Oyster Shell Crushing Machines - Crushing and Grinding Shells with Jaw Crusher and Hammer Mill

[@jeffreywhitmoyer860]

Grew up at a feed mill, started working for my dad when I was 10. We always added oyster shell with the idea being that the calcium in them helps to strengthen the eggshells.

[@joshkyle6658]

I believe it also acts as grit for their gizzard since that is something they need as well.

[@jeffreywhitmoyer860]

Yes, it does settle in the gizzard where it helps to process food. Being old, I forgot about that. Lol

[@Zendukai]

@@jeffreywhitmoyer860 We used small stones in our bird feed mix with oil, crushed grain, and meat meal. The new addition of the oil clogged our silos up a fair bit too lol... when we looking in through the top there was a hole from top to bottom, eventually we need shakers on the silo to make it move. I can see oyster shells being a good addition to the feed, its just the addition rate that would need to be worked out.

[@jeffreywhitmoyer860]

That was 50-60 years ago, I don't remember what the quantity was that was added per ton but I know it was a fairly small amount. Never caused any clogging problems in the mixer and it came to us ground and bagged in 100 lb sacks. I'm thinking it may have been 5-7 lbs per ton.

[@MARKE911]

Too much calcium will cause problems for the birds, kidney problems or rickets. We feed our birds free choice calcium. However at our other farm, if they are strictly production egg layers you will need to add to feed and it requires lots of math and science to get it correct. (We learned the hard way) On average we try to give our production egg layers 4.8-5g per day with a total feed intake of 120g It's been a challenge as we are small time farmers and don't rely on commercial products. It's been a very interesting learning process over the years. We are slowly getting more right than wrong.

[@jaquigreenlees]

The larger pieces from the jaw crusher, use as walkway material ( gravel path with the crushed shells instead ), the feed size the customer wanted obviously, the fine powdered stuff if fired can be used for lime on lawns / soil remediation, in concrete, in fish food, as lime for marking playing fields. The tumbling as the larger pieces are shifted and spread out takes off the sharp edges fairly quickly, as they wear down into powder they leach into the soil and reduce the acidity. You can walk on the shell paths in bare feet with no problems easier than with actual gravel.

[@alaskawilliam1]

Some one could instruct the proper use and exposure (for adults and youngsters) of PPE - personal protection equipment

[@TomDoingItWrong]

I have been to Blake Island State Park across Elliott Bay from Seattle, and they serve steamed clams when you get off the boat. They encourage you to drop your shells on the walking path to create a great walking surface.

[@jannejohansson3383]

Tom It's just nice way to get rid of your trash.. "smash your empty bottles to road, so cars don't drive too fast. It's more safe and burn less fuel" :D

[@finscreenname]

They used to make roads out shells on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

[@JimFinlayson]

Your varied content continues to add to my lifetime education.

[@jedeye825]

try not to miss any of your videos Jason. started watching because of your smelting videos and i am just plain hooked now, I love the shaker table, and so much interesting stuff to learn about hard rock and smelting, crushing, refining gold, machinery and more, great content always man

[@Madlintelf]

The finer stuff is a great addition to bird feed, they'll do really well with that in there diet. It's also great as an amendment to acidic soil since it lowers the PH. The larger sizes are great for landscaping just like you said, they had tons of shells in Oyster bay here in NYC back in the day. Every driveway in the area was paved with them because waste not want not.

[@billmiller4972]

All well and good, except for one thing, it will *raise* the pH.

[@keithwood6459]

Actually it raises the pH. Acidic soils have low pH, somewhere below 7. Treating it brings it closer to neutral at something closer to pH 7. But I know what you mean.

[@mindseyeproductions8798]

That is so awesome, my drives up to Port Angeles I see the piles and piles and piles and piles and piles of shells, what a superior an awesome way to help support all of the wonderful people on the Peninsula

[@theoriginalchefboyoboy6025]

A buddy of mine in Charleston SC has a family church that used mortar made from oyster shells, and you can see that the bricks are wearing away faster than the mortar - amazing stuff...

[@davidmartin5424]

That is fantastic stuff!

[@vicariousjack]

Love your videos, man. You need a mask for that oyster dust, bud! That's some lung glue and super toxic to breath.

