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Fairly frequently the subject comes up about running tumbler barrels on a treadmill. A couple weeks ago I found a good running treadmill for cheap so I thought I'd try it. I built up a simple but versatile rolling frame using rollers I had in stock, and purchased remaining materials. The frame is attached to the treadmill table with bolts into threaded inserts in the table. I offset the rods holding the rollers to one side of the 2x4's thinking I might have to invert the frame to lower the rollers for smaller than the 12", 5 gallon barrels I initially set it up for; did have to do that. The treadmill uses 480 watts of power at 1 MPH on its meter with no load. I first put on 3 of the 5 gallon barrels, total weight of 100 lbs. per barrel, 50 lbs. of rock in each barrel. The overload on the machine popped near instantly, so I dropped one barrel off. With two barrels it overloaded in 1 1/2 minutes, I think the constant weight causes too much friction between the belt and the table.
I inverted the frame and put on 3 8" barrels, each holds 25 lbs. of rock and average 40 lbs. each, loaded. Total weight 120 lbs.
This setup runs well and uses 834 watts of power at 1 MPH on the meter, 39 RPM, plenty fast. Granted, the barrels are much easier to handle.
I can run 75 lbs. of rock at 834 watts of power on the treadmill or 100 lbs. of rock at 387 watts on the double 5 gallon frame I normally use, and an even smaller than the ~3/8 HP now on the machine might well work. The only advantage to running rocks on the treadmill is removing the rolling frame and going for a walk on it when not rolling rock. All in all, a fun and interesting project. I came back on this because I forgot one thing: The treadmill takes up 15.8 sq.ft. of floor space, and my double 5 gallon frame takes up 6.1 sq.ft., quite a difference.
You're going to have the most fit rocks on the forum!
As I first started reading, I was wondering about the power consumption...thanks for putting in the specs on that!
What an awesome project! Thanks for sharing this!
Favorite Quotes: "It always seems impossible until it is done." - Nelson Mandela "Life becomes easier when you learn to accept the apology you never got." - Robert Brault "You can't wait until life isn't hard anymore before you decide to be happy." - Nightbirde (RIP 2/19/22)
interesting, yeah there's a lot of friction on the belt. Any idea why they tend to use DC motors on these? just for the ease of speed control maybe? Seems like they're usually 180V DC or something. Older models ofen had nice speed controllers you could salvage but now most are integrated into the main board, not near as easy to tinker with.
jasoninsd, thanks for the kind words. I haven't taken the cover off the motor yet to see exactly what it is, DC for sure. Variable speed being the reason, and everything is on a circuit board, not much to salvage except maybe some metal. The main reason I wanted to do this was to test the practicality in a power use sense, and I don't consider it practical; except back to the optional going for a walk statement.
Post by oldschoolrocker on Nov 8, 2020 14:46:56 GMT -5
awesome!! well constructed frame and barrels! I'd been wondering if any had done this before. early in my tumbling I had looked for cheap/free older treadmills for the motor and speed control but only ones I got my hands on were integrated like oregon said. had thought about doing something like this but didnt have space, supplies etc. but I know wouldn't have come out as nice as this!
what are your barrels made from? the smaller ones.
With a little thought you could use my setup as a model and build a better one, don't rain on your own parade. The barrels are 8" PVC 1/2" wall thickness as often used in municipal water systems. I got a piece long enough for the two blue ones at an estate sale. End caps are of the cutting board material often seen in restaurant or grocery store deli and meat cutting operations, 3/4" thick. Material is nylon I think. If you decide to build barrels like these I can give you a rundown on procedures that I have learned, at your request. A lathe to face the barrel material and turn the end caps is desirable but can be worked around.
With a little thought you could use my setup as a model and build a better one, don't rain on your own parade. The barrels are 8" PVC 1/2" wall thickness as often used in municipal water systems. I got a piece long enough for the two blue ones at an estate sale. End caps are of the cutting board material often seen in restaurant or grocery store deli and meat cutting operations, 3/4" thick. Material is nylon I think. If you decide to build barrels like these I can give you a rundown on procedures that I have learned, at your request. A lathe to face the barrel material and turn the end caps is desirable but can be worked around.
thanks! I missed this reply until now. I'm gonna have a look around for some suitable pvc pipe and may just hit u up for that rundown if/when get some supplies together and some free time to try it out. they look great! thanks again!
oldschoolrocker, If you go barrel material hunting you need barrels that are at least 7/16 wall thickness. It takes that to hold the attaching screws on both ends, 1/2" or more wall thickness even more desirable, a little more weight but way longer life. I wore out one of the 5 gallon rough barrels in 12 years of pretty steady running.
oldschoolrocker, If you go barrel material hunting you need barrels that are at least 7/16 wall thickness. It takes that to hold the attaching screws on both ends, 1/2" or more wall thickness even more desirable, a little more weight but way longer life. I wore out one of the 5 gallon rough barrels in 12 years of pretty steady running.
ok, thanks for the info! that's definitely a good life span!
Hello, I wanted to stir this post up again. Being that it's been many years since the start of this thread and the tumbler has had time to run. What up grades have you done or has the project been scrapped? I have been building a simular project but I keep running into an over load issue at about 70lbs of weight.
Shade, I built the treadmill tumbler driver entirely as a test to see if it is economicaly practical to use one for tumbling rocks, in my opinion as stated above, it is not. I got rid of most of it when done. Given that I ran the three 8" barrels with 120lbs. total weight without overload problems I don't understand why you have trouble. Does the machine turn freely unloaded? Have you loosened the belt and checked to see the rollers turn freely, bad bearing could be causing drag. How many amps or watts is the motor using, as tested with a load meter; bad motor? I don't know how you hooked the power up, make sure all connections are sound, I think something other than a 70lb. load is causing the overload. Is the table under the belt worn and rough causing excessive friction? I had another thought on this; it's possible your circuit breaker is faulty causing it to open at too low a power draw. Lots of things to check, good luck.
I figured out the problem. The mother board gets heated from running constantly and then it reduces the amount of voltage going to the motor. All in all I have 12 drums/bottles running off of the treadmill with plenty of room to put more. My new plan is to by pass the mother board and feed the motor 33VDC and that will keep it at the speed I would like. Feeding the motor directly from a power supply should stop with the over heating problem. Being that I feel like the project is on the right path I'm going to be on the look out for another free treadmill to run the three 8" drums I have for bigger rocks. First I have to finish off the mother board bypass project.
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Welcome to the Rock Tumbling Hobby Forum where we share a love of rocks and a sense of community as enduring as the stones we polish.
The RTH Forum of www.RockTumbling.com is an Amazon Associate site and we earn money from
qualifying purchases you make after clicking on our links such as this
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... to the New Guys from The ChatBox V.2 Crew