Pete Posted October 4, 2011 Posted October 4, 2011 (edited) I am looking to expand my garden big time and have a lot more digging to do. The soil itself is nice but problem is I live in glacier carved southern new england and it is filled with tiny stones, medium rock, and mucho vines. Last year I put in a 50x 40 garden and sifted out the soil manually. I want to triple the size and would like to design some sort of gas powered(or electric) sifter. I am imagining something like a drawer with holes with some sort of piston or something to shake it back and forth. Any suggestions for a design on the cheap? Thank you this is something like I used for the manual box sifter last year http://nuwildroots.wordpress.com/2011/08/06/diy-compost-sifter/ Edited October 4, 2011 by Pete
ieatcrayonz Posted October 4, 2011 Posted October 4, 2011 I am looking to expand my garden big time and have a lot more digging to do. The soil itself is nice but problem is I live in glacier carved southern new england and it is filled with tiny stones, medium rock, and mucho vines. Last year I put in a 50x 40 garden and sifted out the soil manually. I want to triple the size and would like to design some sort of gas powered(or electric) sifter. I am imagining something like a drawer with holes with some sort of piston or something to shake it back and forth. Any suggestions for a design on the cheap? Thank you this is something like I used for the manual box sifter last year http://nuwildroots.wordpress.com/2011/08/06/diy-compost-sifter/ I don't think Ralph Nader would go for this and what would be the carbon footprint of the gas powered whatever? PM to Dwight Drane?
Nanker Posted October 4, 2011 Posted October 4, 2011 Gee Pete, a quick google search yielded a bunch of hits, including that I think could easily be scaled up and motorized with a small engine or motor and a cam and spring action to save wear and tear on the elbow and wrist. really got it going on.
DC Tom Posted October 4, 2011 Posted October 4, 2011 I am looking to expand my garden big time and have a lot more digging to do. The soil itself is nice but problem is I live in glacier carved southern new england and it is filled with tiny stones, medium rock, and mucho vines. Last year I put in a 50x 40 garden and sifted out the soil manually. I want to triple the size and would like to design some sort of gas powered(or electric) sifter. I am imagining something like a drawer with holes with some sort of piston or something to shake it back and forth. Any suggestions for a design on the cheap? Thank you this is something like I used for the manual box sifter last year http://nuwildroots.wordpress.com/2011/08/06/diy-compost-sifter/ A piston? Seriously? Instead of a mesh box, make a cylinder, maybe five or six feet long and about two across (cut up some cylindrical concrete forms as bracing). Mount cylinder on an incline (15 degrees or so) - you could mount it on A-frames at each end of the cylinder, but I'd rest it on some sort of free-wheel cradle (think three wheels, maybe wheelbarrow-sized, forming a cradle for the end of the cylinder. Put one on each end). Spin it while shoveling dirt into it...dirt falls out the mesh, other crap moves down the barrel and falls out the end. Balance it well enough and you can have someone spin it manually while you shovel. If not, get a small gas engine (like from a push-mower), a belt (segmented, so you can custom-size it), and a large pulley. Mount pulley to one of the wheels, connect to engine with belt, hopefully you've geared the engine down enough with the pulley that it won't send the cylinder into orbit. Or, instead of an engine, hook it up to a bicycle. HELL of a lot easier and cheaper than trying to make a piston-driven shaker box. really got it going on. One of the links on that page was to a trommel screen that is pretty much what I just described.
Jim in Anchorage Posted October 5, 2011 Posted October 5, 2011 (edited) Just get a gold classifier They got gold in New England? Might make you rich. I like this one No returns, however. Edited October 5, 2011 by Jim in Anchorage
Chef Jim Posted October 5, 2011 Posted October 5, 2011 Just get a gold clasifier They got gold in New England? Might make you rich. I think he's growing weed to sell so that will make him rich too.
Jim in Anchorage Posted October 5, 2011 Posted October 5, 2011 I think he's growing weed to sell so that will make him rich too. Wrong drug. He said he had rocks.
