Posted By: JesseA
Sifting dirt and peat moss - 01/08/24 07:44 PM
So, every year I sift dirt for wax dirt, as well as several bales of peat moss. Right now, I'm using a large wood frame sifter I put together, but still have to manually shake it to sift everything, so it still takes quite a while. I searched online for an electric sifter of some sort, and found a couple electric drum style sifters, but mostly sold in the UK, couldn't really find anything in the US. Any of you guys have/build/come up with an easier or more efficient way for sifting dirt and pet moss pre season?
Posted By: Bob Jameson
Re: Sifting dirt and peat moss - 01/08/24 08:05 PM
I made a pipe roller system on a wooden frame. Basically, a larger black pipe slid over a smaller pipe. I have the ends of the small black pipe threaded so I can use female fittings to mount on my board face. I have 3 rows of roller pipe spread apart to allow my sifter screen to ride upon it easily without falling off.
I lay down a large tarp under my roller system which I mount a pair of sawhorses. I place my large 4' x 4' screen framed sifter on the roller system and shake it back and forth briskly. I shovel large scoops of raw peat on to the screen. I can do 2 -3 large cubic ft bales in a short time frame.
I dump the coarse bark and sticks to the side that is left over after the sifting cycle is complete. Just takes about a min of shaking to run all the shoveled peat that can be loaded into the sifter.
Posted By: FarmerDan
Re: Sifting dirt and peat moss - 01/09/24 12:51 AM
I bolted an old reciprocating saw blade to my big sifter on some saw horses. I never mounted the saw so it worked okay but I wasn’t doing much and just wanted to see how well it might work.
If you could figure out a way to hold the saw you could put a zip tie on the trigger to your desired speed to shake the sifter.
Posted By: RegularJoe
Re: Sifting dirt and peat moss - 01/10/24 02:07 AM
To make a vibratory attachment you only need to rotate a shaft with an unbalanced weight attached to it. Think of a crankshaft.
Posted By: Yukon John
Re: Sifting dirt and peat moss - 01/11/24 04:36 AM
Find a kid, if he'll help you do that by hand, you'll have a partner for life!