Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire How many RPMs should I shoot for in my meat grinder?

Some years ago I built a homemade grinder, using a #32 grinder and a heavy duty 1/2hp electric motor. I have a 1.25 inch pulley on the motor and a 8.675 inch pulley on the grinder. My RPM now is about 250. Grinds great. I can put fist sized hunks of meat in and it tears right through it.

Now I've decided to try to run my second grind right in to those heavy plastic burger bags. The stuffing tube for the bags is quite a reduction down from the #32 head, and my speed is so fast that I am over grinding the meat before it can be pushed through the tube. I am going to run another set of pulleys to slow the grind speed down. I am thinking of something in the ballpark of 70 to 75 RPM. Anyone with some experience have any other thoughts? Thanks, Al

I think mine runs around 180-200, but my guess is the step down part for the bags?
wish I could be a little more help, but that might be an area to look at. or the size of the holes on your discharge disk?

I thought about getting a sausage plate, but that would require a third grind. Yes, I think the step down part for the bags creates too much of a bottleneck that can't handle the speed of my set up.

motorize your meat grinder

75 rpm is about right.

pulley system:

Motor shaft = 1.5"; small speed brake pulley = 1.5"; large speed brake pulley = 4"; grinder flywheel = 13"

this is the flywheel you want (13")

buy it here

you can get the pillow block and the rest from Amazon for under $80

Thanks for that Site UtahLefty, I like the price on some of their grinders

Thanks for the reply. I looked at the 13" wheel, but I still need the speed brake. By going with 1.25 inch small pulleys, along with a 4 inch on the large end of the brake, I can keep my 8.675 wheel (saving some money and keeping overall height down) and get 77 RPM. If I go with a 4.5 inch pulley I can drop to about 70 RPM. Glad to hear that 75 RPM is in the ball park. I think I can get there. Thanks, Al

I would imagine that dropping your speed down to 75RPM will result in a huge amount of torque?

I think so....keep fingers well away from the auger....and the pulleys/belts.: )