topsoil screener

Anonymous Poster · Nov 11, 2002

sorry it took so long to get a picture for you guys. trying to get the pic to go, it may not appear

Anonymous Poster · Nov 11, 2002

for some reason i cant seem to get the picture to attach

Anonymous Poster · Nov 11, 2002

one more try.

gerard · Nov 11, 2002

You got the hard part done by putting the motor on to vibrate things but why didn't you copy commercial models and put the screen at an angle? Then the stones roll off the end and the dirt falls through. What happens the the stones with your unit? Seems like they would either hang up on the screen or fall off in all four directions?

PitbullMidwest · Nov 11, 2002

Look again gerard, the end by the motor is higher than the opposite end and there a pile of rocks on the ground where they have vibrated out the end of the "V" shaped wire basket.

gerard · Nov 11, 2002

ahhhhhhhhhh!! Guess the angle was just less than I was used to. I built a lean too screen myself but didn't have a motor or way to vibrate it so I used a 45deg angle so gravity would do the work. Not as good as with a motor but a lot better than a hand rake!!

Anonymous Poster · Nov 11, 2002

Can you provide a closeup shot of the motor and "shaker" assembly. I think I know how it works, but you know what they say about pictures and words...<G> TYIA

Anonymous Poster · Nov 11, 2002

jim, if i can get my friend back up with his dig. camera i will get you the close up.
it would be easier to build one with a horizontal shaft motor. then you wouldnt need the 90 degree gearbox, you could run a belt from your output (motor) shaft directly to your shaker pully.
the "shaker" part consists of 2 pillow block bearings, a 10" x 3/4" shaft, belt pully on one end, old sproket on the other.
i drilled a hole in the face of the sprocket (off center) then conected a bar with rod ends . one end on the sprocket, the other attaches to the screen.
hope this helps, but will try and get you a picture.

Anonymous Poster · Nov 11, 2002

Thanks. I think I get the idea. I just emailed the pic to my wife...the "resident compost and soil expert" for her approval as a future project. Doing it by hand with a small 24" square separator is just plain work! With your unit, the FEL does all the work moving stuff around.

em14 · Nov 11, 2002

You bet on the work ... I made a 2x4 frame just about the size of my FEL bucket, attached some hardware cloth to it with staples ... I lay it on the bucket with the bucket at an angle so the debris will run off the bottom edge … oh yes it hooks to the top of the bucket and to “operate it” I throw the soil onto the hardware cloth and the bad stuff rolls off the screen and the good stuff goes into the bucket … as they say “It ain’t pretty … but for all the need I have, it works for me” ..