Knowledgable in hydraulics? Need some help.

[bmarley5780]

Heya!

Well my buddy wants his trommel to be hydraulically powered.
-hopper angle adjustment
-hopper box vibrator
-barrel drive
-all the leveling arms.

Doin some brief research it seems to be a topic that requires special formulas and stuff that is way over our heads...We get the parts that are needed but lack the knowledge about the requirements that each part needs to work together.

Can anyone help with this?

I should note that he wants to base alot of his build on Hecklers trommels.

 

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[bobw53]

For just getting something to work, and work decently, there isn't really a whole lot to it... I'm sure if you are designing the
latest and greatest Catapilar excavator, you'll dig deeper, but for making a one off, should be easy...

I'm assuming you aren't trying to accomplish any heavy lifting, so that takes quite a bit of the problem away.

It should be easy to figure out what you need... Its a volume game. A hydraulic pump puts out
an amount of fluid per revolution.. A hydraulic motor needs a certain amount of fluid to spin one revolution...

Leveling arms are going to take a certain amount of fluid to fill when extended, you need to make sure you have enough
fluid in reserve, simple volume calculations..

Start writing down what you need to accomplish the trommel, start adding and multiplying and it will start to make more sense.

Where you are going to have a tough time... Realizing how much hydraulic fittings cost.. Made a little tractor, garden tractor size, front
end loader, 3 point hitch and hydraulic steering... The fittings alone where over $600, that didn't include all the lines, the pump or the cylinders,
and valves aren't cheap either.

And here are a few #'s that are handy to have when figuring out what you need... 231 cubic inches in a gallon, and 7.4805 gallons in a cubic foot.

 

[motohed]

You will also need some pressure valves , so if get the thing get hung up some how you don't burn up your pumps and Hydraulic motors . I would also keep the hydaulic pump and motor on a seperate circuit , and run the leveler and legs with a seperate pump with your control valves ,ETC . This would leave the trommel to run with out impeding the rotation when using the leveler and legs . You will also need a good sized hydraulic take for the trommel circuit to keep the oil cool . JMO I was wondering how big are you talking , I'm not sure how you want to make the trommel with a vibrating system , this can be a whole nother bag of worms . Iv'e been in the gravel mining business for a long time . I would put a shaker ahead of the trommel keeping the two seperate , it is asking a lot for the amount of moving parts in a trommel to add the vibration in , and will be more expensive too do . You can run two or more pumps with one engine just make sure you have enough capacity in your hydraulic tank or tanks . I would use two tanks

 

[Bill_saf]

Its not that hard to do you will need 3 HYD circuits 1 for drum, 1 for conveyers, 1 for leveling legs and vib then you need Hp to run the pumps. Run every thing with flow controls and check valves. you also need to size the HYD lines for flow 1/2" = 20 GPM 3/4" = 37GPM. Hyd Motors you will want low speed high torque. JMO i'd ditch the vib sluice and run Hyd riffles.

 

[bmarley5780]

Thanks guys! Awesome info!!! No time to answer all the q's but

this is what he is basing his build on.

Portable Alluvial Gold Trommel Wash Plant by Heckler Fabrication

 

[motohed]

Be careful you don't infring on a patten it could cost you way more that the thing is worth .

 

[Goodyguy]

Using a Pelton type wheel combined with a gear box may make the build somewhat cheaper and simpler........

 

[hvacker]

There's a reason hydraulics is called the SCIENCE of fluid in motion.

 

[Rockwerx]

Using a Pelton type wheel combined with a gear box may make the build somewhat cheaper and simpler........

What do you use it for? Looks like an interesting design!

 

[Goodyguy]

What do you use it for? Looks like an interesting design!

It's the drive unit for a water powered trommel. Water sprays against the wheel to turn the gearbox that rotates the drum.

Arrow points to unit........

 

[Rockwerx]

Very nice setup!!!

 

[bobw53]

Using a Pelton type wheel combined with a gear box may make the build somewhat cheaper and simpler........

Hydraulics in the most fundamental form... Fluid doing work. Tip of the hat... awesome!!.

 

[Goodyguy]

Hydraulics in the most fundamental form... Fluid doing work. Tip of the hat... awesome!!.

Not my idea, the trommel was designed by Midwest Mining out of Ohio. I've seen it in person and it is an interesting setup.
Would make an excellent gem hunting trommel due to the tailing inspection sluice located at the end of the drum.

When I read the first post to this thread where the OP (original poster) stated that his "buddy wants his trommel to be hydraulically powered" this setup came to mind. However after looking at the trommel that the OP had in mind I saw that it was powered by electric motors, to run hydraulic pumps, which is a different animal altogether than I had pictured.

The pelton type wheels are generally used to run a generator to produce electricity by use of water power.
A homemade wheel could be constructed by using common table spoons attached to a circular saw blade.

 

[Rockwerx]

It's the drive unit for a water powered trommel. Water sprays against the wheel to turn the gearbox that rotates the drum.

Arrow points to unit........
View attachment 1268687 View attachment 1268697

What happens to the water in the device? Is it total loss or is it directed into the machine somewhere else? It appears to drain to a blue hose.

 

[motohed]

When you think about it , this type of thing was constructed by our for fathers 100"s of years ago , with the simple , but effective water wheel . They ran sawmills , griss mills and many other industries . This device was on the same priciple , with just using a pump system to turn the wheel .

 

[Goodyguy]

What happens to the water in the device? Is it total loss or is it directed into the machine somewhere else? It appears to drain to a blue hose.

The blue hose is actually the pressure hose from the water supply pump. The excess water from the device is constantly drained underneath through the white pvc drain pipe seen in the photo. The blue hose appears to be connected to it but actually connects at a different location.


GG~