DIY Automatic soil mixing machine

[John DeLAWN]

I have been toying with an idea for the last 3 months. Currently my soil ingrediants are purchased in large quantities. The different materials are put in large containers and mixed by hand, usually 2 months supply at once. It is a pain in the ass. Would it not be easier to have a machine that you load the ingrediants in, flip the switch, then go smoke from the Volcano? I think so. This contraption can be build for less than $100.00 probly, where as a portable cement mixer costs at least $500.00. I am confident that this is a simple build and will follow the build from start to finish.

Below is a simple 2d sketch showing the basic concept. Sit back and enjoy as I return to work now and share my book of knowlege.

;)

[John DeLAWN]

I have worked out how the machine will set on the rollers. So far I am up to one 2 X 2 foot piece of 3/4 plywood for the plates, and on 2 X 6 foot piece of 3/4 plywood. I will need four 4" dia wheels for it to roll on. The back of the barrel will have a spindle attached to it with a step pully to reduce the speed of the motor. I am thinking the dolly isn't really neccesary afterall. See below to get a better idea of where this project is going.

Time to start building soon, should be a fun one for me since I haven't worked with my hands much for a long time.

:D

[John DeLAWN]

We are both tool makers in the past. I asked him to put his machine building cap and came up with a slightly different concept. He suggested rather than having a axis to revolve around, drive the outside diameter with a roller also. A wheelbarrow wheel attaced directly to a motor. The suport rollars could be made from any kind of whel, like an old lawn mower wheel.

I decided to draw it, and I LIKE IT BETTER. This is what teamwork is alll about EH ? No one man can do all the work.

It will take alot less wood. Adjustability is the next problem to resolve, to raise or lower the drive motor to have the right tension to drive the barrel. This is a inexpensive to build machine, small and simple.

;)

[John DeLAWN]

These 2 plates and roller will keep the barrel from moving. Before I start building I have to get the wheels and barrel in order to correct the drawing. This will be an easy build for anyone with a table saw and a jigsaw.

[John DeLAWN]

This should pretty well explane where my design is going. Now it is almost time to get my materials.

:)

[John DeLAWN]

Total cost so far is $78.00. If it fails at least I will have a new garbage can. This can holds 20 gallons. Five of the wheels have bearings, and the drive wheel is just a plastic bushing for the ID. The last wheel may need boring to fit onto the motor. I am drawing using solid modelling in Mastercam V9.0.

:)

[GriM]

what are you planing too use for power? looks alot like a oversized rock tumbler ;) edit now figured out how you are going to power it cant wait to see it in action...

[soaring2high]

Hey it works for me!

I like the design.

[pflover]

That product already exists. as a compost tumbler. it is hand cranked and not automated but it would not be hard to automate one by attaching a moter to the hand crank gears. they work very well. my mom has 2 of them. i purpose that one of these decises would do exactly what you want.

https://www.compostumbler.com/StoreFront/IAFDispatcher

the cheapest one i could find tho was $199 so they are about twice as much as you think you can make one on your own. there design might give you some insight tho. :D

http://www.planetnatural.com/cgi-bin/planetnatural/back-porch-compostumbler

[John DeLAWN]

I am working with real parts now. I had to completley redo the drawing to suit. The bottom support plates are slightly different, so I will have to make detail drawings next before I get the wood. This little project is a test for me to prove I haven't forgot how to design.

:)

[pflover]

i completely understand but figured i would offer some other options for those less mechanically inclined members interested in the ideal. i like the concept. :)

[John DeLAWN]

i completely understand but figured i would offer some other options for those less mechanically inclined members interested in the ideal. i like the concept. :)


I realize that most motors run 1500 RPM, and so this would likely mean it would spin at around 300 RPM, which is way fast. Also it seems pretty complicated for a prototype. I decided to drive it by handle instead.

This will mean the total cost just went to about $74.00 cdn. Here is the simplified version which I am building REAL SOON.

I guess this is what TEAMWORK is about !!!