BuffaloBud Posted October 5, 2011 Posted October 5, 2011 (edited) Pete - As an engineer, why not look at it the other way. Rather than digging, screening, re-filling (large amount of effort) build a raised bed garden and backfill it with clean garden soil. If you are looking to screen the material, copying is the ultimate form of flattery. Look at the screen on this site. Linky Edited October 5, 2011 by BuffaloBud
DC Tom Posted October 5, 2011 Posted October 5, 2011 Pete - As an engineer, why not look at it the other way. Rather than digging, screening, re-filling (large amount of effort) build a raised bed garden and backfill it with clean garden soil. Suggesting a simple and obvious solution over a complex and involved one? No self-respecting engineer does that.
Just Jack Posted October 5, 2011 Posted October 5, 2011 Suggesting a simple and obvious solution over a complex and involved one? No self-respecting engineer does that. So I guess my suggestion of checking the local rental places instead of building one is not a good engineering solution either?
DC Tom Posted October 5, 2011 Posted October 5, 2011 So I guess my suggestion of checking the local rental places instead of building one is not a good engineering solution either? I was going to suggest that myself...but he specifically said he wanted to design one. A good engineer understands the requirements and follows them assiduously, no matter how retarded they are.
BUFFALOKIE Posted October 5, 2011 Posted October 5, 2011 I was going to suggest that myself...but he specifically said he wanted to design one. A good engineer understands the requirements and follows them assiduously, no matter how retarded they are. The requirement is to sift rocks. One possible way of meeting that requirement is to design a sifter. Another way is to rent a sifter. A good engineer will develop the most effective, expedient, or inexpensive method to accomplish the requirement (good/fast/cheap - pick two). Unfortunately, I work with plenty of engineers who share your philosophy.
DC Tom Posted October 5, 2011 Posted October 5, 2011 The requirement is to sift rocks. One possible way of meeting that requirement is to design a sifter. Another way is to rent a sifter. A good engineer will develop the most effective, expedient, or inexpensive method to accomplish the requirement (good/fast/cheap - pick two). Unfortunately, I work with plenty of engineers who share your philosophy. Except he was pretty specific about wanting to design a home-built power sifter(at least as specific as wanting to sift rocks). And knowing that Pete is a pot-smoking granola hippie green (and for once, I mean that affectionately), it's perfectly reasonable to assume that that was, in fact, a requirement (in terms of wanting to avoid a corporate/commercial solution like renting in favor of a DIY solution as befitting a pot-smoking granola hippie green). And a young engineer will develop the good/fast/cheap solution. A good engineer has had that practice beaten out of him by management.
Pete Posted October 5, 2011 Author Posted October 5, 2011 Pete - As an engineer, why not look at it the other way. Rather than digging, screening, re-filling (large amount of effort) build a raised bed garden and backfill it with clean garden soil. If you are looking to screen the material, copying is the ultimate form of flattery. Look at the screen on this site. Linky Thank you all for your suggestions. I really like the mechanical sifter Nanker linked to. Buffalo Bud- that sifter you linked to is similar to the one I used last year. I bought 3 2x4s, split one in half, screwed them together, and nailed hardware cloth inside and sifted soil all summer manually. The reason I need to use a sifter is my backyard is a gigantic glacier rock facing south. The garden is also landscape architecture. I have been digging the dirt off the rock exposing the stone, and where there are cavities I am planting different gardens and fire pits. It is a massive undertaking that I have spent hundreds of hours on- and I am about 33% from my ultimate goal. I would estimate for every 5 gallons dirt I dig I yield 2 gallons tiny rocks. The tiny rocks I sift out and put on bottom layer for irrigation. The big rocks I dig up I built some temporary walls. My brother is a mason and ultimately we are going to build proper retaining walls with the field stone collected. A mechanical sifter would save me incredible amounts of time, and wear and tear on my body. It will be gorgeous whenever it is completed. I sit atop a hill secluded but high enough for water views and a 360 degree view of the sky. It makes for excellent star viewing
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