Treadmill motor?

[Badlands86]

Anybody used one to drive their mill? Volts rpm and horsepower all look pretty good I'm just a little concerned about torque. Thanks.

[Halfbaked]

Not me but if I had one I would try it. I would think it would have enough guts but pull it. If not I would use it for a motor on top of an all grain batch to stir with. Or at least I would try to.

[Jimbo]

Thats more horsepower than you need for a malt mill. Will work great, but with a cool motor and speed controller like that Id make a speed adjustable mash paddle for stirring mash, pots of cooking grain, etc.

[heartcut]

A treadmill application would need to be a high torque one and it's continuous duty- should work. Hell, you could put a barrel on a treadmill and use it to turn and/or dry malt, too. Typed while Jimbo was.

[Badlands86]

Yea I know the hp is a little high for a mill but I figured since I'll be crushing corn as well it wouldn't hurt. I think I should be able to just use the speed adjusting right from the panel off the treadmill too. You guys with your other ideas for it have me thinkin I might need a few of these.

[Halfbaked]

Do you have the mill and what is it?

[Jimbo]

Youll destroy a roller mill with corn, if you can even get the spacing opened up enough to take it. Chewing up corn is like chewing up pebbles.

[Badlands86]

Monster mill 2. 2.0

It's designed to crush corn.

[Badlands86]

. This mill also comes with a much larger gap adjustment range of .160", more than double our standard range that should allow you to mill other grains like corn, as well as the conventional grist bills with barley.


Off the website. Talked to the owner and he said I would be fine with corn.

[Jimbo]

Nice. I want o e like that

[Badlands86]

Figured its a worthy investment since I'm going to try to stick to all grain. Might put a dent in my wallet though $$$

[shadylane]

I've been using a $40 grain mill and a cheap variable speed drill to power it.

[Janitor47]

I happen to have a spunky new treadmill motor, due to some treadmill warranty drama. This is interesting...

[Badlands86]

After doing some research it appears there are a few challenges that come with the motor. There is an awkward 17mm left hand thread on the shaft that holds a flywheel. The flywheel runs a pully but not a common vbelt so using it would be difficult. There are a few youtube videos of guys modifying them for tools which were helpful. Hopefully I get my hands on one this weekend and can post some pics along the way. Pics of the motor janitor?

[Badlands86]

And I thought about a cheap mill/drill but I like my drill to much and I don't think you get the most consistent crush with em

[rad14701]

I happen to have a spunky new treadmill motor, due to some treadmill warranty drama. This is interesting...

Some treadmill motors are actually servo motors and require a matching controller... Others use inductive control and can be regulated with a power controller like what is used to power internal elements, with the addition of a snubber circuit for the inductive load...

[Maritimer]

The belts used in treadmills are called J-section. Here is a McMaster-Carr page: http://www.mcmaster.com/#j-section-v-belts/=r6k0va" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow . They have matching pulleys, too: http://www.mcmaster.com/#j-v-belt-pulleys/=r6jyop" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow .

M

[Badlands86]

Expensive matching pulleys.

[Maritimer]

And that's just the pulley. You need to get a bushing, too: http://www.mcmaster.com/#quick-disconne ... gs/=r7i18p" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

These pulleys will make your mill work very smoothly. Unlike a regular V-pulley belt, they don't have a set, where the belt is not perfectly circular it thumps as it goes around.

M

[Badlands86]

Flywheel won't budge after trying everything under the sun to get it off. However, its steel. So I'm debating welding a coupling that will accept the 1/2 shaft. I'll use the speed control to adjust rpm, in theory, eliminating the need for a pully. If it does not work, I could also weld a pully straight to the flywheel with a few simple modifications.

[bentstick]

. This mill also comes with a much larger gap adjustment range of .160", more than double our standard range that should allow you to mill other grains like corn, as well as the conventional grist bills with barley.


Off the website. Talked to the owner and he said I would be fine with corn.

mine has been good for yrs now!

[Badlands86]

Motor or mill? Either way excited to get mine up and running!

[bentstick]

Monster mill!
I have a crankenstein for grains other than corn!

[Badlands86]

Nice man glad to here it's served you well!

[Badlands86]

Update. Took some doing but treadmill motor works! Ended up keeping the flywheel and pulley from the treadmill and fitting it to the MM2. Speed control works flawless! Tweaking the hopper a little to perfect the feed. Crushes all normal brewing grains amazing. Corn is a little more of a challenge due to the irregular nature of the cracked pieces, occasionally the mill will come to a halt, motor spins, mill and belt don't. If I hand feed slowly it's not an issue if I keep my hand moving along the rollers and not in one place. I think tightening the belt a little might help this a little too. Pictures soon.