Greetings friends, I'm currently building a fur tumbler. This will be 6' wide and 4' in diameter. It will be divided into two halves. One side for the tumbling of the capes/hides and the other side is for sawdust, tick, and breaking the hides. I'm having a problem sourcing the bearing plate / shafts. My thought is to have plates that bolt to each end that have shafts that fit into bearings. I think pillow block bearings would be the best.

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Thaks!
-Craig

Can't help you on the supplies.
But welcome to trapperman.
I'm sure someone will chime in with some assistance.

are you doing one solid shaft thru, the whole thing?, here we can get bearing at Menard or tractor supply ,

Built one exactly like this one you are describing only not as wide. Made the plates with the shafts, bolted the plates to the drum and the shafts went into, supported by Timken pillow block bearings. That works great. We had the ability to take and turn down the shaft to the size needed for the bearing and then weld it onto the plate. You are on the right track, any machine shop or anybody with a lathe can do what you need . Ours is 4' wide as that's what a sheet of plywood is. We used Masonite for the covering going around the sides. I wouldn't make it 6' as that might allow you to get more weight in that drum that it can stand up to.

First thought is to use black iron pipe and get a stand bracket mounted in the center of both sides of the drum, bolt them on in the dead center, thread pipe into them, weld them shut, slide on pillow block bearings, mount bearings, lock down set screws, cut off extra pipe. I'd cut the pipe after you bearing is on, not before. Something like that.

When I was tumbling fur I went the easy route used a Maytag gas clothes dryer with bad burner. Already wired 110 and it was free.
But I wasn't doing tanning or that kinda stuff.
If I was going to build what you are describing I would probably use this bearing or one like it. I got this one years ago when auger shaft bear on my old snowblower took a dump. Of course that bearing was no longer available as machine considered to old. So me being cheap looked around found something I could modify and use. Its even years ago and I still have this one. If I recall correctly I only need one but they came as a pair. I haven't had a need for this one yet but it's in one of my possible drawers. Could be used on shaft threw or pin.




Mac

"Never Forget Which Way Is Up!"

Thank you! Glad to be here!

No as the capes / hides would get twisted on the rod in the middle. The plan is to only support on the ends.

Thank you for the extra information. I purchased flexible plywood to cover one side. I'm not 100% sure of its durability but it should work for now. I'll have to see if my neighbor has a metal lathe if needed. He seems to have every other tool I've ever needed. :-)

I too have wondered about the weight in the middle. Figured worst case I could add a center support with something like a urethane wheel to keep it from flexing. Thanks for the reference to the Timken pillow block, I will take a look!

I'm sure you're on the right track. It's just a matter of finding all of the correct parts. We live in a small town in Idaho and all of the cool stuff is not readily available. Lots of google searches in my future.

Yes, that is very close to what I'm looking for. As you know, on a tumbler its so critical to be centered or this thing will be rolling its way down the street.

Try a 1.5 inch shaft. Center drill and tap one end for a 3/8 bolt. Drill a pass through in the center of a 12"x12"x1/4" plate. Drill four more pass throughs for 3/8 bolts close to each corner. Bolt the shaft to the plate, the end needs to be square. Cut a 1.5 inch hole in the center of a second 12"x12"x1/4" plate. Slide it down the saft, square it up with the bolted-on plate and transfer then drill the four pass throughs from the first plate. Now that the holes are transferred weld around the base of the shaft at the plate.

Make your drumheads 1 1/2" thick. Find the drumhead center and drill a 1 1/2' hole. Put your shaft through the drum head from the inside out. Use your holes to drill pass throughs from the inside of the drumhead. Slide your second plate down the shaft to the outside of the drumhead, line up the holes and bolt through from the inside out. Now you have the shaft with support on a wider bearing surface. The drumhead is sandwiched between the two plates.

With that size drum you should be able to use just one self-aligning pillow block bearing on each end, just keep them fairly close to the drumhead.

Google Surplus Center in NE. Little bit of everything and good prices.

Sounds pretty beefy!! You don't happen to have any pictures of this setup, do you?

Thank you!!

Probably, but I can take a picture for you on Monday if you can wait.

Wow! Lots of stuff there!

I can wait. I just routed out my ends today.

To beefy is good. My keyways gave way because not heavy duty enough. My tumbler is 1/4 in stainless steel so pretty heavy. I tan bears and for that you need paddles that will lift hide to top before they drop. For cleaning furs like stretched dried coyote’s you want them rolling in bottom so I have adjustable paddles. If you’re tanning you need different amounts and grit size for different furs. You can ruin a fur in a hurry with wrong combination.

Great information! I may have found something that could work. Maybe not for a bear, but for Deer or elk
, It's actually a trailer axel replacement. Two of those and a couple of pillow bearings could work. Would need to find a pulley with the right shaft size.