;)

[pflover]

good design and simpler. with gear ratios you could get the RPMs down from 300 but having a slower motor to begin with help. if you shop hard enough i bet you could find one but hand cranking should be a lot cheaper.

[John DeLAWN]

I started the build and finished it in less than 2 hours. Luckily I have the tools to do this kind of work. I have to wait for the glue to set, then it will be time to test it on a cool day. Here are the photo's of Prototype #1

:D

[pflover]

couple comments and a question. A) over all i am really impressed. nice work. B) i would be VERY surprized if you will not end up needing to further secure the little brase on the crank end. i would also find a way to attach it near its top to the supporting wall just under where the bucket clears the wall. C) do you put the lid on when in use or how do you keep everthing from just falling out?

[John DeLAWN]

couple comments and a question. A) over all i am really impressed. nice work. B) i would be VERY surprized if you will not end up needing to further secure the little brase on the crank end. i would also find a way to attach it near its top to the supporting wall just under where the bucket clears the wall. C) do you put the lid on when in use or how do you keep everthing from just falling out?

a) Tanks
b) Yes I did put a brace there.
c) Yes the bucket comes with a lid.

Further to that the machine will be tilted up a bit when operating. Maybe on Protype # 2 it will be driven by a gear motor, but would be using a large blue plastic 45 gallon drum to make a BIG ONE. And maybe it would be mounted on a dolly to make it easy to dump if it weighed 100 pounds assembled.

I think the thing will need a steadyrest to keep it from bouncing around while cranking it...but wheel see soon as I test it. Look forward to a short video of it running.

:)

[John DeLAWN]

I tryed cranking it and found that unless I used my hand to hold down the barrel, it kept moving all over the place. I went back to a previous drawing and made the steady rest. Now I am going to add the dolly because the whole thing weighs at least 50 pounds assembled without any ingrediants in the barrel. I can put up complete shop drawings with dimensions if anyone would like to build this small version. (say so at least 5 peoples)

Further to tis, I will be designing a larger version of this with a drive train (yet to be worked out).

;)

[John DeLAWN]

If you run to Canadian Tire NOW they have this on sale regular $89.99 for $39.99. A tremendous savings and it can be used to move bins around ETC. Notice it has wheels on both ends. It is the ideal dolly for my little experiment.

:)

[pflover]

curious if it would have moved so much with the soil in it.

[bobbyD]

i have tried a few methods for mixing bales of soil,,,

by far the easiest but not cheapest,, is this;

to mix 3 bales of sunshine mix at once,,,

-purchase a plastic Kids pool,, on sale now, end if summer,,, one without grooves or badly uneven bottom, the smoother bottom of pool the better.

- purchase an electric 3 prong weedeater style ROTO-TILLER !!!! under 300 bucks,,,

- purchase extension cord to plug it in.

empty bale one at time,into kids plastic pool,,stomp it to break it up a bit,,, buzz it up with rototiller

since i used boxes -4x8 foot,, on the ground it was very fast efficiant method,,, for lets say mixing up 20 boxes of 3 bales per !!!

i mixed the bales right where they would go,, if you had a helper going ahead opening the bales and pre stompin them ,, you just start in one box and walk to the next as you roto till, this was a mass production !!!!!!

i used electric roto tiller cause Gas fumes are bad,,, also less noisey,,

i cant imagine mixing by hand,, or filling emptying a tumbler,,,

even cheaper method,, ditch the roto tiller, and use a rake and hoe,, in a kids plastic 8 foot round pool.

use a plastic garbage can to scoop and move it to beds,,,


--- a dumping tumbler would be nice, to fill a big wheelbarrow for transferring soil to beds,,

if your not doing a 40 light show,, you wont need 60 bales,,, a simple pool and rake is the cheapest way to go,,, but its labor intensive.

how do you get the hard bale into the tumbler???? without breaking it up and making a mess???

