We’ll see how things pan out, all the avenues are potentially traversable. I’ll start with the easiest and work my way across.
I’ve decided that I am just going to build the gasifier design I settled on and not worry about potentially scrapping out a couple hundred bucks worth of steel. Also the hunt for an power unit is on in earnest as well. Got lot’s of commitments coming up that are going to be stealing my free time!
Well the mill is home in all her rusty, siezed up glory!
Never heard of Smalley hammer mills before, it was sold by a local International Havester dealer, made in Manitowoc Wisconsin US of A. Nice unit, there are an awful lot of hammers in this thing and they all look great. Fan is siezed up, I’m going to need the gas axe to disassemble this thing, every bolt I tried would have snapped.
One thing I like is the absence of that 180 duct that Pete mentioned always clogged up on his. Looks like the fan draws the milled feed right out the side of the housings. I can’t find any info on how much power this thing needs, so I guess I’ll default to big engines given the choice, I want whatever engine I get to be able to still run it on wood gas.
Ok now bare in mind that I just did a Google search and watched a mill about that size running on an electric motor and that is the only time I have seen one of those running. But I think that would probably give a farmall h a workout on the belt pulley. The farmall h is almost 30 hp at the belt pulley. I think I would try for 30 to 45 hp by the looks of it and the size of the electric motor in the video. It is setup for a old wide belt drive from a tractor. If you do go that route the old IH Farmall tractors used a paper belt pulley and it works way better then the metal pulley that other manufacturers used. I bet it was sold to run on a Farmall H or M. Probably you couldn’t put as much stuff in as fast with the H. The M and the AC WD would be about the same size.
I have a line on a Continental F140 but it’s currently sitting on top of a Massey Harris 35 Combine, and not sure if removal is possible at the sellers property yet. It would be 30 hp or so, but these tested at 242 ft-lbs at 1250 rpm so I’d hop that would be enough to run that little mill.
If the F140 plan fails, I’m probably going to end up with an old automotive engine - many of the old ford and Chevy v8’s are cheap as a good used Briggs flathead for a riding mower😀
Look into the governor on the combine motor. I have never used a combine but every time I read about people swapping then into tractors they need to switch the governor in order to not brake the driveline components. I think the combine ones tend to kick in alot stiffer or quicker something along those lines. I was warned against the combine setup on a tractor I hay with.
If you go the automotive route either plan on running it up about 3000 rpm or changing the pulley on the water pump. Running those motors sat 1500 to 1800 results in too little coolant flow and overheating.
Smelley mfg was in business from about 1857 and made agricultural implements including corn shredders, feed mills, vegetable slicers, etc. They also made sawing machines, including circular-saw bolters. It incorporated in 1887.
I honestly wouldn’t go too big with it.
Thanks for the info Sean, this thing is older than I thought.
Well, the siezed problem was just a bunch of junk in the bottom of the blower housing that kept the fan from turning. The unit also has an auger behind the screen to push the milled material into the blower. Looking at it, I am not expecting any jam ups, it’s a nice design. Unfortunately, there is a hole rusted through the bottom of the blower housing, and I had to strip the whole unit down to access all the carriage bolts required to get the housing off. Also there is a 3 bolt flange bearing holding the blower shaft that needs to come off, and it’s stuck big time. I ran out of oxygen for the torch before I could really heat the thing up, and no amount of cranking on my puller made it budge. I may have to get creative in order to get this thing off.
I saw a similar design from an ebay ad from 1928. From like Papac (?) in NY. I don’t think 40hp tractors were around then. And I saw someone running a 4-e mill on youtube with a International cub, which is like 10hp, although the grinder looked smaller.
You should probably also take a bunch of pictures, because you can’t find any of it with a google search. I am sure someone else would be interested if just for historical purposes.
I would take the flange off and replace all the bushings and bearings at the very least repack them. I’m not a big fan of spinny stuff flying around. 
On the bright side, it looks like if you went to purchase a new one it would be few grand.
Farmall didn’t come out with the F 30 which was 30 hp until 1931. If it is from the 20 s it would probably be 15 hp. But if it is from the 50s I would try for 30 to 40. A little extra on a belt drive tractor will just protect the tractor. Small tractors are tricky alot of then are too expensive because people want then for a house lot. A farmall H is usually about the cheapest you will find maybe a farmall 140 or farmall A or farmall C those are sort of the odd ball sizes. Or in allis chalmers you might find a B or C but those are pretty popular and usually bring a good price. Around here the Ford tractors just bring too much. But to be honest an old tractor with a belt drive would probably be the cheapest in the long run and most useful. You might get lucky and find one with a cord wood saw. Those are pretty common on the old farmall tractors. My advise is look at tires they are expensive.
