My Ghetto Barley Crusher

My goal was to build a nice crusher on a moderate budget. Something that could accommodate larger batches without headache should I move up to brew with the bigger boys.

My father had a scrap piece of 3/4" thick plastic which I used for the mounting base.



I found the 1/3hp motor and gearbox new, old stock on Ebay. The gearbox is a variable speed Zero-Max that can deliver full torque from zero up to full rpm's (400) and anywhere in between.



The mill is a Monster Mill three roller MM3 with 1.5" diameter rollers connected with a Lovejoy shaft coupler.

Doesn't look all that ghetto to me. Nice job.

If that's ghetto, I'm brewing like a cave man.

I often like to brew with a home brew in my hand so I thought it prudent to enclose and guard everything so I don't accidently get a finger in the wrong spot. I also enclosed everything to contain the dust.

First I fitted the plate to cover one side and the top of the mill. This will become the mounting base for my hopper and provide additional support to stiffen the mill.



Then I cut a slot centered over the two rollers.



And welded on mounting brackets to support my ghetto hopper.

You're ghetto status is now under severe suspicion.

I think you're confused about what the word ghetto means!

This is very nice looking!!

I had a pressure washer wheeled cart lying around the shop unused which is a perfect cart for my crusher. A $5 plastic garbage can is my hopper.



I put a separate plate on the adjustment side of the mill so I can remove the cover without removing the hopper to measure the gap settings.



And the view for feeding in the grain. Because the gearbox can deliver full power at any speed, even stopped I should be able to start the mill after the hopper is full if I want (like if I start grinding and realize I want to change the roller gap).



The final step was to put a guard over the rotating shafts and Lovejoy connector. Who knows when a drunk brewer might want to stick their tongue on the blue coupling to see if it tastes like blueberry.

ok the trash can is kinda ghetto.

after all that work you really need a proper grain hopper on there. At LEAST use a Homer Bucket!

Even with the garbage can, that is pro.

PintOfBitter said:

ok the trash can is kinda ghetto.

after all that work you really need a proper grain hopper on there. At LEAST use a Homer Bucket!

Click to expand...

Yes...the bucket is kinda ghetto but I LOVE it!

If it was true ghetto the hopper would be made from a used Popeye's Chicken Bucket!

I call shenanigans. Ghetto my rear end.

Well done sir, that is one sweet rig.

I was expecting rolling pins hooked up to a workout bike...

GlenF said:

I was expecting rolling pins hooked up to a workout bike...

Click to expand...

Been done

First of all, great job on the mill. I thought it was one of the least ghetto DIY's I'd ever seen, but then you put that nice trash can touch on there. You have a good sense of humor, and even better metal working skills.

Second,

IrregularPulse said:

Been done

Click to expand...

Made my night. Exercise and brewing are now one.

that's tha ghettoest thang i ever seen... nice work.

SOB said:

Yes...the bucket is kinda ghetto but I LOVE it!

If it was true ghetto the hopper would be made from a used Popeye's Chicken Bucket!

Click to expand...

We don't have Popeye's in my area, and the cardboard KFC bucket just did not look big enough. I had a Scoop Away cat litter box bolted up there first but I could not get the lablels off, plus the molded handles in the bottom of their bucket would have held grain, forcing me to stick my fingers down into the hopper (something I'm trying to design out).

The kids in my ghetto would kick ten colours of crap out of your nerd ass.

Very nice!!!!









Edit: it has a pulley system now though!

The trash can makes the whole project in my opinion. If I was using that I would LOL every time I walked in the room. It looks great though, well done! :rockin:

That...is one nice setup. Way to go.

Laughing_Gnome_Invisible said:

Edit: it has a pulley system now though!

Click to expand...

Can you also stuff sausage with that rig?

It looks like the motor came from a buffer or grinder?

Man love this setup. Makes me want to do mine up like that.

pilotdane said:

Can you also stuff sausage with that rig?

It looks like the motor came from a buffer or grinder?

Click to expand...

It's been updated with a new garage sale motor now. That last one blew up.

Laughing Gnome: Did I mention that I grew up in Bellevue? It's been two years since I've been up there. Had to make an emergency trip to Cedar Point.

i was diggin your fine specimen up until that office trash can hopper.

gnome: is that a hand flour grinder?

pilotdane said:

Laughing Gnome: Did I mention that I grew up in Bellevue? It's been two years since I've been up there. Had to make an emergency trip to Cedar Point.

Click to expand...

Originally from Tiffin...looks like the NOL is in the house!

mordantly said:

i was diggin your fine specimen up until that office trash can hopper.

gnome: is that a hand flour grinder?

Click to expand...

It's a corona style mill, so yes. Lots of us here use them as a cheaper alternative .

how well does it do?

mordantly said:

how well does it do?

Click to expand...

They are adequate. I would like a BC when I can spare the cash, but there is no rush. I gather Charlie Papazian still uses one!

Well I finally used up most of my crushed grain and ready to crush my own and... it did not work. I dumped the grain into the hopper and nothing. The grain would not feed into the two upper rollers. I have a machine shop and checked over the Monster Mill and everything said the mill was good, but it still did not work. So, after scratching my head for a long while I called Monster Brewing (on a Saturday) expecting to leave a message and to my surprise someone answered the phone. The guy stepped me through everything and helped my diagnose the problem. Basically it was my hopper. My hopper was dropping the grain willy nilly across the upper rollers. Monster Brewing carefully told me what the hopper needed to do and how it needed to feed the grain into the rollers and after a few minutes with some scraps of aluminum and electrical tape I had fabricated a new "mini" hopper and the mill worked like a charm. Sucking in the grain as fast as I could fill my little hopper.





In the end I am blown away with Monster. Not only is the mill first quality but the support I got was over the top and on a Saturday.

I almost forgot to mention that since crushing my own grain my brewhouse efficiency is up 7%.

Shame about the loss of the trash container. You'll be "Move'in on Up to the Eastside" with that fancy pants aluminum hopper I'd guess.

Yeah, only 3 rollers on that crusher, so ghetto!

Throw some duct tape on it, connect the motor to the crusher with it, then it might be ghetto.

what is the gap dimension in your hopper that feeds the the mill ?

Thats not ghetto. this is ghetto

That's not ghetto that's resourceful. I like it.