Motorisation of the Little Ark and Survival Ark mills
The Little Ark and Survival Ark Stone & Burr home flour mills are
designed to give you the best in a hand mill, plus making them
easily adaptable to a motor or other type of power. This form has
been prepared to help you determine the best way to motorise you
Little Ark of Survival Ark mill.
IMPORTANT: When motorising your Little Ark or Survival Ark hand
Stone and Burr flour mill, be sure that the milling stones turn at
150 R.P.M or less. The Stones are designed to turn slow, and
if they are run at a speed of more than 150 R.P.M., they could be
damaged.
1. ELECTRIC MOTOR: A motor of at least 1/4 H.P. is
needed to operate the Little Ark or Survival Ark mills satisfactorily 1/3
or 1/4 horsepower motors work well too.
We recommend that a motor of 1440 R.P.M. or less be used. When using
a 1440 R.P.M. motor you will need a 12" inch pulley on the mill
drive shaft and a 1" pulley on the motor drive shaft.
In some cases a chain and sprocket may be preferred in place of a
belt and pulleys
To utilise a motor at higher R.P.M than 1440, you will need to use a
multiple pulley set up to reduce speed. So that the stones do not
turn too fast as mentioned above. Second-hand old washing machine
motors from early Hoover or Simpson wringer type washing machines
are often available from older folk, who could just not throw them
away and are usually economical to purchase, as old motors have no
real commercial value.
2. The Little Ark and Survival Ark stone mills can be operated by
using a heavy duty electric drill half inch or larger. In some cases
the chuck on the drill can be attached directly to the handle shaft
on the mills.
3. There are many different ways the Little Ark and Survival Ark
Stone and Burr hand mills can be converted to other power sources.
Below are just some ideas, but you may have a better idea than any
of these. If you would care to share your ideas with us, we would
appreciate hearing from you.
The ideas listed below are only some possible suggestions, and are
in no way complete.
A. A D.C motor operated by a storage battery. The
battery can be kept charged by a generator mounted to a windmill, or
water wheel.
B. If a creek, canal, or other waterpower sources are
available, a small water wheel can be built and connected to the
mills. A very small amount of moving water will run the mills.
C. A small gasoline engine could be used to run the mill much
like an electric motor, or run a generator or battery power as
mentioned in item "A" above.
D. A small tread mill, or movable platform can be made
(a tread mill is much like a miniature escalator and as you walk up
on it, the platform moves down, thereby utilising ones weight to
operate it). A large pet could be used to run the treadmill, which
in turn would run the flour mills.
E. Electrical appliances and machines such as mixers,
meat grinders, bread makers, and many other home and shop equipment
may be utilised to fit your motorisation needs.
F. A home fitness exercise bicycle may be used as your
source of power.