Mill Best Bang For Buck

[wobblythongs]

I'm in the market for a monster mill as I want to start getting into the bulk buy AG threads.

There is a broad scope on how much money you can spend between $150 on wards so where is a good medium place to stop at. To where it becomes money better spent on something else as you have just bought the best but only needed X to do the job.

I plan to crack less then 20 kg a month have a 18 volt 1/2" chuck 3 speed Makita cordless my cash flow this year has been dismal so it's on a tightish budget but the investment is long term so the extra money spent would be worth it if it saves time ,lasts and mills better.

1. 1/2" shaft upgrade is that going to help me much cracking 8-10 kg?

2. 2" roller how much faster is that going to be?

3. Stainless. will it last forever will the others rust if not used for a while?

4. 3 rollers. will this help with speed and efficiency?

I want to buy the hopper attachment but the rest I'm not sure about. Any owners can you please comment on yours and what you wish you did or didn't get.
Cheers

 

[felten]

The cheapest base model they have is more than sufficient to crush your grain, they're a solid piece of hardware. I have a 1/2" drive 2d crankandstein, but I hand crank so that isn't really a factor. Personally I wouldn't bother with any of the upgrades, except for perhaps a hopper and handcrank if you change your mind on the drill.

If you want bang for buck, the most basic crankandstein mill is 76 bucks IIRC, cheaper than the monstermill version, but doesn't have that ease of adjusting as the pricier models.

 

[QldKev]

I'm in the market for a monster mill as I want to start getting into the bulk buy AG threads.

There is a broad scope on how much money you can spend between $150 on wards so where is a good medium place to stop at. To where it becomes money better spent on something else as you have just bought the best but only needed X to do the job.

I plan to crack less then 20 kg a month have a 18 volt 1/2" chuck 3 speed Makita cordless my cash flow this year has been dismal so it's on a tightish budget but the investment is long term so the extra money spent would be worth it if it saves time ,lasts and mills better.

1. 1/2" shaft upgrade is that going to help me much cracking 8-10 kg?

2. 2" roller how much faster is that going to be?

3. Stainless. will it last forever will the others rust if not used for a while?

4. 3 rollers. will this help with speed and efficiency?

I want to buy the hopper attachment but the rest I'm not sure about. Any owners can you please comment on yours and what you wish you did or didn't get.
Cheers

1. 1/2" shaft only needed if you want to set it up using an electric motor and pulleys. Not needed for a drill or DC motor. The DC motor I use is easier to set up with a 3/8 shaft (I have 3/8)
2. 2" waste of time for extra speed (I didn't upgrade)
3. Are you going to leave it out in the weather; or do you live ocean front? otherwise waste of money (I didn't upgrade)
4. 3 roller = bit better + more bling. (I went 2 roller)

Or in my opinion get all the upgrades for a bit of wank factor.

The DC motor I recently set mine up with cost a bit over $100 including the coupler. I crush a batch worth in 2min 20secs; how much faster do you want?

Leave out the: large shaft + 2" roller + s/s roller + 3 roller; and use the money on a motor.

QldKev

 

[wobblythongs]

Leave out the: large shaft + 2" roller + s/s roller + 3 roller; and use the money on a motor.

QldKev

Thanks for the comments but I forgot to mention I'm very limited on space. The 2 bedroom castle/dwelling front and back yards are 6 meters down in other words I live in a crap box appartment. My shed or AKA the east wing 2nd room is my micro brewry utensile and chilling room AKA as the spare room with the big pots worts and fridge in it.

 

[pk.sax]

I'll chime in cuz I was suggested to look at the chapest crankand stein over what I was considering so I did a comparison of a few things and the cheapest monster is about as adjustable as the second cheapest crankandstein and monster also does a shipping discount on multiple shipped in. Put orders in on both websites to work out what they cost shipped. I liked the idea of being able to adjust the crush as it seems everybody here has their own sweet spots for roller gaps for their setups. There was also a hand cranked mill I found just like the marga mill, shipped from the US for 90 bucks total, it's in the marga mill thread (link is). I am drawing up (cad) a monster clone so that somebody a friend knows can get a couple made. Well, I hope that happens! Will save me some $$.

I'll be very interested to know also what people think of the 3 roller and gap adjustability options.

 

[Murray]

I have a three roller monster mill. Have only done a few batches with it, so still experimenting, but I'm pretty much in love with it. Have only my old tiny single roller mill to compare it though, don't know if it is significantly better than the two roller mills.

 

[seemax]

MNM-2 $150
mdf/ply for a basic hopper - $10

i can crush 6-7kg grain and still have plenty of juice left in my 18V drill, and it takes less than a minute

marga is cheaper, but not too robust $100
corona (meat mincer style) can be had for $50-80
pasta roller with roughed rollers (mostly useless) $20

 

[wobblythongs]

I just rang Monster mill and he told me the MM-2 $109 basic model will at-least push 15000 pound of grist before it dies.
So thats 15000 into 2.2 = 6818Kg if I ran a 10 KG mash each week it should last 13.11 years.

with the hopper & freight it works out to $214 AU last night with paypal.

 

[under]

I would like to add a barley crusher to the list.

 

[schooey]

I have an inkling that Santa may be bringing me a MM3-2.0 for Christmas.... I'm pretty chuffed about that

 

[under]

http://www.beersmith.com/barley_crusher.htm

I also went the 15lbs hopper. And just mill it on top of a plastic pail from bunnings. Great mill.

 

[barry2]

I am very pleased with the performance of my Barley Crusher with the 7 pound hopper.It takes me less than 1 minute per kilo to crush the grain manually.

 

[QldKev]

I just rang Monster mill and he told me the MM-2 $109 basic model will at-least push 15000 pound of grist before it dies.
So thats 15000 into 2.2 = 6818Kg if I ran a 10 KG mash each week it should last 13.11 years.

with the hopper & freight it works out to $214 AU last night with paypal.

I average about 5kg grain a week, so my mill is only going to last me 26 years :angry: :angry:

QldKev

 

[dgilks]

I'm doing the same as you at the moment. I'm looking at the MM3 just for the extra bling more than anything but I don't thing the stainless or 1/2 inch is necessary. The 1/2 inch is also useless if you plan to hand crank. On the face of those comments it looks like I'm going to get a good 50 years out of my mill (I need to brew more).

 

[husky]

Probably different in your case with the hopper but when I ordered mine a few months ago, crankandstein will send 3 x 1.5 inch mills in one package and MM would only do 2. We were able to get three of the adjustable models with 1/2 inch drive for $150 landed.
As the others have said, I wouldnt bother with the 3 roller or stainless.

 

[WarmBeer]

I average about 5kg grain a week, so my mill is only going to last me 26 years :angry: :angry:

QldKev

I average about 5kg grain a month!

"Son, take this heirloom, it was my mill, and so it shall be your son's mill"

 

[MeLoveBeer]

Looking at a monster mill myself (especially after I just finished a 30 min/5kg milling session). Quick question guys, with the 1/2" drive, if you order it do you get both or is it one or the other?

 

[felten]

one or the other

 

[beerdrinkingbob]

I average about 5kg grain a week, so my mill is only going to last me 26 years :angry: :angry:

QldKev

26 years for the mill, surely the liver will pack it in first

:icon_offtopic: don't suppose you know a bloke named Troy Wilkinson up there in Bundy!!

 

[QldKev]

26 years for the mill, surely the liver will pack it in first

Well there's a challenge; liver Vs Mill, it's going to be a long competition I think.

:icon_offtopic: don't suppose you know a bloke named Troy Wilkinson up there in Bundy!!

Nope, never heard of the name