[@HouseholdDog]

Not to mention the rock crushing. That stuff was killing Australian gold rush miners way back. The estimated it took 25 years off their lives.

[@SuqMadiq]

I'm pretty sure he does wear a mask 90% of the time. I imagine he takes it off to speak sometimes, but you'll see him wearing a mask in most of his videos.

[@crystalcoastoysters]

I'm pretty sure it's just calcium.

[@allmorrisvideos]

@@crystalcoastoysters You’re right. Oyster shell is calcium carbonate CaCO3, same as the minerals calcite and aragonite. There are many things worse to breathe, but a mask is still a good idea.

[@cobrellie]

Agreed …

[@RosaStringWorks]

Hate to add to the safety issure, but I am an instrument builder we use shell for inlay. It is very bad for the lungs. One of the worst things you can breath in. Be careful. Probably should crush it wet.

[@miguelangelsimonfernandez5498]

The crushed shell have many uses. They can be used in big coal fueled thermal plants to scrape residual co2 from the exhaust gases when added to the fuel in a swirl fluid combustion chamber. They can be calcinated to make dehydrated lime. They can be used as an aggregate for building mortar. If you clean it and crush it to fine powder with no silica it can be used in cosmetics and as a fine abrasive. Also as feed to birds to help them crush food in the gizzard and as a calcium suplement . As a soil ammendment. To restore beachfronts. If might be used to make fake oyster stone if mixed with the appropiate resin, as bricks or slabs.

[@chuckerickson6721]

Jason Washington State has been using oyster shells to collect metals in storm water to protect fisheries. If I remember correctly there is some sort of Ion attraction where the shells grab the metals. Currently the shells are being placed in the storm water catch basins and vacuumed up once a year and put into landfills. I wonder if your crushed sizes would be a benefit with this. I think there is a you tube video on this being done in Washington. Search Oyster Shells Storm water Drains. Great video thank you for sharing.

[@azinfidel6461]

Curious as to whether all that water would change the size distribution and whether it would be more advantageous to dry those shells first.

[@AquaTeenHungerForce_4_Life]

My thoughts as well. Also wondering why the need to feed so high? Is crusher available at a lower height. Have the screw go 30-45 degree angle with pvc or tubing placed above rinsing or washing shells. Thanks for the video and convo 👍

[@BMG6519]

If you had a vfd on your hammer mill you could potentially reduce the percentage of fines generated. Small jaw crushers can produce a nice gradation provided you keep them choke fed. You can also refeed it a second time again focusing on a choke fed state. As said elsewhere the fines you produced from the dry shells was quite nice. It would definitely be of interest to feed manufacturers.

[@bassambouhamad7935]

Wow, Beautiful information, I wasn't expecting this at all.

[@connifilteau2678]

Love your work. Pls wear respirator around shells for the dust. Prevents me from working shells on the lapidary machine, eventhough it is wet. Only with an N95. I'm giving my pets daily glucosamine [crushed shrimp shell] in their very old age. Works like a charm for their mobility. Oyster shells would likely be similar.... Thanks for sharing

[@rockman531]

Hello, Thank You for mentioning the respirator! I too am a lapidary person and always were a mask when working with shells.

[@dennisshoemaker2789]

Every one of your videos is a learning experience. Thank you for sharing your work and interests with us.

[@mridaho7871]

It good that they are turning a waste stream into a product stream. Good video showing the size range of what comes out of the various crushers.

[@digofthedump]

the romans used too heat it up then pour water on too make a lime slake for making concrete.! gl

[@Malaphor]

Those mountains of shells at Taylor farms are enormous. Glad to see they are looking into ways to monetize the waste.

[@f.k.burnham8491]

I had friends who owned an oyster farm. They had a machine that basically looked like a giant meat grinder. It had a screw feed and "pushed" the shells up through the front where a "blade" cut them to size. Sorry I don't remember much more, but this was like 50 years ago.

[@GENcELL2014]

This is a decent additive for vermicompost and the fine to small (aged) oyster shell particles specifically are great for making biochar soil conditioner product(crushed biochar, vermicompost or castings, compost, humus, insect and fly frass, rock dust, a couple different "meals" like kelp meal, crab meal and fine to small particles of oyster shell).

