Pig Roaster

[HogSlayer6]

Folks my nephew is getting married (I tried to talk him out of it) this summer and his mother (my sister) wants to do the whole thing in a Renaissance Theme. Now I have been volunteered to build a spit to rotate a pig on for the event. Now I am a lazy man and eventhough there were no electric motors in Medival Europe, I am willing to forego realism for ease of labor on me. I am thinking about a 1/2 hp motor spining a metal axle (using pulleys and a belt or sprockets and a chain driven by the motor) on two A-frames made from post/logs. Has anyone out there done this before or something like it that I can shamelessly copy and call my own?
Thanks HogSlayer6 (kinda ironic with the username huh?)

 

[Bird]

Absolutely no experience, knowledge, etc. on how to do it, but I'd like to be there when it's time to eat that pig.

 

[Cidertom]

Not what you had in mind, but a few mail order outfits were offering a rotessierie (sp???) that used 2 c cells last summer. might check harbor freight and/ or northern tool

and then again how much would a neighborhood youth be if you offered $$ and a costume.

TEW

 

[Pd986]

I've built a few pig roasters. The first one used a small lawn tractor trans.
as a reduction gear. That didn't last to long. I used a 60:1 reduction gear
on the last two I've built and that works much better. With a 1725 rpm motor
with a 14" pully going to a 2" pully on the input to the reduction gear gets you
4 to 4.5 rpm on the spit (this is about a perfect speed). IF you have any questions or would like to see a picture of my setup, let me know.

Paul

 

[RonR]

I saw one built using several round baler twine wrapping drive chains (salvaged), coupled with a 12vt motor that drove one of the twine wrappers. Hooked to a coupla car batteries, and fed by jumper cables and a running engine once in awhile, it worked good.

ron

 

[HogSlayer6]

Ron

Thanks for the info. If you have a few pix or a drawing of the setup that would be great.

Do I need a set of pulleys or will the 2" drive pulley to the 14" pulley do the reduction ratio you are talking about?

Thanks
Hog

 

[czechsonofagun]

I saw pig roasted in an oven built from cinder blocks with grill in the middle and the whole pig on the grill. Covered with some metal to keep the heat in and charcoal for fire it was excellent.

 

[laurencen]

Hi, I built one several years ago, it was propane fired and does have a grate, a full pig fit easily into it, I used a 1/2 horse 50 to 1 ratio gearbox, the output I had a step pulley 2 to 5 inch and the pole the pig was mounted on had a 16 inch pulley, slowest it turns is about 3 rpm, just right, due to the legalities for propane certification I converted to charcoal, works good, 200lb pig takes 6 to 7 hours, I made the spit adjustable from 18 inches above grate to 30 inches, mostly 24 inches is good, the drive hung from the spit shaft and gravity looked after the tension in the belt, it uses 1 1/2 10 pound bags of charcoal per hour, we do not empty the bag just put the whole bag in and light the bag, you do not want the starter fluid taste in there, stuff the pig with sausage and ham its great, also have a way to open the sides fast to stop burning and a water spray bottle to stop flare ups, have slots to load the spit and pig in not holes on each end, this way a person on each end can remove the pig and you can place on a stand for carving turning as you carve, I have grates similar to oven shelves I wire each side of the pig when roasting, some use chicken wire but you will need something to stop it falling apart.

Good luck its a blast, we can feed 100 plus people easily, have a shelf somewhere at the back for vegitables fresh corn and potatoes

Laurence

 

[HogSlayer6]

Paul and Lawrence

Sorry I missed your posts. If you have any pix or drawings they would be greatly appreciated.

Hog

 

[laurencen]

Hi Hog, this was #1 prototype, its big but works better than a compact, the good one is at the lake, basically the same, on the front there is 2 sections on the top and one on the bottom, I have holes in this one but added slots for the new one to remove the pig, this one required a support below the pig and slide the rod out, quite a feat when its 300 degf and there is spikes going thro that needs removing, we finally got good at sliding the drive off, pulling the rod back out of the hole and then pulling forward could remove the rod but its not as good as slots, the size is 8 feet long, 6 feet tall and 3 feet wide, this one was gas fired later charcoal as the new one, if you were closer you could take this one as it sits rusting nowerdays.

It was a crude prototype, done sone half dozen pigs, half of beef and did try a deer

Laurence