Apple press mods...

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Old Philosopher

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Just thought I'd share my latest adventure.
I recently bought a Weston Fruit Press through Cabela's for this season's apple crop.
While it gave me juice, it had a few issues!

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Apple Press Review:

I rated this fruit/wine press as I did because of one major issue with it. This press does an adequate job, given the cost of alternatives.
While innovative and clever, the ratchet system is its big flaw, in my opinion. Most apple presses have a rotating screw mounted on a frame exterior to the pressing "basket". There is no shaft that goes down through the middle of the product. The pressure is exerted by turning a handle/wheel on the screw.
This unit doesn't "press", it "squeezes". The shaft extending from the base through the product in the basket is in the way, especially for loading the press. The juice is supposedly extracted by the force of the ratchet head pulling up on the base at the same time it screws down, with the product in between the pressing block, and the metal base.
The other issue with the one I received is that the pressing disk is in two pieces, a necessary feature considering the shaft runs through it. The two pieces fit together with room to spare, so the pulp from the product (if it's not in a pressing bag) extrudes up above the disk and doesn't get pressed.
The problem with this system is that the ratchet head rests directly on the spacing blocks. As torque is applied, the ratchet head tries to turn down the threads. When it encounters the spacing blocks, the blocks are shifted out of position as the ratchet assembly rotates. It's necessary to hold the head assembly with one hand, work the ratchet handle with another, and constantly adjust the spacing blocks back into position until enough pressure is built up to hold everything in place.
While this product worked well with apples ground and placed in a pressing bag (something not even mentioned in the instructions), it did not perform well with plums, either in a bag, or quartered and placed loose in the basket. Once the spaces between the slats of the basket become clogged with pulp, the juice stops flowing. The ratchet system doesn't seem to be able to exert enough pressure on the contents to fully crush them. The more compact the product becomes, the more the rotating ratchet assembly causes the entire basket to rotate on the base. I've used presses with a direct downward pressure on the pressing board (no rotation at the connection), both with a manual wheel/handle, and a hydraulic press. The design of this press is vastly inferior to both of those.
In conclusion, I would recommend this press to someone who only had a few bushels of apples to press, provided they used a pressing bag. It worked well on crushed apple mash. I would not recommend it to anyone who wanted to effectively press soft fruits (e.g., plums, grapes, etc.) The unit is cost effective for someone who can't build their own, or afford the more expensive presses.


One thing I omitted from the review was that the faux-galvanized coating on the ratchet started sloughing off metal particles that were falling into the basket!

So I decided to turn it into a "real" apple press.
First I removed the center screw post. The hole in the bottom was easily plugged with a cork, trimmed to size.
I built a frame out of 4x4 lumber, and used my 2-ton bottle jack for pressing.

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The basket and base are doing fine. The wooden frame needed a little help to withstand the forces being applied.

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All in all, it was a successful modification, and I'm currently trying to figure out how to juggle about 20 gallons of apple juice!

Thanks for looking.
 
Looks like your on your way to having a lot of fun great looking remodified press
 
Thanks!

Thanks for the replies.
It sure beats the heck out of fighting that twisting ratchet, and the stupid post in the middle of the hopper!
 

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