Treadmill powered extractor

[cdray]

After some research, I finally found a used treadmill and adapted the motor, to turn my extractor. Yesterday was the first run and it performed flawlessly. Extracted 15 gallons....

[BeeMaster2]

Looks good. At first I thought you were using the tread mill, running on it, to turn your extractor. How many frames is it?
How about some pictures of the gearing and motor.
I bet there are a lot of beeks that could use this adea for their extractors.
If mine was not motorized, I would bee looking for an old treadmill.
Jim

[BeeMaster2]

David,
I noticed that you do not have a lid on the extractor. If you add one, you will find that it will spin faster and the motor runs cooler.
I like to open the lid while it is running to dry the honey a little but the extractor immediately slows down and the motor gets hotter.
I only open it for a few seconds and then close it to keep from wearing out the motor to fast.
Jim

[cdray]

Thanks for the info Jim, it's a 9 frame radial. I plan to take and upload some pictures of it, when I finish with it. It's still a work in progress. I do have the plastic lid that was on it but I still need to modify it to work with the pulley system. More updates to come!

[BeeMaster2]

Thanks for the info Jim, it's a 9 frame radial. I plan to take and upload some pictures of it, when I finish with it. It's still a work in progress. I do have the plastic lid that was on it but I still need to modify it to work with the pulley system. More updates to come!

Looking forward to seeing the pictures.
Jim

[Spear]

Found this pic on google:  :-D

[Joe D]

Mine is in a food grade 55 gal drum, with a removeable top.  I cut the top into next to the flange bearing on top,  and put piano  hinge to connect the back together.  Did you use the controls of the treadmill for your variable speed.  I start a just on until it gets moving and gradually increase to 2.2 mph for a few minutes the bring it back down and off.

Jim, I used the tread mill motor, pulley and controls it's about all needed except mounting.   
The guts of it is from the Bix.  Then modified it, where you didn't have to take the top piece off to remove the frames, cut the frame slots a little bigger, had a new shaft made that is several inches longer, added the flange bearings and hinged top with the motor.



Joe

[cdray]

Hey Joe, yes...I used the variable speed control of the treadmill. It works great but I still have to build some type of box to put the controls in. As I said, work in progress.....ps....We met at Bud's, not sure if you remember me. Hope all is well.

[Joe D]

Sure, I remember you at Bud's.  I built mine with the wood frame to hold the drum in place, and mounted the complete control panel to the side of the frame.  Mine works fine, but is still a work in progress.  It holds 8 mediums or shallows, or 4 deeps.
Don't crank it up to high, when I was first trying mine out I put 8 new wood frames with rite cell foundation in it, started it off slow and increased the speed slowly.  Got it fast enough that one of the frames came apart, broke.




Joe D

[Michael Bush]

>Found this pic on google:

Looks like a good system. I'm not sure where to find that kind of stockings though...

[sc-bee]

I vote for Spears motorized extractor. Only improvement I could see would be a three power Minx motor :-D

[cdray]

Here's a follow up video, on how I put it all together.

[BeeMaster2]

CD,
Looks pretty good. Looks like it will work real well for very little added costs compared to the $500 it would cost to just buy an extractor motor/controller.
If I could, I would recommend you reverse the pulley on top of the extractor to lower it so that your belt is more in line. This will reduce wear and keep your belt cooler. I would also add a cover to reduce the friction caused by the air entering the center of the extractor and flowing outward. The cover makes a big difference on the load that is put on the motor. When I open the lid on my commercial built extractor, the motor has to slow down because of the increased load. I do it for brief moments to help dry the honey. If I leave it open the motor definitely gets hotter. The lid also will help to keep dirt out of the honey from the pulley/belt.
Great job.
Jim

[Intheswamp]

>Found this pic on google:

Looks like a good system. I'm not sure where to find that kind of stockings though...

You may have put them in the wrong drawer....    :evil:

[GSF]

Very creative David. I'm like Jim, I couldn't wait to see how you were using a treadmill! None the less, I'd never given much thought to re-usable motors like that - good idea.