[@silvaorgold]

Crazy the things you can do with an oyster shell great video as always sir

[@michaelpass2176]

Good morning Jason, I had to put you on hold for I could type a little bit and listen to what you were doing.😊

[@elc2k385]

Very cool video. Nice camera work, image quality.

[@bibaja]

The finer stuff is a good slow release fertilizer with calcium and micronutrients. The mid range could be used in the potted plants in the nursery for both slow nutrient release and drainage improvement. If cost effective enough, I'd certainly use it in my orchards.

[@rockman531]

Hi Jason, Looks like an entirely new industry to chase after for your equipment! Hope your client buys your machines!! I saw one other comment below about wearing a respirator for the dust. I know nothing about this industry - I'm a stone cutter (lapidary) & miner. I was always told to wear a respirator when working with shells. Please check into this before running any more dry samples. Take Care, Jim

[@charlessherman5844]

I would be interested in seeing how varying the crusher throat opening affects the size distribution, especially if you could reduce the largest fraction. I'm also curious if a 1" screen in the hammer mill would shift the size distro upward. Then you could use screen and recycle the o/s back into the feed.

[@davidbwa]

I enjoy seeing the various products you run through your equipment. Most of what I can think of for oyster shells has either been said or is obvious / easy to find on the internet. Here are a couple of suggestions that possibly were not mentioned. . 1. Vermicompost (worm farming). Worm farmers often add some sort of pH buffer to the feed stock. For my small hobby worm bin I used ground up eggshells and sometimes dolomite lime. But I have seen worm sites selling oyster shell flour for this purpose. . 2. Snail barrier. Stuff like around the perimeter of your garden or maybe a flower bed. Snails do not like crawling over sharp / rough stuff. Some folks say crushed oyster shells is one of the products that works for this. Have not personally tried. . 3. Bocca Ball Courts This one is probably a niche market in the USA (LOL) but crushed oyster shell is one of the components sometimes used to make a smooth firm surface for a bocca ball court. If it is still there, you can see one across the street from the (now closed I think) Youngstock veggie stand on James street. (across the side street). A friend and I saw the guy making the court a number of years ago and stopped and asked him what he was doing.

[@joezaloga]

Cole Ash was added to concrete to make it creamier and easier to shape. It's becoming less available because we're shutting down coal fired power plants. I wonder if finally crushed oyster and clam shells would be a replacement?

[@brendachilders8075]

They would def have to be ground to nothing… one shell in your brick or mortar, and it would cause a blow out when moisture made shell expand..calcium like shells works weirdly!!

[@shawnclement8394]

I'm from south Louisiana on the bayou, yes the fines powder is great for gardening, and the rest is great for different birds , smaller size for quail type birds, and bigger can be used for larger birds like chicken. Oyster shells are soft enough they can break them down. Many people down here just throw the whole shells in with chickens.

[@dodgeit3014]

I really enjoy seeing the options of your products. Cool video as always.

[@mikewinings4120]

Sounds like a great opportunity for you, never thought about the shell industry

[@Chriskamaras]

Can you tell me where you bought the 3 screens?

[@markbottcher9623]

It would be interesting to see ,if adjusting the speed of the hammers could change your bell curve on sizes. Then you could dial it in to your preferred size better. Just a thought.

[@thems_the_brakes]

Also could Re rush some bigger stuff to get it down to size

[@chrisbrent7487]

They make great lime. They’re still crushed and fired to make Calcium Oxide all over Asia and hydrated with water to produce calcium hydroxide for use in everything from cement to fertiliser to mixing with betel nut for chewing.

[@brucevanderzanden9638]

Hello Jason. Great video! The 1/2-1/4, 1/4-1/8 looks like what I give to my chickens to help with stronger egg shells. The 1/8- would work great for feed producers. Could be blended directly into their feed. The 3/4-1/2 not sure. Running the shells when dry makes a big difference. When run wet it is very hard to see what you have.

[@markpashia7067]

Would be nice to add a wet screener with stages letting the powder finest stuff be in the liquid as soil amendment either as liquid or evaporated in evaporation ponds. In any event it would all need to be sorted and dried, so why not do that right from the crusher?

[@terracub]

Do you think Google doesn't listen to you as you go through your day? I just got done a job where we put in a bocce ball court. We used sand and you guessed it crushed oyster shells. I never heard of such a thing before had no idea how you made about bocce ball court. Then I get home and here's a video popping up about crushed oyster shells. Coincidence?

