# Bucket Elevator Exploded Breakdown

An exploded 3D breakdown of a grain bucket elevator: its assemblies, structural safety and hazard inspection points

By Terence Dean Allen \(Captain\)

Topic: Engineering

[Open the interactive Jig](https://ask.jig.com/j/Xo1PUxMuYWh0)

## Guide

### 1. A grain lift, piece by piece

This tall steel tower is a bucket elevator\. Inside, small buckets on a moving belt carry grain straight up, then fling it out at the top\. We will take it apart, then look at what keeps it standing and keeps people safe\. Drag anywhere to turn the view\.

Belts like this often run at around 400 feet \(120 metres\) per minute\.

### 2. The exploded view

Now every section is pulled apart, so you can see how the tower stacks up: the boot at the bottom, the trunk sections in the middle and the head on top\. The belt and its buckets run through all of them\. Use the slider to spread the parts or close them up\.

### 3. The boot and its cleanout doors

The boot is the bottom section\. Grain pours in through the sloped inlet, and the buckets scoop it up as they swing around the boot pulley\. Bolted cleanout doors open so workers can clear out spilled grain, and screws on each side tighten the belt\.

Yellow covers guard both ends of the spinning boot shaft\.

### 4. The casing trunk sections

Above the boot, the trunk is built from bolt\-together sections\. Each has two tubes, called legs: full buckets ride up one and empty ones come back down the other\. Flanges, flat rims with rows of bolts, join one section to the next\.

The lowest section has a bolted inspection door for checking the belt\.

### 5. The head, motor drive and hood

At the top, the head section holds the big head pulley\. A motor turns it through a reducer, a gearbox that trades speed for turning force\. The hood caps the head, and grain thrown off the buckets falls into the angled spout\.

Grain leaves by being flung outward as each bucket swings over the pulley\.

### 6. Leg bracing and guy cables

A tall, thin tower needs help against wind\. Steel guy brackets clamp around the trunk just below a flange joint, never onto the thin sheet metal alone\. Cables run from each corner of a bracket down to heavy anchors in the ground\.

Bracing is recommended at least every 20 feet \(about 6 metres\) of height\.

### 7. The 500 lb platform

Workers stand on this service platform to reach the head\. Its deck, rails and toe boards are rated for 500 pounds \(about 227 kilograms\) in total\. Watch ten 50 lb sacks stack up: that is the whole limit, people and tools included\.

A warning sign on the platform states the limit\.

### 8. Explosion relief vents

Fine grain dust floating in the air can burn very quickly\. Explosion relief vents are weak panels that burst open first, letting the pressure out safely instead of tearing the casing\. Press the button to see the vents swing open\.

Vents must point away from places where people work\.

### 9. Lockout, tagout and shaft guards

Spinning shafts and belts can catch clothing, so yellow guards cover them while the elevator runs\. Before anyone removes a guard, the power is switched off and locked with a personal padlock and tag\. Lock it out here to see the belt stop and the guard come off\.

Only the person who put the lock on should take it off\.