Important Safety Cautions
- Full liability and responsibility for complying with all federal, state, and local safety standards is assumed by any person or persons who modify or motorize the Country Living Grain Mill in any way.
- Motorized mills should only be operated by responsible adults. The schematics provided below are suggestions to help you achieve the lower RPMs required for a cool, nutrient-preserving grind.
- All belts and pulleys that are not driven by hand must be fully enclosed for operator safety.
- Always double-check belt tension, pulley alignment, and electrical connections before powering on your mill.
Purchasing Our Motorization Kit
The Simplest Path to Motorized Grinding
Our ready-to-install motorization kit is by far the easiest way to transform your Country Living Mill into a fully motorized unit. The kit ships with a gear-reduction motor already mounted to a sturdy plywood base, pre-drilled and pre-threaded so you can start grinding with minimal fuss.
Everything is engineered with safety and longevity in mind. A safety guard conceals the pulley wheels and belt, the belt comes tensioned and ready to go, and the entire assembly has been tuned to run at approximately 65 to 75 RPM—the sweet spot for a cool, nutritious grind across all flour types.
Just like your Country Living Mill itself, this kit is built to last for decades. We have personally run this exact motorization setup on our own Country Living Grain Mill for more than ten years, producing flour for friends, family, and an extended community. The grinding plates and bearings show only minimal wear, and the motor continues to perform flawlessly. In short—we absolutely love it.
Building Your Own Motorization Kit
Many mechanically-inclined Country Living Mill owners prefer to design their own motorization setup from the ground up. If you are considering this path, the guidelines below will help you understand the key components and the thinking behind each choice.
For high-speed motors, the preferred approach uses intermediate pulleys. These are the essential ingredient for dialing the grinding speed down to optimal levels. A slower grind means cooler flour, better nutrient retention, and far less wear on your mill's grinding plates and bearings.
Gear-Reduced Motors
If the idea of sourcing intermediate pulleys feels like more work than you want to take on, a gear-reduced motor is an excellent alternative. This is the same motor we install on our own motorization kits, and it arrives already geared down to operate your Country Living Mill at the recommended grinding speed—no extra pulley math required.
Pulleys
We also stock a 4.9" pulley compatible with this motor (as well as other motors that use a 5/8" shaft). The pulley is an AK51 5/8" V-groove model, precision-machined to work seamlessly with the rest of our motorization hardware.
Schematics for Motors Requiring an Intermediate Pulley
Vertical Installation
- A. Always remove the handle before motorizing your mill.
- B. Country Living Grain Mill.
- C. All belts and pulleys should be enclosed for safety reasons.
- D. Size A or 4L V-belt, 1/2" wide x 5/16" thick.
- E. 5/8" keyed shaft.
- F. 6" pulley.
- G. 2" pulley.
- H. Pivot point.
- I. Two 5/8" pillow block bearings.
- J. 2" pulley.
- K. Pivot point.
- L. 1750 RPM washer or dryer motor.
- M. The motor's weight naturally keeps the belts tight.
Horizontal Installation
- A. Country Living Grain Mill.
- B. 2" pulley.
- C. Size A or 4L V-belt, 1/2" wide x 5/16" thick.
- D. 5/8" pillow block bearings.
- E. 6" pulley.
- F. 5/8" keyed shaft.
- G. 2" pulley.
- H. 1750 RPM washer or dryer motor.
The formula below lets you calculate the exact driving pulley size needed to reach a specific target RPM:
The absolute maximum speed for the Country Living Grain Mill is 120 RPM. Through years of hands-on experience, we have found that the mill performs optimally at less than 75 RPM. The mill's flywheel measures 12" in diameter—an important number when running your calculations.
The Easiest Method
The 1150 RPM Motor with No Intermediate Gear Reduction
If mechanical fabrication isn't your thing, some owners skip the intermediate pulley entirely and use a common 1150 RPM motor because these units are widely available. This configuration runs at roughly 143 RPM. At Country Living, we feel this speed pushes the mill too hard—it heats up the flour and accelerates wear on the grinding plates. Still, many owners go this route because it is the quickest and simplest way to motorize the mill.
We personally recommend grinding slower and cooler, and the schematics and formula above show you exactly how to achieve that. If you do opt for the 1150 RPM setup, the diagram below illustrates the configuration.
Motorizing With a 1150 RPM Motor
- A. Always remove the handle before motorizing your mill.
- B. The Country Living Grain Mill.
- C. Size A or 4L V-belt, 1/2" wide x 5/16" thick. Belts and pulleys must be enclosed.
- D. The motor. Must be a slow-turning 1150 RPM motor. Motors with slotted mounts make it much easier to achieve proper belt tension during installation.
- E. Motor pulley: 1-1/2" diameter.
- F. Slidable mounting block used to set belt tension—unnecessary if your motor already has slotted mounts.
Robert Dee's Mill Motorization Guidelines
Robert sourced his motor from a surplus center. The 2 horsepower unit was originally used on a treadmill and features a soft-start function, meaning it takes roughly five seconds for the motor to reach full speed—a nice detail for belts and bearings alike.
The motor is rated at 1,800 RPM, which would spin the Country Living Mill far faster than we recommend—fast enough to practically launch the grain into orbit. Robert solved this by gearing the speed down through an intermediate 6" pulley linked to a 1-3/4" pulley, which in turn connects to the mill's 12" flywheel.
Robert's Component Breakdown
- A. 12" flywheel.
- B. 6" pulley.
- C. 1-3/4" pulley.
- D. 1-1/2" pulley.
- E. Motor.
Rather than settle for standard off-the-shelf components, Robert re-machined one of the pulleys to sit within .002" of true concentricity. He then machined his own pulleys for both the motor shaft and the idler shaft. The total drive ratio on his system is approximately 27.5 to 1.
Although his setup includes a variable speed adjustment, Robert typically runs the mill at around 60 RPM, which he considers the highest speed he can reach without overheating the grain.
There's a very good reason Robert's motorization setup is among the most impressive home-built systems we've come across. Robert is no amateur—he is a professional engineer who has spent years designing embedded microcontroller circuits and has earned several medical instrument patents in his name. The Tach-Plus, an instrument he engineered for measuring RPM, is exactly what he used to dial in the final speed of his mill.