Homemade Roller Mill Cracks Corn Fast

2015 - Volume #39, Issue #3, Page #27

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Wayne Brown wastes no time when cracking corn for his or his neighbor’s horses. His homemade roller mill can do 50 lbs. of corn in 2 1/2 min.
  “I made it for my needs, but it would be easy to make something similar that was bigger or smaller as needed,” says Brown.
  The rollers are 4 1/2-in. outside diameter pipes with grooves cut in them at 1/4-in. spacings. Brown cut the grooves with a milling machine so they are straight on one side and angled on the other to catch and hold the corn.
  The rollers are mounted on 1-in. shafts that ride in pillow block bearings on an angle iron frame. Brown had to cut one of the mounting flanges off each pillow block in order to mount the rollers close together.
  End plates made from 9-in. long, 1/4-in. steel plates have two 2-in. wide slots in them to fit over the shafts. They are also welded to the frame and sit just inside the pillow block bearings. They form the base for the hopper.
  Two pieces of 10-in. long, 2 by 2-in. angle iron welded to the end plates form a 6-in. wide throat and base for the hopper. They are placed to just clear the rollers while directing the corn into them.
  “I tack welded them in place before fixing them permanently,” says Brown. “The hopper is 14 1/4 in. by 22 1/4 at the top and narrows to 10 1/2 by 6 in. at the bottom. I bent the top edge to give it a 3/4-in. lip for added stability.”
  Brown mounted a 1.56 hp motor on the frame to one end of the rollers. To slow down the 125-rpm speed on the motor shaft, he mounted a 2-in. pulley on it and a 9-in. pulley on one of the roller shafts.
  “If it goes too fast, you get all meal instead of cracked corn,” says Brown.
  On the opposite end of the rollers, he mounted 12-tooth sprockets on each shaft. A roller chain runs around one shaft and over the other to a spring-loaded idler sprocket. The over/under reverses drive direction of the second shaft so the rollers turn against each other.
  “The cracking unit sits up on angle iron legs with room to slide a bucket underneath,” says Brown. “Flaps to the sides of the rollers hang down below them to direct the cracked corn into the bucket. It works great.”
  Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Wayne Brown, 2009 Insemore Pl., Hermanville, Miss. 39086 (ph 601 535-2072).

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Homemade Roller Mill Cracks Corn Fast LIVESTOCK Feeding Equipment Wayne Brown wastes no time when cracking corn for his or his neighbor’s horses His homemade roller mill can do 50 lbs of corn in 2 1/2 min “I made it for my needs but it would be easy to make something similar that was bigger or smaller as needed ” says Brown The rollers are 4 1/2-in outside diameter pipes with grooves cut in them at 1/4-in spacings Brown cut the grooves with a milling machine so they are straight on one side and angled on the other to catch and hold the corn The rollers are mounted on 1-in shafts that ride in pillow block bearings on an angle iron frame Brown had to cut one of the mounting flanges off each pillow block in order to mount the rollers close together End plates made from 9-in long 1/4-in steel plates have two 2-in wide slots in them to fit over the shafts They are also welded to the frame and sit just inside the pillow block bearings They form the base for the hopper Two pieces of 10-in long 2 by 2-in angle iron welded to the end plates form a 6-in wide throat and base for the hopper They are placed to just clear the rollers while directing the corn into them “I tack welded them in place before fixing them permanently ” says Brown “The hopper is 14 1/4 in by 22 1/4 at the top and narrows to 10 1/2 by 6 in at the bottom I bent the top edge to give it a 3/4-in lip for added stability ” Brown mounted a 1 56 hp motor on the frame to one end of the rollers To slow down the 125-rpm speed on the motor shaft he mounted a 2-in pulley on it and a 9-in pulley on one of the roller shafts “If it goes too fast you get all meal instead of cracked corn ” says Brown On the opposite end of the rollers he mounted 12-tooth sprockets on each shaft A roller chain runs around one shaft and over the other to a spring-loaded idler sprocket The over/under reverses drive direction of the second shaft so the rollers turn against each other “The cracking unit sits up on angle iron legs with room to slide a bucket underneath ” says Brown “Flaps to the sides of the rollers hang down below them to direct the cracked corn into the bucket It works great ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Wayne Brown 2009 Insemore Pl Hermanville Miss 39086 ph 601 535-2072

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