In the mill room...
The motor that powers the airlock which delivers flour to our bolter (sifter) died this week. The motor was made in Italy. Needless to say, it is not an easy time to get a motor from Italy.
The motor, together with its gearbox and airlock, is a small, efficient unit. Finding a small system like this is nearly impossible in this country, where the typical mill on average processes over 100,000 lbs of grain a day. At Carolina Ground we process between 1500-2400 lbs/day.
It took a good part of the week to find a motor that would work. It is larger, not nearly as beautiful, perched atop our bolter, and it requires a variable frequency drive to slow it down, to bring it to the simple pace that is our milling endeavor. Last night I was finally able to start milling. I passed the baton to Lindsey to mill our high extraction flours. She will then begin on whole grain flours and Lydia will take over and finish up the milling chart.
We are an all woman team of millers at the moment. We are multi-tasking and sharing the work. We are a good team.