[trapae]

 I am planning on motorizing my grain mill.  I currently have a barley crusher and it has worked fine for about 30 brews (using a drill).  I've been reading and a lot of people say that they wear out rather quickly. Since I'm building a platform cart to mount the motor to the crusher, I only want to have to do it once and not switch it out if the barley crusher dies.   From what I've read the monster mill is super heavy duty and will last pretty much forever.
Question is: what are peoples opinions on the barley crusher long term life?  Should I go ahead and throw down the extra money now for the monster mill?

Thanks

[narcout]

I got about 9 years out of the original rollers on my BC before I had to buy new ones.  I brew between 15 and 20 batches a year (6 gallons).

[Stevie]

You can always use a mounting plate or risers allowing you to adapt later without starting over.

[trapae]

Thanks

[Slowbrew]

I'm actually at the point of leaving my barley crusher behind.  I got about 8 years out of it before I sent it in for a rebuild.  This past weekend It stopped pulling grain through again.  Less than 2 years out of the rebuild.  The end blocks are showing uneven wear and the dead roller has at least one clearly flat spot.  My expected efficiency way off of normal on the batch I had to mess with the mill continuously to get crushed.

I don't want to bash the mill, it worked great for quite a while.  I've ordered a MM3 and will be modifying my mill cart this coming weekend (hopefully).  I'll let you know if hit any insurmountable snags. 

Paul

[mainebrewer]

Like Paul, I had my Barley Crusher refurbished about 2 years ago. But after putting around 700 lbs of grain through it, it is starting to skip again. Kinda surprised since I got around 1200 lbs of grain through the mill when I first bought it, before it started to skip.
Not sure if I'll try to get it refurbished again or just bite the bullet and get a different mill.
Hate to have my brewing put on hold for the 4 weeks that it takes to get the BC refurbished.

[dalenlandis]

We have a mm3 with a 1hp motor and 10:1 drive. We have had it a year and it is showing a lot of wear. The rollers seem ok, but the end blocks are quite worn. Grain gets stuck in there and it jams up frequently.
So we have only had it a year, but we have put over 30,000# through it, so keep that in mind


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[coolman26]

We have a mm3 with a 1hp motor and 10:1 drive. We have had it a year and it is showing a lot of wear. The rollers seem ok, but the end blocks are quite worn. Grain gets stuck in there and it jams up frequently.
So we have only had it a year, but we have put over 30,000# through it, so keep that in mind


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I had an issue with mine doing the same thing. I had made a custom hopper. I outgrew it and ordered the one from Monster w the extension. It is barely large enough, but it cured my issues. I think it had to do with the opening to the roller.


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[Slowbrew]

I mounted my new MM3 on my mill table last night.  I think the small wing guides in the MM Hopper are designed to keep the kernels away from the end blocks.  That's my hope at least.

I haven't tested it yet since I ran out of time before I could adjust the belt tension. 

The drive shaft is a little shorter and it sits higher than my BC so my drive belt shield needs to be redesigned too.  The 10" shiv I have will make the shield a tight fit.  Just another project in the shop.   

Paul

[yso191]

I went with the gear driven JSP because two of the other mills I have had would periodically just sit there and spin the driven roller while the passive roller did nothing.  I'd bang on them, stick stuff down into the hopper to try to force some grain into the teeth of the rollers, etc.  Very frustrating.  And yes I tried various gap settings.

Like I said in a previous post, the JSP just chews through the grain.  I turn it on, load the hopper and come back when it is done.

Here is how I have it set up:


I got the cabinet from the local ReStore (Habitat for Humanity's 2nd hand store) for ~$10, put wheels on it, had a friend build the top so that the shaft from the motor would match that of the mill, and then wired a light switch to turn it on and off.  Voila! I just stick a grain bucket in the door under a custom grain chute (a leg from a pair of chest waders).  BTW Thanks to AmandaK for the sourcing the motor (from https://www.allamericanaleworks.com/)

[Frankenbrew]

Nice! That should last you a lifetime.