Soil sifter / compost sieve - rotary trommel - rammed earth preparation.

I have gone over to the dark side of soil sieves and seccumbed to the awesome power of the rorary sieve.

This is my first attempt which has 12mm X 25mm mesh in the 1st section then 25mm X 25mm mesh in the second section with everything else falling out the end.

The motor is a 1500 RPM off an old table saw which once geared down via the flywheel above the sieve gives an RPM of 35 on the mesh drum.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• trommel
• soil
• sifter
• compost
• gardening
• screen
• sieve
• screener
• rotary
• garden
• drum
• green

[jeffurry77]

That's awesome!, a lot more refined that the original SID :D

How do you rate it compared to the original SID design?

[Thomoco]

@jeffurry77 TREVOR is a lot more reliable than SID, mostly due to the torque from the overhead flywheel which gears it down from 1750RPM to 36RPM. However, power is nothing without control!

[wardomon]

@chilby00 Cross bracing isn't needed if you build the drum squarely and don't try to "spin dry" the soil by ramping up the rpm. Mine flexes less than 3/16" and turns at around 26rpm. I've run over 8 tons through it and have worn out the screen. It's due for a rebuild.

[chilby00]

Hi Thomoco from South Australia. Nice machine and i'm pleased to see you've cross braced it..unlike others on YouTube.. A QUESTION PLEASE: WHAT ANGLE IS THE DRUM SET TO?

[r44flyer]

@Thomoco Good point! Thanks again.

[Thomoco]

@r44flyer You need a single phase so you can plug it in with a regular 3 pin plug. 3 phase requires a 3 phase industrial electrical supply which factories have and which you won't have.

[r44flyer]

@Thomoco What phase is the motor? I have a few options but some are single phase and some three, and I'm not sure which is best, or whether it matters. Three phase apparently has higher torque but I can't imagine it needs a lot to get the drum moving.

[Thomoco]

@r44flyer The plate is hard to read but I think it's a 1 1/2 horse power. These motors are very heavy, probably over 10kilo. Once the power has been converted through the overhead flywheel and been geared down the torque is almost unstoppable, get a motor that's between 1 and 2 HP with a RPM of around 1500 and you won't go too far wrong.

[r44flyer]

@Thomoco Would you mind quoting any useful numbers off the plate so I can look for something similar? The only thing I'm worried about is whether just any old 240v motor will have enough torque to move the drum from a standstill. Although I can't imagine it's very heavy? Bought my bike rims just now :)

[Thomoco]

@r44flyer The motor is made by Hoover, it's quite old, maybe 20 years or so. I salvaged it off an old homemade saw I bought for £10 you should be able to pick up a 1500 (approx) rpm motor off eBay easily.