Potting Soil Mixer

2004 - Volume #28, Issue #1, Page #07

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Potting Soil Mixer

Roy Springer had asked his friend Charles Herron repeatedly over about two years to make something he could mix potting soil with.
  Springer, retired, is an avid gardener and keeps Herron and other friends and neighbors in vegetables much of the summer. Finally, Herron went to his shop and put together just what Springer had hoped for.
  "Most of the parts were salvaged from what my wife calls my æcollectible junk'," Herron says.
  "The motor came from an old gas pump we were junking. It's probably 45 to 50 years old, but still worked fine. It's a 1/3 hp motor that turns at 1,725 rpm's," he says. "I could have used a smaller one, but this one was available."
  Herron used pulleys to reduce the speed to 115 to 1, so that the drum on the mixer turns about 15 times per minute.
  "I used a wood frame for the base because it was easier to use as I figured out where to put shafts, idlers, etc. I had to relocate these several times," he says.
  Lawn mower wheels hold the drum to allow it to rotate freely. He made the drum out of an old 15-gal. soap barrel that he cut down to about 5 gal. He added baffles in the drum to keep the soil mixing. And the top from a 5-gal. plastic bucket fits on to keep the soil from spilling out while mixing.
  æI used some old cabinet doors to make the outer ring on the drum, to stiffen it and let the wheels turn on," he says. On the back side of the drum, he bolted angle iron in such a way that it catches a stud he welded onto the pulley in his final drive.
  He used old brake drum springs as tensioners for the tightener pulley for the drive belt. The belts were some he had laying around. The only new parts he bought were a couple of bearing assemblies with oil cups and four pulleys - two 9-in. and two 2 1/2-in. ones.
  "I spent about three days working on it off and on. Most of that was in deciding where to put something next. I probably don't have more than $40 invested in it. It works really well for him, but I'm not interested in making another one," Herron says.
  Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Charles Herron, Box 615, Waynetown, Ind. 47990.

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Potting Soil Mixer FARM HOME Miscellaneous 28-1-7 Roy Springer had asked his friend Charles Herron repeatedly over about two years to make something he could mix potting soil with. Springer, retired, is an avid gardener and keeps Herron and other friends and neighbors in vegetables much of the summer. Finally, Herron went to his shop and put together just what Springer had hoped for. "Most of the parts were salvaged from what my wife calls my æcollectible junk'," Herron says. "The motor came from an old gas pump we were junking. It's probably 45 to 50 years old, but still worked fine. It's a 1/3 hp motor that turns at 1,725 rpm's," he says. "I could have used a smaller one, but this one was available." Herron used pulleys to reduce the speed to 115 to 1, so that the drum on the mixer turns about 15 times per minute. "I used a wood frame for the base because it was easier to use as I figured out where to put shafts, idlers, etc. I had to relocate these several times," he says. Lawn mower wheels hold the drum to allow it to rotate freely. He made the drum out of an old 15-gal. soap barrel that he cut down to about 5 gal. He added baffles in the drum to keep the soil mixing. And the top from a 5-gal. plastic bucket fits on to keep the soil from spilling out while mixing. æI used some old cabinet doors to make the outer ring on the drum, to stiffen it and let the wheels turn on," he says. On the back side of the drum, he bolted angle iron in such a way that it catches a stud he welded onto the pulley in his final drive. He used old brake drum springs as tensioners for the tightener pulley for the drive belt. The belts were some he had laying around. The only new parts he bought were a couple of bearing assemblies with oil cups and four pulleys - two 9-in. and two 2 1/2-in. ones. "I spent about three days working on it off and on. Most of that was in deciding where to put something next. I probably don't have more than $40 invested in it. It works really well for him, but I'm not interested in making another one," Herron says. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Charles Herron, Box 615, Waynetown, Ind. 47990.

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