Barley Crusher Problem

Im using my barley crusher for the first time and it not seem to be working right. Its not crushing at all. I tried the factory setting .039 and adjusted it to .037 and no to no avail. It just passes through the crusher. Is there something I'm not doing? I used a drill and the handle.

You know...I remember I did have an issue when I first got mine, and it was something silly that I did wrong (like forgot to remove something or was grinding the wrong direction) or something.

Agree, wrong direction...

Yep, you're just going the wrong way. "righty tighty" to crush

Thanks gentlemen..... You are exactly right.... Now I just gotta find a drill strong enough to turn it.... The hand cranking wasn't so bad.

The hand cranking sucks...I use a ryobi 18v one. It takes two batteries to do it, but I get through it...One of these days I'm going to get a corded drill and mount the thing to make my life easier.

2 comments, if you use a drill mount your mill in some way. I have used the drill and spilled my hopper full of grain all over the floor twice now.......i will learn some day

2nd going back and forth between the drill and hand crank sucks. It took me 10 minutes to get the crank off last time. My drill beat up the shaft on the mill, so it has all sorts of burs i need to remove.

Warped04 said:

The hand cranking sucks...I use a ryobi 18v one. It takes two batteries to do it, but I get through it...One of these days I'm going to get a corded drill and mount the thing to make my life easier.

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Just skip the cheap ryobi drill and you will do fine! My old 18v Dewalt drill does it easily. Or maybe your batteries are just at the end of their life. I crush 15-20 lbs in a few minutes and any cordless drill should handle that easily. No matter what, you need one hand or your knee on the base plate to ensure a spill free crush.

IMO, just skip the corldless alltogether, Harbor freight has the 10 amp D handle 1/2" drill on sale for 33 bucks...sure chinese as they come...but power to spare!

wilserbrewer said:

IMO, just skip the corldless alltogether, Harbor freight has the 10 amp D handle 1/2" drill on sale for 33 bucks...sure chinese as they come...but power to spare!

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+1. I got a 1/2" corded low-speed drill from Harbor Freight and it's got a ton of power for milling. My cordless worked, but the battery was chewed through pretty fast....I'd rather not put it through that wear and tear.

+2 I have a 1/2" Milwaukee hole shooter corded drill that has an abundance of torque to mill the gain. Plus the weight of the 1/2" chuck keeps the drill from wanting to rotate as well. Add to that a max RPM of 800, since the BC recommends a RPM of 500 it is easy to controll the speed and not shred the grain.

Snowhere said:

Just skip the cheap ryobi drill and you will do fine! My old 18v Dewalt drill does it easily. Or maybe your batteries are just at the end of their life. I crush 15-20 lbs in a few minutes and any cordless drill should handle that easily. No matter what, you need one hand or your knee on the base plate to ensure a spill free crush.

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Knock on wood, but I've never had a spill. The drill is the drill I have. I use it for everything, and it does fine.

wilserbrewer said:

IMO, just skip the corldless alltogether, Harbor freight has the 10 amp D handle 1/2" drill on sale for 33 bucks...sure chinese as they come...but power to spare!

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Probably my next step.