if it dumped,, you could break it up in a little plastic pool,, fill it,, and dump it back into the pool ,,,

sit the unit inside the little pool even to hold mess for easy cleaning,,,


also i have a buddy that has been playing with large drum shaped devices,,, for collecting trichomes off leaf trim,, this new leaf trim tumbler is LARGE!!!! its 4 feet long tube,,, hold pounds and pounds of leaf trim,,, i have a small o`keiffs tumbler,,

also new tumbler shaped grow machines,, 5-6k each ,, holds many many little plants ,,,turns thru hydro system,,,

seems tumblers are very popular for many uses!!!!!

cheers
bobbyD

[kiner]

if it were me I would just stick everything in the trash can.. duct tape the lid closed or get soemthing to keep it on and kick it around or roll it down a hill :)

[pflover]

hehehe good point, kiner. most garbage cans have angled sides so that it would just roll around in a circle under most conditions hehehe.

[John DeLAWN]

if it were me I would just stick everything in the trash can.. duct tape the lid closed or get soemthing to keep it on and kick it around or roll it down a hill :)


hehehe good point, kiner. most garbage cans have angled sides so that it would just roll around in a circle under most conditions hehehe. :)

It has handles on each side, this plastic is flimsey and would not stand up for any length of time if it were kicked around.

I am going to start designing the bigger version now... and it will be made out of a large blue 45 gallon plastic drum with 3/8 thick wallstock. I see some problems with bouncing around still and have figured out how to simplifiy this MACHINE.

The Peat would be semi crumbled when it enters the barrel, and the rest of materials are already to go right out of the bags.

Below is my recipe for soil.

2 parts peat moss
2 parts pearlite
2 parts black soil
1 part sheep manure

This mixture is amended with blood meal, bone meal, epson salt, and dolomite lime. The mixed soil is set for at least 2 weeks prior to using it. Mixing hte old fashioned way in a wheel barrel, is BAD for your health do to the dust, and is not uniform in quality.

Anyways, Version # 2 is in the works now since all I have to do is slow down the RPM's on a motor I have already. This is a make work project and just the beginning of my winter DIY's

:) :) :) :)

[John DeLAWN]

I am about to start building this machine. The drive train is not really worked out yet, but I left an opening on the back plate to accomodate whatever it ends up being. Currently I am thinking about using pulleys to reduce the speed.

:) :) :) :)

[jb247]

Looks like it should work fine, John. I would make one of the inside mixing vanes a bit wider than the others, that would help to make the mixing go deeper into the matter.

Peace...j.b.

[John DeLAWN]

This should give a really clear picture of how easy this machine will be to operate. For now it will have a crank while I work out how to motorize it.

[John DeLAWN]

This frame is ready for paint now. Picked up a can at CDN Tire, someone elses mistake for $4.99. I need to get her done soon because we need 15 bins of soil for the winter ASAP.....

;)

[John DeLAWN]

I am really confident this should be easy to motorize now. Got a new blue barrel for $4.00. I enjoy this project and will put a video somewhere of it working
;) ;) ;) ;)

[pflover]

hehehe damn i look forward to the video. that is cool. good work.

[GriM]

looks good bro :)

[John DeLAWN]

I won't rush out to try and get any patents though, or I'll have to begin calling myself Westinghouse.....;) ;) ;) ;)

Tomorrow I have to hard wire it complete with a on off switch. Maybe we can paint it green and call it THE GREEN MACHINE (shit that logo's a taken too)

:) :) :) :)

Video to come before holloween I promise folks, but first its time to do some other work that's been laging behind, and I drove 3000 km's just getting all the different parts for this monstrosity.......hehehehehe

[John DeLAWN]

I still will show a run before Holloween.

http://www.jumpcut.com/view?id=2CE708D0519E11DBBC79F64154DE9F6D

:D

[kiner]

http://www.envirolet.com/envirocycle.html

something you might want to check out

[the image reaper]

wondering if you couldn't just rig something out of an old clothes dryer, just disable the blower and heat functions ... :confused: