How Many HP To drive A Meat Grinder

[lathechips]

I'm looking at rigging up a #32 grinder. Question is what size electric motor ? And what RPM?
This will be thru a gear reducer and/or VFD.

 

[mosparky]

This is something I have put a little thought into but not much. That I know of hand crank grinders generally don't have bearings. Therefore the rpms need to be kept low. I'm thinking 60 rpm max. 30-45 better. With gear reduction, as the ratio increases so does the applied torque. Therefore the starting rpm will have a lot to do the amount of reduction and that in turn will have a lot to do with HP/torque. It might be possible to use a 1/4 hp motor @ 1750 rpm with reduction to 60 rpm.
Now the reason I thought no further than this is Gear reducers are not cheap and neither are VFD's. VFD's are generally used for 3 phase motors, again not real cheap and most are run on 220 volt or higher. I decided even if I were to use a 110v motor and use v-belt pulleys to build some exotic belt reduction system, I was going to spend more in parts alone, not counting anything for my time, to buy a pretty nice grinder (not even a cheapo Harbor Freight).
Northern tool has a fair unit under $100 and Sausage maker has a really decent one with metal gears for $149.
All that being said, if you still want to pursue this path, I would suggest stripping the motor and belt reduction from a drill press or use the DC motor and power supply/control system from a treadmill. Both can be found fairly cheap on buy/sell/trade sites or craigslists.

 

[mosparky]

Another thought to consider is what all is going to have to come apart for cleaning ?? It could be almost like building it from scratch everytime you want to use it.

 

[crazymoon]

My Cabelas #32 grinder has a 1.5 HP motor and grinds through anything. It takes more time to clean than to grind 10+ pounds.

 

[buzzy]

This is my build with 1-10 gear box I run at 75 rpms For what I have invested in this u could buy a quality #32 This was my fathers grinder that the motor quit working so I did the build to be able to keep using his grinder He made a lot of sausage with it I would say TONS This should last me a life time doing 6-7 deer & 2 hogs a year I also use it to grind tomatoes for sauce

 

[pops6927]

I have the Cabela's 1 hp grinder, that is the minimum to power the 30 lb. mixer. It grinds very well. I use a separate 15 lb. stuffer from Northern Tool.

 

[buzzy]

Pops sounds like the right set up. Grinder for grinding. Stuffer for stuffing. Tried stuffing with grinder a few time but didn’t like the end product

 

[cal1956]

many time's they don't show the HP for grinder instead they give watts
1 HP = 746 watts
so this should give you a better idea of the what kinda power it has

 

[hoity toit]

I'm looking at rigging up a #32 grinder. Question is what size electric motor ? And what RPM?
This will be thru a gear reducer and/or VFD.

I have that set up and mine is 1/2 hp 1725rmp with gear reduction. Works fine. I think you could use 1/3with no problem. The gear reduction is the "key" to it all.

HT

 

[cal1956]

a grinder with a gear reduction will give you more power BUT its at the cost of speed

 

[browneyesvictim]

Man. This 3/4 hp Carnivore is all I could ask for even doing large batches. Unless I was going commercial I'm just not seeing a a need for anything more. Of course it is new and everything is sharp. I'm so surprised at some of these comments and larger HP promotions.

 

[cal1956]

the next grinder i plan on buying is going to be a 1 HP , they all have some degree of gear reduction
but there are time's you just need that extra power
a 1/3 HP or (250 watts ) grinder is a good choice for small
batches of 5-10 lbs
but when you start grinding 50-150 lbs like we do you will see why you need the extra power

 

[chopsaw]

I'm so surprised at some of these comments and larger HP promotions.

I use a #12 / 500 watt Cabelas pro series . Prep the meat into strips and par freeze . Can't feed it fast enough .
I bet that Carnivore is a beast .

 

[cal1956]

500 watts would be roughly 3/4 HP and yea i would agree thats enough power for most people
the problem we run into is even par freezing , is with the amount of meat we grind in one batch,
the meat tends to warm somewhat before we can get it into the grinder thats why we are going to a 1 HP grinder hoping we can feed it faster

 

[smokin peachey]

This is my build with 1-10 gear box I run at 75 rpms For what I have invested in this u could buy a quality #32 This was my fathers grinder that the motor quit working so I did the build to be able to keep using his grinder He made a lot of sausage with it I would say TONS This should last me a life time doing 6-7 deer & 2 hogs a year I also use it to grind tomatoes for sauceView attachment 369150 View attachment 369149 View attachment 369148

Nice setup you have there. Can you share the info on where you got the gearbox and what model?
Thanks

 

[hoity toit]

I'm looking at rigging up a #32 grinder. Question is what size electric motor ? And what RPM?
This will be thru a gear reducer and/or VFD.

My set up is a #32 with 1/2 hr 1725 rpm hooked to right angle gear reduction output at 45 rpm.

 

[smokin peachey]

My set up is a #32 with 1/2 hr 1725 rpm hooked to right angle gear reduction output at 45 rpm.View attachment 428478View attachment 428479

Thank you

 

[buzzy]

Nice setup you have there. Can you share the info on where you got the gearbox and what model?
Thanks

Sorry for late response. Been working. I got this gear box at work off a piece of support equipment that was going to be thrown out. Put new seals in it to make almost as good as new.

 

[smokin peachey]

Nice work gift you got there.


I got this off a friend tonight. Thinking of taking the pulley off and direct connecting with a lovejoy. Needs a good break cleaner clean up.

 

[buzzy]

Know gear ratio? Should shoot for around 75 rpm out of grinder.