Hello all,
Has anyone used a shopvac to suck the grain out of the mash tun?
I’m looking at a new system I’m about to put into action and will be dealing with 44 lb +/- of grain.
Currently I just pick it up and dump but that is 12 +/- lbs.
I know I could scoop it out, but thought the shopvac might be easier and faster.
Thoughts?
Thanks, Kevin
What type of system are you using? 2 tier, 3 tier, one level? How far off the ground is your MT?
Why don’t you just shovel it out and into manageable buckets. A good shop vac might do it, but now you have 2 things to clean up. Of course you still have to clean the buckets.
It’s one level so yes I can shovel it out.
Just wondered if anyone had tried the shopvac.
Didn’t know if it was worth trying.
If I did try it I’d put the vac head on top of the wheelbarrow with a false top of wood for the vac head to sit on.
Will that work? Interesting. Might be useful for those that have the 120qt tuns.
It will work only if the vac head is sealed to the wheel barrow or other container.
I use a shop-vac all the time and it’s great. I’ve only got a 1/2" drain in the middle of my MLT so I shovel everything out into a bucket and then cleanup the rest of the small stuff with my shop-vac. It’s amazingly easy. It’s also great for getting the sludge out of the bottom of the Boil Kettle after moving the beer to the fermenter.
should work fine. my son actually took the head of my shop vac off and put it on a piece of plywood with a tarp skirt. used the blower end and made a hovercraft. very easy, but limited by extension cords.
I use a shop vac to clean out my sabco MT and boil kettle everytime and it works great. Sometimes I need to add a little water to the grains. I’ll never go back to scooping.
As a shop vac it should work fine, but when you remove the head and place it on something else that doesn’t provide for a seal, it won’t work. At least none of the ones I ever owned would. That said, it would still work well as a blower, but not as a vac. The material is sucked into the container, not directly into the vacuum head.
You could use this, http://www.homedepot.com/Tools-Hardware-Wet-Dry-Vacuums/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xhmZb8pi/R-202017218/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053 with a bunch of Homer buckets.
WOW that’s a great deal for $20 and since buckets are standard, you can use it on any of them.
+1 I might need to pick one of those up just for general use on my next home depot trip.
That’s a great idea but I’m wondering if the 1.5HP is enough to handle that much grain without any issues.
I just have to say, over the years I have seen many posts about people shop vaccing grain out of mash tuns. And I just don;t get it. How the hell can you carry a carboy if you can’t tip a MT? I am currently emptying a 55 gallon MT by hand and will soon be emptying one 4 or 5Xs that big. And for the 55 gallon one I find it easy to dump. Just can’t see the problem with emptying one for a 5 or 10 gallon batch. In fact, dragging the shop vac out would be a bigger PITA IMO.
Maybe some people have bad backs or maybe they just aren’t as virile as you. I’ve never considered using a shop vac for grain and probably never will, but it’s a good idea, IMO.
Bad back? Don’t you still have to empty the shop vac? I just don’t get where the convenience is, thats all I’m sayin’.
Well, when you split up 40 pounds into 4, 10 pound batches, you only have to lift 10 pounds rather than 40. Also, it may be that you need to get the tun down to a manageable weight just to move it from a difficult spot.
A scoop would work for that, and you wouldn’t even have to plug it in. 
Okay, you’re right.