Jimbo's Apple Thread
Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 11:57 am
Hi All,
Bigger is better
My stills grew from 2 to 8 to 15.5 gallons, and the need for more cider led to bigger and bigger apple grinders. The first couple generations; juicer, then a garbage disposer mounted in a spare sink outlived their usefullness for anything more than a small qty of final cider to ferment. Last year I built this and it chewed through 360 pounds of apples in no time. This year I went nuts and picked 1017 pounds of apples. It took me a weekend to chew thru them all and press them up with this grinder/press. Also brewed 2 batches of beer in parallel so it really wasnt that much time total, few hours. Each batch of apples, a 5 gallon bucket full, about 23 pounds, half a bushel, took me about 10 minutes to sort, wash, grind and press, giving up a gallon + depending on the apple variety. The grinder and press has held up great. about 1400 pounds of apples so far. The axle has a few wraps of heavy teflon tape on the screw threads where it goes through the end boards to act as bearings. Also, there's a 1/4 inch thick 5x5 metal plate mounted where the hydraulic press hits the top board so's not to mash up the wood there. The plastic basket finally blew apart with about 100 lbs of apples to go. I wrapped wire around it to get through the apples and will build a proper oak slat basket this winter. I have a painters screen sitting in the top of the catch bucket, works great to catch any chunks. I got that one at a bee supply house for catching wax and bee wings etc when harvesting honey. The cylinder on the grinder wheel is a chunk of pear tree trunk that I filled with rows of stainless steel screws for teeth.
Cheers, Jim
Bigger is better
My stills grew from 2 to 8 to 15.5 gallons, and the need for more cider led to bigger and bigger apple grinders. The first couple generations; juicer, then a garbage disposer mounted in a spare sink outlived their usefullness for anything more than a small qty of final cider to ferment. Last year I built this and it chewed through 360 pounds of apples in no time. This year I went nuts and picked 1017 pounds of apples. It took me a weekend to chew thru them all and press them up with this grinder/press. Also brewed 2 batches of beer in parallel so it really wasnt that much time total, few hours. Each batch of apples, a 5 gallon bucket full, about 23 pounds, half a bushel, took me about 10 minutes to sort, wash, grind and press, giving up a gallon + depending on the apple variety. The grinder and press has held up great. about 1400 pounds of apples so far. The axle has a few wraps of heavy teflon tape on the screw threads where it goes through the end boards to act as bearings. Also, there's a 1/4 inch thick 5x5 metal plate mounted where the hydraulic press hits the top board so's not to mash up the wood there. The plastic basket finally blew apart with about 100 lbs of apples to go. I wrapped wire around it to get through the apples and will build a proper oak slat basket this winter. I have a painters screen sitting in the top of the catch bucket, works great to catch any chunks. I got that one at a bee supply house for catching wax and bee wings etc when harvesting honey. The cylinder on the grinder wheel is a chunk of pear tree trunk that I filled with rows of stainless steel screws for teeth.Cheers, Jim