DIY Apple Scratter

[Deplorable]

Sunday afternoon Youtube rabbit hole find I thought some on here might find useful if you're resourceful and process a lot of fruit. Got an old washing machine laying around?
[utube][/utube]

[WiAppleOak]

Thought about that. I ended up going with a garbage disposal as i thought it would be easier to clean and move around. Only problem with it is I have to cut the apples in half. Pros and cons. still cool though.

[stillanoob]

I tried garbage disposal and it worked pretty well (aside from needing to cut the apples) but it would overheat when going through 2-300 pounds of apples and took a long time to cool down.

After buying an awesome scratter I realize that a grater rather than a grinder is the way to go. So if I needed to DIY a scratter at this point I would look at using a grater instead of a grinder as the actual mechanism doing the work. It needs less power from the motor, doesn't get apples stuck, don't have to chop the apples and the yield of juice is higher.

[MooseMan]

As a cider maker of many years, I've been through several types of scratter including an absolute beast that I built with an upright washing machine, it was very good at getting maximum juice, but a real pain to keep clearing out the pomace.
What I have now is the best by far, it's a modded garden shredder.
I took the blades off and ground them to a shallow angle so that they have more of a smashing effect than a slicing one.
I blocked the little port on the side that is there for branches to be fed through.
I enlarged the hole in the top so that big cooking apples can be dropped in.
And I sealed the join between the top and bottom sections to stop juice escaping.

It will scrat apples as fast as I can drop them in.

[MooseMan]

Just found a pic.

[Knife_man]

Made a DIY scratter years ago from a block of wood turned round with a axle through the middle and a whole heap of screws sticking out about 1/4".

Couple of pulleys and a motor and voila . The motor is underpowered and the apples need to be pushed in with another block of wood rather than self feeding but it processed about 50L of apple juice this year just fine and cost me practically nothing since I already had the motor and the rest is just wood and screws .

Will see if I have a photo since its packed away till next year.

[Knife_man]

Don't have a photo of mine but it's essentially the same as this one I found on the web . Cheap easy and surprising effective as long as you can get/turn a cylinder. Everything else is basic woodwork
[attachment=0]F7F4WV6I12KKDWG.jpg[/attachment]

[MooseMan]

Don't have a photo of mine but it's essentially the same as this one I found on the web . Cheap easy and surprising effective as long as you can get/turn a cylinder. Everything else is basic woodwork
F7F4WV6I12KKDWG.jpg

Agreed mate these scratters are super popular because they simply work well.
I turned my own as you mentioned, and it lasted well but the electric one just allows me to focus more attention on the press, which in my case is the much slower process.

[Knife_man]

Don't have a photo of mine but it's essentially the same as this one I found on the web . Cheap easy and surprising effective as long as you can get/turn a cylinder. Everything else is basic woodwork
F7F4WV6I12KKDWG.jpg

Agreed mate these scratters are super popular because they simply work well.
I turned my own as you mentioned, and it lasted well but the electric one just allows me to focus more attention on the press, which in my case is the much slower process.

You need some kids to help out then. I find a 5 year old and a 8 year old were just about right to do the(supervised) grinding while I concentrated on the pressing.

Very helpful at harvest time as well .

[Bushman]

I used a small electric wood shredder for years, got a lot of splatter. Purchased this one from Latvia several years ago and love it. I do over 100 gallons a year and cannot feed the apples as fast as it processes it. Also very portable and only takes minutes to clean.

[MooseMan]

I used a small electric wood shredder for years, got a lot of splatter. Purchased this one from Latvia several years ago and love it. I do over 100 gallons a year and cannot feed the apples as fast as it processes it. Also very portable and only takes minutes to clean.
F0DA440C-2F4E-4A5F-9387-47AC2A7E2F16.jpeg

Wow!

So compact!

[MooseMan]

Don't have a photo of mine but it's essentially the same as this one I found on the web . Cheap easy and surprising effective as long as you can get/turn a cylinder. Everything else is basic woodwork
F7F4WV6I12KKDWG.jpg

Agreed mate these scratters are super popular because they simply work well.
I turned my own as you mentioned, and it lasted well but the electric one just allows me to focus more attention on the press, which in my case is the much slower process.

You need some kids to help out then. I find a 5 year old and a 8 year old were just about right to do the(supervised) grinding while I concentrated on the pressing.

Very helpful at harvest time as well .

Hahaha yes, I do use my teenage son as a tree shaking monkey, but neither of mine are even remotely interested in helping on press days.
I usually rope in a friend once or twice a season on the promise of free cider though.