Homesteader's DIY Jaw Crusher - Appreciate advice

[Anthony Friot]

I have a 1/4 mile driveway. I have plans to screen my own rock from the spoils of digging our pond. If I cannot get enough rock...my pond will get deeper and cover more area. I'm looking at 3/4 acre up to 12 feet deep. I want to build my own jaw crusher and I would appreciate some guidance from those who understand metal, rock and that there are people out here that just want to do things ourselves. I know the basic design theory, but am quite unsure of steel types and sizes required to break rock. I have collected a variety of tools and metals I think might help me build a crusher. I know I probably should use manganese jaw plates, but they are not easy for me to find used in the size I would need. I also don't believe I could afford new plates even if I knew where to buy them. I have tries to contact a couple companies who say they make them, but being a little guy, I don't get a reply.

I should have a power plant that should be more than adequate for what i want. I have a 6.5kw diesel generator capable of 3 phase, a 40 HP 4 cylinder power plant with clutch and 3 belt pulley and a 35 HP hydraulic power plant. For materials, I am thinking I should be able to do something with large loader forks. They are 12" wide and maybe 10" deep. It's hard to explain them so I'll just show you.

I thought about using the two pieces I cut off to operate together to crush rock, but then I thought that one of the sections I left attached to the rest of the fork was already fastened well to a solid structure and could make a great plate to push (gyrate?) against. I believe I need to make an eccentric shaft to give a circular motion to the movable jaw. How mych movement is required and how many rpm should the machine operate. I'm sure there is a sweet spot...maybe for every machine it might be different.

If a hollow jaw isn't ideal, could it be filled with concrete to give it a firm back to push with? But then I have to think how can I crush rock with concrete. If filled, the concrete has nowhere to go as it is again reinforced by the 1" steel on three sided.

Also, I have a piece of steel that is 4"x9.5" solid by 8' long to make jaws with. Maybe even the eccentric shaft as well.

I know that even though it is solid, it may be soft steel and unusable. How do I find out if it's good to use. If so...how do I cut it? I already know that the forks I can cut with a torch as it is only 1" thick about it's perimeter, but I don't believe I have a way to cut the 4"x9.5" steel to length. Maybe make a power hacksaw and connect it to my inverter to let it run until it's through. BTW, I'm totally off-grid. No grid power.

I watch Youtube videos of homemade jaw crushers, but I don't see many rocks being tossed into them. Concrete isn't nearly as hard as stone. Until my driveway and foundation are finished, I want to be able to crush stone as I need to. I don't need to do it nearly as fast as commercial crushers and I don't need to spend the same money to do it.

I have to step away from the computer for a bit. Clear my head and change a tire on the backhoe. In a few minutes, I'll have 4 new tires. Courtesy of my wife. She really wants a new house! Can't blame her, we need more room and a door for the cat.

I left a preliminary image for the crusher I made in sketchup.

Thank you and see you soon.

 

[Tones]

Have you considered buying a Crusher Bucket that fits onto an excavator or loader? It could be a better deal than making something that doesn't quite work so good .
Just my 2 cents

 

[Anthony Friot]

Hi Tones. I have considered it, honestly. But I have checked ads looking for such a device and it would take more money than all the crushed rock I need would cost. I need 200 ton just for the driveway and an additional 50 ton for the yard. I have the rock which I hope to be able to screen from my property. Not all of it will need to be crushed, just enough to cover and level/fill smooth the surface after filling with layers of progressively smaller stone.

We don't have money available to throw at the problem, but do have patience and perseverance.

Thank you

 

[NepeanGC]

Not sure how much gravel costs down south, but around here that's about $2500 of gravel + delivery. I can't imagine you'd build a functional crusher for much less than that.
Have you considered finding/renting a breaker to bust the bigger stuff? I can typically get 6-10" chunks with a breaker and patience. I use that for road base all the time. Then I only need to bring in a few inches of the smaller stuff to level and finish

 

[Anthony Friot]

Thank you NepeanGC. Actually, gravel isn't expensive. $6.50/ton for course crushed gravel, $5/ton driveway mix and $4/ton for ROB gravel. I have my own truck to haul 10 yd at a time from the pit less than 10 miles away. If I talk nicely to a neighbor, I might get it cheaper from a mile away, but I'm believing it's not the cost right now as we are to receive "stimulus" money.

We all know people who we go to when we need something. That special tool to get a job done that nobody wants to buy because it's a "one-time" expense. Well, I enjoy making those tools. I not only have a few of those tools, I want more. Not because I want more things, if it were just that I want more things, I would get a "normal" job and buy whatever I wanted...like driveway stone or a commercial rock crusher. I get a lot of satisfaction from building what I need to get the job done. The looks I get from people when they show them something they would not expect me to have. AND! I (and friends and family) have the tool to use to at a later date! I get most of my materials at by the pound junk prices, auction when nobody else is bidding against me or for free. Time is my biggest expense. I don't feel like I have a lot of time to spare occasionally, but I have much more than most. I make things for me and my friends to use and enjoy. I spend less time involved in projects working on things for those who I do not know. This is how I find life more fulfilling. Not that I am selfish and want things for myself, but because I have more to share with others when they may not have for themselves.

So, I'm using our stimulus money to build our house with discount, bought-at-auction and free material to keep us mortgage free and enjoying the time we do not have to work to pay for it. It's non-conventional and that's how my wife and I want it. No cookie-cutter homes made of sticks, plastic, concrete and VOCs. I guess we are the kookie couple who people find impossible to understand and harder to forget. I will never earn a Nobel Prize, write a best seller or be elected president. But we will definitely be remembered.

Dang! Where did that monologue come from? Guess I'm feeling a little sensitive this morning. It's raining and I cannot work outside...that must be it.

Again, thank you, NepeanGC! I hope I made sense.

 

[CM1995]

Thank you NepeanGC. Actually, gravel isn't expensive. $6.50/ton for course crushed gravel, $5/ton driveway mix and $4/ton for ROB gravel.

Damn that's cheap rock!!

We pay $15 a ton for #57's 1/2-3/4 washed at the quarry. Hauling depending on distance is another $3-7 a ton.

 

[Anthony Friot]

Yes, it is. A local farmer has his own quarry for the material he uses on his own property and offers material discounted to keep up equipment repairs and an employee at the quarry. There are about 5 such quarries within 15 miles. Not all are still open, though, as they were for private use. We have many DIY'ers locally as when you operate a family farm, not one of those corporate farms, you have to be able to do as much as you can yourself. This area is great if you need stone as the glaciers left much of it when they visited. So much so, that it can actually make farming difficult on some land. But I suppose that could be said about nearly anywhere in the north.

 

[mitch504]

If you see a rock here, someone hauled it in. It makes it expensive.

 

[gotigers]

Just call the local rock pit, by the time you fiddle f*** around with your own crusher you could buy15 loads

 

[DMiller]

All steels are not the same, Crushers use a Hardened or Hard Faced steel to support the added aggregate compression erosion wear. Many use Molybdenum or Manganese steel alloys, mild steel will not hold up for long.

90% of crusher mils here are Gyratory(Cone type) or Roller mills. Takes some serious tonnage against the stone to break it even in tiny amounts.

 

[El_Guapo]

Anything less than AR500 plate for your jaws is going to be a waste of time and effort. Actual manganese liners are better, but not going to be cheap.

By the time you factor in wear materials, you’ll be money ahead to truck in your own material or if you’re really wanting to crush your own, look into buying a small jaw crusher that you can get off the shelf consumables for.