[@airriflemaniac]

Wish I could get oyster shell flour in the UK, the crushed oyster is great but the flour would be a great carp feed ingredient for calcium

[@petepete2284]

I don't care much if I don't understand what yur say about something. I'm here because I like your vids.

[@TomDoingItWrong]

I have always thought that shells on top of gravel would make for a great addition to dirt roads, getting finer and finer as the vehicle passed over and broke the shells against the rock. It seems that would provide an almost concrete-like filler that could prevent pothole formation. I live in SE King County, and have thought about going down to Westport and getting a pick-up truckload of shells to give it a try on my road. My only concern would be smell. It would dissipate after a while, but what about the interim? How did the obviously dry stuff compare to the wet stuff in the older video, Jason?

[@7wheeler7]

My family used oyster shells for a driveway. The smell goes away in a few weeks. They would need to be refilled every 5 years or so.

[@MikeBaxterABC]

I grew up on a farm .. perhaps best described as a "hippy farm" back in the 70's :) .. my parents were VERY frugal, but we always had crushed oyster shells for the chickens, it easily pays for itself in egg production and ongoing health of the birds! :)

[@ChurchOfTheHolyMho]

1) I love that closed captioning determined the crusher said "thank you" when you fed it oyster... shells. 2) 3 years ago, stink bugs were making it through the bedroom windows. Pest guy sprayed, no effect. So, I lined the window sills inside and out with diatomaceous earth (which i assume is or is close to the powdered product you were making.) Last year I saw 0 stink bugs, and this year I saw 2 between the screen and the window (still outside). I reapplied, and haven't seen any more (yet?). I can't suggest that this is the best product for the job, but it was the only one that I found that worked, mostly... (Per packaging: Don't breath it. Don't rub it into your eyes. and it says it works best as insect killer where it doesn't get wet. (sharp shell powder create micro-abrasions on the underside of certain insects, which apparently leads to their death.) )

[@FishFind3000]

For the hammer mill, could you do something with the speed of the hammers themselves? May be turning down the rpm could change the distribution of the material results?

[@markpashia7067]

Also curious what would happen with less hammers and some spacers between the hammers. Less wear products to replace. Lots of variables to play with on softer materials like this.

[@ronsimpson143]

Oyster shell can be used as aggregate in concrete too. You can heat the shells then grind them into a powder to make quicklime.

[@johnkiser2658]

We always offered oyster shells and also a granite grit to our laying hens when I was a kid. I think you were spot on with the material after it went thru the jaw crusher. Assuming they have a market for all 4 sizes

[@Michael-rg7mx]

I used to hammer my own. I gave the fines to the chickens. It eliminated broken eggs in the nest boxes. The more course I put in the garden. It helped with cut worms around the seedlings.

[@cardura99]

Well, It is not gold, but it still must smell like money! Thanks for another great video! (Why do you use another composition of hammer like Magnesium for the circuit board?)

[@MrAllan9]

I enjoy the content of these videos, always learning something interesting. The shells can be super heated, then put in water where it disolved into a motar for creating Roman bricks.

[@michealklonowski5267]

nicely done and said. we need more information on this project. thank you for sharing the adventure and information about this project 😀

[@titussteenhuisen8864]

Ever experimented with a ‘mill’ with horizontal knives? Gravity drops the shells through mill, no screens might be more energy efficient. You can screen afterwards in different machine if you don’t want to go too high with in-feed.

[@ambsquared]

Those shells remind me of living in the New Orleans area. Most of the concrete aggregate there is from oyster shells dredged from Lake Pontchartrain. You see them there a lot where other regions would use gravel.

[@BloodHawk31]

I'm in construction, best thing I can think of is making quicklime, I'm guessing the customer is not looking to set up a new operation, just crush and sell, which then is quite easy. Basically burning shells to form calcium oxide, then crushing to get the powder and well, it's essentially quicklime. There's a bit more to it, but it's a good sell if you have the startup to do it.

[@daz41262010]

great consistency for drainage in plant pots :) or for the top of the plant pot for protection for the plant :)

[@neverhood671]

soooo nice bro , keep going

[@John-dp3ln]

Dust mask would be a great idea!

