How To: Modify A Marga Mill.

[craig maher]

Ross is that one of those 'leaf eater' things? :unsure:

Looks like a first flush diverter - upside down to me

Cheers,

Craig

 

[oldbugman]

you can read the label on the side if you zoom in.
quite a big picture.

 

[blackbock]

Thanks guys, didn't realise that pic was so big & clickable!

 

[yardy]

Hah! Good old Marga Molino!!

I modified and used one for a good many AG brews when I first started out.
They are a good mill and do the job quite well.

All Marga users need to know that the mill is essentually is a flour mill and it its original form will produce flour (for bread making).

The gearing on a Marga Mill has a differential between the rollers to deliberately create a "tearing" effect on the grain husks (so as to easily achieve "flour")

The gap you choose, create, redrill, etc, needs to be in direct relation to the speed at which you drive the mill.
For example, if you are driving the mill at high speed you will need a wider gap so as not to produce too much flour, in comparison to if you are turning it at hand cranking speed you will generally achieve a lot of grains that aren't fully broken open.

Pick a speed with a variable speed drill or a fixed electric motor that remains the same each time you use the mill for malted barley for brewing so that you will achieve the same crush and therefore achieve the same (or close to) efficiency every time you crack grains to create your favourite brew.


Cheers

Guys,

Just wondering if anyone has found this to be correct, not slagging off dicko, i intend getting a Marga and want to be sure before i mod it.

Cheers

Yard

 

[fixa]

Haven't found any difference in the crush with variences in drill speed mate. I have found that if you do run the drill too fast it doesn't seem to grab the grain and so the actual crush speed goes down. but the crush quality remains the same.

 

[Steve]

Haven't found any difference in the crush with variences in drill speed mate. I have found that if you do run the drill too fast it doesn't seem to grab the grain and so the actual crush speed goes down. but the crush quality remains the same.

agree - crush quality remains the same on mine whether its going flat out or canking by hand when the drill battery has died :angry:

Cheers
Steve

P.S. Best investment ive made in my brewery....you wont regret it. Its a bit of fiddling to get it right but if I can get it crushing right anyone can.

 

[warrenlw63]

Yeah they're funny things. Unfashionable looking pieces of jerry-rigged **** that you buy with a view to never being a permanent thing in your brewery. Keep telling myself I'm going to get that 3 roller Crankandstein sometime soon.

Yet oddly enough my Marga has been going strong for around 2 years and has crushed an estimated 200kg of grain and still really hasn't skipped a beat. So really I have no need to superannuate it just yet. :beerbang:

Hey Steve... I manage to flatten 2 batteries crushing 9kg of grain so I'm feeling twice your pain. I however am not so motivated enough to stick that hand crank back in. It then becomes the variable speed corded drill for me. :lol:

Warren -

 

[yardy]

Thanks Fellas :beer:

 

[AndrewQLD]

70 rpm or there abouts, crushes 5 kilo of grain in 30 minutes. I noticed when modifying Hennos new marga that the knurl(sp) is much better than on my 3 year old one. So I imagine the crush would be great. I don't feel the need to rush the crush and I get a good flour/grit ratio with the husks still intact.


Cheers
Andrew

 

[Cortez The Killer]

I was hand cranking mine for a little while and have recently hooked it up to a drill (via a dyna bolt) and have not noticed any change in the crush or efficiencies

I drill makes it sooo much easier and faster

Cheers

 

[Maxt]

I have noticed that if I crush slower, it is better. Too fast and things get a bit shredded.

 

[bugwan]

70 rpm or there abouts, crushes 5 kilo of grain in 30 minutes.
.
.
.
.

Cheers
Andrew

Is this an average time for a 5kg crush? Looking to get a mill at some stage, but 30 minutes sounds like a long time!!

 

[Cortez The Killer]

5-10 mins max

Cheers

Is this an average time for a 5kg crush? Looking to get a mill at some stage, but 30 minutes sounds like a long time!!

 

[brettprevans]

love the info fellas! keep it coming. I got my marga mill last week and am heading to bunnings on the w/e to get some odds and ends for some mods (like the massive homemade hopper shown by Ross)

 

[AndrewQLD]

Is this an average time for a 5kg crush? Looking to get a mill at some stage, but 30 minutes sounds like a long time!!

With a drill, 5-10 minutes but I found it tended to shred the husk, as Dicko said, these mills tend to shear. 30 minutes isn't that long when it is almost silent running and I am setting up the brewery at the same time.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[Kingy]

my marga crushes beuitifully and the drill dont make any differance to the crush, like others said if its going to fast i wont pull the grain in.
I have a dyna bolt mod as well. Im more worried about my drill burning out as opposed to my marga

cheers,kingy

edit: i use a zip tie to control the speed while i prepare my brewing area and wait for the water to boil

 

[Maxt]

I take about 20mins for 5kg, going just above what i could hand crank. Mine is a set and forget system, so I can walk away, so i don't really care how long it takes. When I used to have to stand there and hold it, I went a lot faster!

 

[Hargie]

I take about 20mins for 5kg, going just above what i could hand crank. Mine is a set and forget system, so I can walk away, so i don't really care how long it takes. When I used to have to stand there and hold it, I went a lot faster!

....imagine how fast you could go if you had a Cougarmatic 5000....

 

[choppadoo]

i'm in the process of 'tuning' my new marga at the moment. i found that the crush differences between hand cranked and drill cranked were significant. in the end i ended up drilling 3 holes in the adjustor cap quite close to each other; they allow the widest possible feeder gap with 3 slightly variant crush gaps. this way i can tune the crush pretty easily to what i want for each brew/different grains.

 

[Steve]

About 10 mins for me to do 5kg....my hopper only holds 2.5 kilos....should make a new one.
Cheers
Steve