Rate this fruit press

[Waynes World]

I am after a fruit press and i am able to make one fairly easy enough either screw or hydraulic, but for speed and ease i am considering one of these but in a 6l for now as not sure how good they are, cheap rubbish that dont last long ? or worth the money ? which i see is not much and i can spend that on making a better one probably then.

The usual

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fruit-Pr...hash=item5d7ea10835:m:mAWruZr8s7FnhE4uSfQJYsg

Thanks

Wayne :)

 

[KimD]

Hi,

I use one of these (it was cheap); it is strong enough and it works but if you are pressing a lot of apples your arms feel it!

Kim

 

[Chippy_Tea]

How are your DIY skills?

 

[Waynes World]

I am not bad at DIY sooooo

Since i posted this i decided to do a srap heap challenge fruit press. Got some gear together and i mite start this weekend, i will make i though so at first i will use the scissor jack and then if i want later i will go to the Trapezoidal Lead Screw type.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Bottle jack's seem popular for presses.

 

[MattH1973]

i have got 2 years out of one of those ebay ones. It's fine and I plan to use it this year also. From an effort perspective its fine (the scratting is much harder)

Just two issues
- i had to add some chunks of wood to enable pressing to a greater depth - otherwise the handle hits the top of the circle bit
- the acidity takes some of the paint off the red metal bits at the top, so you have to be careful that doesnt end up on the spindle and contaminate the juice. Simply wiping the spindle down after each press seemed to work.

It's a good starter press, but I will upgrade to fully stainless at some point...

 

[Waynes World]

Bottle jack's seem popular for presses.

Just using what i have to hand for this one. I have two bottle jacks but 10 ton, a bit OTT for this.

I am thinking on making a SS press with 240v hyd ram. Be fun to build.

Anyway i have started the press today, mite do a bit more tomorrow.

 

[stan.distortion]

The scissor jack would be the way to go for hand operated imo, I'd pressed a few gallons with a hydraulic jack before and you'll be sick of pumping that handle before the day is done! The scissor jack has the right characteristics, fast travel at the start when it's only packing things down with lots of leverage/slow travel just where you need it (the 2 stage hydraulic have the opposite). One of the monster sized cup hook things from a hardware shop stuck in a drill might be plenty of power for the job.

Something else maybe worth mentioning, a friend is overrun with apples at the mo and we're having a go at building a centrifugal press with a washing machine drum. No progress to report yet, just getting started on it and it will likely take a few attempts to get right but in theory it should be able to get through as much as a ton of fruit in a day without much effort.

 

[hesstondriver]

Having made a home made press using a bottle jack, one thing to watch out for is if it moves under pressure. A 6t bottle jack flying past your ear hole is not an experience I recommend.

They work fantastic but need securing

 

[RockySpears]

I have one of those, works fine, but to save a bit of effort, load it up and then bang the pulp down with a 2lb club hammer and a clean block, just to start the compaction and re-fill it before using the screw press.
I an looking for a scratter this year too, normally use a piece of 4x4 and a flat bottomed bucket, but way too much fruit about at the moment. If any one has one going cheap in the North East England ....

Thank you,

RS

 

[SgtMustache]

I've borrowed a screw press identical to the one you've noted in the 12L size, and that should work fine for me. It came with a set of spacer blocks to let me get more 'stroke' with turns, I just wind it back up, throw in another pair of blocks and I'm good to go.
Just cleaned and sanitized it, in fact.
Yeah, can be heavy work, but learn some capstan songs and have a glass or two of your home made while cranking, things will go faster.

So far I'm looking at around 20+ gallons of pears from the one tree.....