[@_EZ710_]

Been wanting to ask ya about getting some of the quartz tailings dust for silica for soil

[@georgejackson7501]

If you look at the colapse of the oyster industry in the Cheseapeke bay , besides over harvesting , a large factor was the removal of shell from the waters... new oysters can only really grow on old or living shell. I`m not sure how the indusry on the west coast is doing, hopefully they won`t make the same mistakes they did in the Cheseapeke.

[@TentFever]

You can weld the top of the hammers it’s called hard facing the technique is also used on worn heavy equipment bucket teeth. Weld on top of weld in a line next to each other slowly building up the worn away metal.shape up and smooth out the facing welds with grinder and put it back to work. Replace them when they break a yolk .

[@phillipsjames3892]

Hi Jason, If this is going into feeds etc, soil improving etc. What is the risk of cross contamination of heavy metals and toxic sulphides?

[@akakscase]

There are thousands of uses for crushed shells. And even if there isn’t an industry that can use the specific size product you can always run is through a large bulk furnace and get lime/quicklime as well as some raw calcium that can be used for all sorts of industries from agriculture to concrete.

[@gregstuller6588]

In Britain they use crushed rock to remineralize the soils because of leeching from all the rain. That might be an avenue to look into and not only that here in the US will have the same issues because of increasing weather events. Just a thought.

[@sixfigureskibum]

Different rocks add different minerals. Usually only N gets leached. Everything else depleated by plant uptake or un available due to chemistry. But rock dust as ypu say is the answer to many long-term problems

[@johnbunker5102]

For anyone living where roads ice up. Take a bag or Oyster Shell, toss it in the trunk. Added weight. But, if you do get stuck on ice, it works 1000% better than sand. The sharp edges work wonders.

[@frederickbowdler8169]

What dust mask do you recommend for crusher? im worried about dust from the hammer mill.

[@22ony]

That was so good screening is the key that I seen

[@refiii9499]

Usually when oyster shells are added to a moss or soil etc it’s for PH. The oyster shell makes the PH of the substrate neutral at the 6.8 to 7.0 range. The shell is a solid form being added to your substrate making it stay neutral for a longer time where other amendments in a liquid form need to be added on a consistent basis to stabilize PH. It’s great for tomato cannabis like plants that thrive in a neutral PH range.

[@davidmartin5424]

Isn't that fine stuff limestone ? And it can make a great cement mix, plaster of Paris, statues, bricks, ectr.... awesome way to get some! 😎✌️

[@micphoenix8200]

I'm know that I'm probably being 'Shellfish' but I'm keen to see the results of the helicopter ore. 😂

[@garymucher4082]

Wouldn't the very fine powdery stuff be used in paints and such? IDK, just wondering... Thumbs Up!

[@PenDragonsPig]

was the wetter stuff washed or raw/stinky? it looks like the bulk material already has fine or powdery stuff already in it- the sample they sent you didnt.

[@stormrunner0029]

That powder would make a good replacement for bone meal. The trace nutritional minerals in that is likely unbelievable. You may have to cleanse it by fire to release the minerals so the plants can absorb and use them. Make them into bricks, fire them, then responder them. Minimizes the risk of fire, or explosions.

[@k_froggy]

Can you link to those bucket sized classifiers? need to get a set of them but ive read that some are cheaply made.

[@rikspector]

Jason, No doubt that there is a great potential in Oyster shell. I noticed a lot of good information from other commenters . I hope you can sell some equipment to those people. Cheers, Rik Spector

[@MikeBaxterABC]

4:20 ... you could build them up with weld, I used to use 9018 stick rods for hard surfacing similar to this.. it's nice because it welds just like low hydrogen, 7018 everyone is used to.

[@20braydon]

Do the clams grow in saltwater? If so, I would be concerned about salt causing corrosion on the crushing equipment. Just a thought. I think it's great for all those things when it's crushed!!

[@alucarder]

Great video

[@ghostprepper5859]

I would buy it in bulk for plants I want the extra fine last one It Work's great for a garden

[@jetegtmeier71]

can and IF you slow the hammer rotor speed down a little will that affect your size ratio ? I'm thing a slower hammer won't puilverize the material so much I don't know but it makes sense in my head :)

[@thisoldminer]

If you heat it up it will turn to dust with your hand crushing it. :) And can be put in the garden or used as a type of cement. It will heat up when mixed with water.

