Feeder blower

[worldwidegear]

Anyone know of some good plans for building a feeder blower to fill feeders with?

[txfireguy2003]

I saw one in the TTHA magazinet the other day. Looks like nothing more than a leaf blower, some PVC pipe and a bucket, of course, I could be mistaken.

[psicoo]

I saw one in the TTHA magazinet the other day. Looks like nothing more than a leaf blower, some PVC pipe and a bucket, of course, I could be mistaken.

That is all it is. I made one for a total cost of $67.00. Works great!!! Much easier that lifting and carrying a 50lb bag of corn on your shoulder up a ladder.

[stxhunter]

Could you elaborate on the bucket that you attach the blower to? Is it just a PVC T with a funnel surrounding it?

[psicoo]

I used a T- PCV tubing. Find the largest bucket you can find(pool chemical bucket). Using a thin piece of sheet metal large enough to form a funnel feeding into the opening on T. You will need to stabilize the sheet metal funnel to prevent it from blowing out of the bucket from the air pressure generated by the leaf blower. On one end of the T, attach an elbow. On the other end, you will need to connect a smaller piece of conduit that will accomodate the blower and the T.
About an 8 or 9 ft. PVC with an elbow on the end that will hang over the feeder. The other end of the 8ft PVC, fits into the elbow from the bucket.
Hope you get the gist.

[txtimetravler]

I heard you can get a big static build up on them, so watch out!

[worldwidegear]

I used a T- PCV tubing. Find the largest bucket you can find(pool chemical bucket). Using a thin piece of sheet metal large enough to form a funnel feeding into the opening on T. You will need to stabilize the sheet metal funnel to prevent it from blowing out of the bucket from the air pressure generated by the leaf blower. On one end of the T, attach an elbow. On the other end, you will need to connect a smaller piece of conduit that will accomodate the blower and the T.
About an 8 or 9 ft. PVC with an elbow on the end that will hang over the feeder. The other end of the 8ft PVC, fits into the elbow from the bucket.
Hope you get the gist.

Do you use a gate to control the flow? and do you have pictures of your setup?

[Westex]

Joe, do a search on this in this forum and you'll find some pics that I had of the one that Trailboss made. Should give you the basic idea. You'll have to play with the "baffle" to get it to let the corn feed into the T just right but once you get that it works great. As stated before BE SURE and ground it or you'll wish you had.

[psicoo]

Do you use a gate to control the flow? and do you have pictures of your setup?

No pics, but I will be at the lease this weekend and I'll take a few and post.

[Westex]

I just posted up some pics of the one Trail Boss made.

[trailboss]

I don't have any plans - just built this one "on the fly" but it works great. But like others said - be careful of the static electricity - it'll light you up!

Trailboss

[worldwidegear]

Thanks all. Nice pictures trail boss. That look easy enough to do!!!

[newfisher]

That look great. I am glad you posted that so it will give me an idea. Thanks

[bowhuntertx]

What is the blower rated(speed)? What keeps the corn from blowing back out the top, does it create a vacuum?

[springer222]

To keep the solid moving (corn in this case) it must stay fluidized in the carrying agent (air in this instance) or the solid will silt or fall out, creating restrictions which will lead to plugs. In most dilute phase pneumatic conveying systems, some type of "air lock" is utilized to ensure near 100% air flows "down the line", not "bleeding" air back into the bin; a rotary valve in most instances. To keep the design simple (& cheap), utilizing some type of venturi and metering the corn should help, eliminating the need of an air lock. This could be easily made with a couple of reducers and a small section of pipe a diameter size smaller that the transfer line. A simple valve at the bottom of the bin would help meter corn flow into the transfer line. Also, pneumatic conveying lines should remain in either a vertical or horizontal position to ensure minimal "drag", requiring less SCFM for a given amount of solid – 45’s are not ideal for solids conveying. Also it is imperative to minimize elbows as each elbow increases the need for more air for the given solid - long radius elbows reduce the loss, but still should be kept to a minimum.

The design showing in the picture may work like a venturi as the inlet hole may have a vacuum that will help "pull" the corn into the tranfer line, preventing air loss. I would still modify with a simple venturi in the bottom, including a cheap valve to help meter or shut off solid flow in the event there is a plug.