Actually cheaper would be to find a local old time tractor club and have them give it a go. IIRC the belts are expensive and relatively dangerous and someone will most likely have one but it would give an idea of the HP you would need to drive it for what you are doing with already operational equipment.
I am sure I have a few of those belts kicking around here. We never had any trouble running them but we didn’t use them alot in my time. Oh the other thing to think about a farmall H has tool bars which will be very handy for mounting the gasificer. I would look for them running beside the motor to mount to if you want to convert it later.
They had a tendency to break then fly thus the switch to PTOs which has it’s own issues of getting caught in the moving part, but for the most part you can easily stay out of harms way.
I definitely would test it. They appear to throw a bunch of dust around as well. If I was going to do it, it would probably be with an electric motor just to keep the exhaust heat from starting a fire. I would probably also switch out the pulley and use like a v-belt (maybe double?) or an automotive serpentine belt rather then direct drive it. I don’t know what it does with rocks.
I can see how they could break and It would be exciting. … I would also keep a belt drive with an electric motor or modern small engine. Mostly for the ability for it to slip. If you convert it to a pto or direct drive you will want to find a slip clutch with a sheer bolt. You want something designed to break before the machine decides to explode. Trust me I have seen people put grade 8 bolts into sheer bolt holes when they “wouldn’t stop breaking for no reason” one grade 8 bolt and you find the reason you also have a scrap baler since the knotters and needles just became one for a split second. Sheer bolts are a must when driving something like this.
Oh as to a pto. That was more of a problem with the old rear mount tractors and then only if you climbed off while the pto is running. That is a very dangerous thing to do alway have the upmost respect for those spinning shafts and you will be ok. Never never reach into something running to clear a jam either. It sounds stupid but you will want to it is right there and you can see it… Some machines I keep a pusher stick there not because I want to use it but because I know if it is there I will grab that before reaching in out of habit.
They kind of fixed that with the protected shafts, and some of them you had to actually have in gear iirc. I don’t know when they standardized on sizes either so it can require adapters and such.
Honestly, since I am thinking about pulleys and engagement. I might just try to run a belt off the back of the lawnmower he has. 22hp geared to the right speed seems like it should be enough. Ha. I found someone else asking something similar. The suggested to run the belt off the garden tractor drive wheel LOL Then all you need is the charcoal gasifier, and you get to mow your lawn with it too! 
I’ll be replacing the one bearing that I’m beating on and will soon be glowing red hot😁. The others are in great shape so I’m leaving them as is. This unit has seen little use, I had a good look at the hammers and they’ve never been turned or flipped, and the current edge is still in decent shape. I found a handful of nails in there too😬! There are 60 hammers inside, the rotating assy is square, and the hammers are located on the 4 corners. There are three sections per corner, and each section has 5 hammers. Each section has the 5 hammers offset from those that are next in rotation in the following corner. Turning or flipping these will be a bit of work, and you’ll have to be paying attention to what you’re doing!
F140 deal looks like it isn’t happening, so I’m back on the scrounge. I’ve dispensed with the idea of a small motor just to get it spinning. Not worth the work, might as well get the right motor on there the first time.
As far as driving the mill, I have no idea what I’ll end up with, but I do know the kids will need to be out of earshot if I have to take that big pulley off! 
I would start soaking it now. It might take a while for pentetrating oil to do it’s thing
Straight diesel fuel and time will go along ways. Put some diesel on it every day and tap it with a hammer to shake up the rust a little. That is tap not beat it with a hammer.
I’ll try soaking it - but I’ve never had success on ancient stuff like this using any kind of penetrating oil. It’s a 1.75" dia shaft, and the hub of the pulley is long, probably 3", so it’s just going to be welded on there. I do have a massive puller I built specifically to pull a sprocket off the final drive output shaft on my little dozer. I built it to use a 20 ton bottle jack, I may be able to modify this to do the pulley.
I do have access to a 50 ton shop press, but to get the backing bars behind the pulley, and because the hammer assy won’t fit down the throat of the press table, everything on the shaft behind the pulley would have to come off!