feel about me pulling in with my tools to remove parts. The most I've gotten away with is pulling some nice looking steel angle out of the metal bin.
 
I have a MaltMill with the gear drive option. The gear drive option allows the crank to drive both rollers. I makes a really nice crush. Adjusting the rollers is easy. You loosen the set screw and then turn the thumbwheel to set the gap and then tighten the set screw. No tools required.
 
I found my motor at a flea market and I think it came out of a furnace ( not sure but he had a bunch of that kind of stuff.)
Looked like new and cost just $7.50 I bought an extension cord and wired it to a handy box with a switch. works great.
 
Couple questions...

First, do you all fill your hopper and then start the mill or do you dump the grain in as the mill is spinning? I'm trying to picture what would happen if the grain started filling up the area above the rollers prior to spinning them up. It sounds like a two-person operation if you use a hand drill.

Where is the cheapest place to buy pulleys for motorizing?
 
With my Crankandstein I found I get a much better crush with slower rpms but I too fill up the hopper then give it the juice.
 
I have only ever owned the Barley Crusher and it has been fantastic. Worked right out of the box perfectly but then again, I am sure all of these mills are great.
 
Bobby_M said:
Woah, looks like the new guy found a year old thread ;-)

Oh so that's what happened. The 02-17 part of the time stamp threw me. I was originally gonna post "don't you already have a mill??"...
 
BarleyCrusher's awesome.

As to Bobby's original concern regarding the size of the rollers; I'll be damned if I can see how that's an issue. I run the drill pretty much full-bore, it pulls the grain through very quickly and gives a kick-ass crush. Probably took a minute, maybe two minutes, to crush the grain for yesterday's batch - including re-filling the hopper halfway through. Didn't time it, it might have been quicker. Crush seems just as good running full-bore versus at a lower RPM. Seems like the smaller rollers will also put less stress on the drill (I've heard of drills getting burned out on some of the bigger mills; not an issue if you've got a separate motor, but a potential issue for guys like BM and myself using 40-year old drills to run the thing).
 
I ordered about a week ago. depending on where you live it may be a week or more. I live in San Diego and I believe BC guy is in Ohio or something. Should have got a email with a ups tracking number on it.
 
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