[@CaptainCheezmo]

One thing that concerned me a bit is that you mentioned the hammers are 20% chrome. I know some forms of chrome are toxic, so I'm not sure if those hammers would be very suitable for crushing chicken feed (or other feed applications), if the hammers may leech chromium into the mix. This would be worth looking into, if you go forward with supplying for this application.

[@StoneGoat]

Crushing rock the wear fast......but crushing shells would probably last a year and over that time you probably would get enough leaching into the product to find even a trace amount in a lab test (I'm guessing though) but good to think about this issue when he actually builds a machine for customer. Right now he is just video ing what path the build will go.

[@charlesewnch8498]

Hexavalent chromium is the dangerous form (+6) and these hammers have metalic chrome which is 0. Chrome itself is about 40mg/kg in US soils so the amount of chrome in the tailings isn't much different from what's naturally there, but being in the safe form it's not a threat. Some of the chemical steps used to extract other elements from the ore could change the chrome to the dangerous state but that will not be happening with these oyster shells.

[@rogertaylor1589]

Seems like you could weld hard facing build up on the worn hammers?

[@wolfgangricky]

Not sure why you changed to a wet grind. You'll want a way to classify & dry would be easier as each size has a different application. T for taking us along

[@hiddentruth1982]

If I recall right shells were one of the first ingredients in black powder. You heated them up and powdered it for the mixture.

[@destitute8493]

Brewers can use oyster shell fines to stabilize the pH of their mash.

[@josephcormier5974]

Excellent video great content the chicken's are going to love it thank you for sharing this with us six stars brother

[@scootsmutny2681]

What town are you located I'm in Ferndale

[@trumanking3997]

Is the rotational speed on the hammer mill adjustable? I operate an impact Crusher which is kinda the same internally. Higher the speed on the rotor creates more fines in the finish product. When trying to make spec rock the only real adjustments I have are rotor speed and apron distance

[@gnomespace]

What about a rod mill running fairly slowly? Seems a ball would powder it, but rolling might be better as the shells are made in layers. Thinking it would give you flaky stuff. Would give larger proportion of larger material maybe.

[@sandytheisen5389]

The small can be compressed for oyster shell vitamins, I have seen them in the past. Great vit. Calcium.

[@StoneGoat]

Food for thought.......what about a graduated screen or maybe half and half getting fines out in first half of screen and larger chunks have to make it to second half of screen before exiting.

[@kingdarkem]

Wish I had a set of machines like this....id love to make my own crushed shells for making lime for cement...

[@enochthetrucker9735]

We should be eating more oysters! They're sustainable, multi purpose and they're farmed vertically, so the yield per square foot is outstanding. Oh and they're delicious!😋

[@Free_Aussie]

If your still looking for things to crush I would like to know if you could crush and separate the metals from the rest of the panel without the need to dismantle the panels.

[@jonathancardy9941]

Given the particle sizes I'd suspect that measured by weight things would shift to the right.

[@adventuresingoatfarming6754]

My opinion Oyster shells are very brittle that’s why the hammer mill pulverized them The jaw crusher is much slower and gentler. My suggestion is a roller mill . Like what’s on the old Cedar Rapids crusher’s that older than you are . Now a trammel screener would work nice for sizing. My opinion that I know I’m not entitled too Good Luck

[@michaelpharao7746]

bigger pcs. could be used for floor isolation. smaller size could be a mixer for mortar. smaller well as you already know, for chickens, and powder good to make soil good.

[@istoppedlaughing5225]

I use to use shells as pigeon calcium feed also can be use in aquarium food for snails

[@RhayvenBlood]

I feed oyster shells to my hermit crabs :3 Provides them extra calcium.

[@KarasCyborg]

Saint Augustine Castle used Seashells in the Cement, and the Cannon Balls from Invading Ships bounced off the fortress walls.

[@excitedbox5705]

slots will let the pieces out faster. the holes keep the shell pieces in the mill longer, so they get more smashed. I would try the slot screen to see if you get more medium sized pieces.

[@davewood406]

I think the difference is mostly in the demand they have for size. Looks like they both work well... Though if the jaw crusher can be set tighter, that distribution might be interesting. If the smaller sizes evenly increase or if an intermediate size gets more.