Make Oilseed Presses Work For You

Make Oilseed Presses Work For You ENERGY Alternative Fuels 34-5-31 If you've got a use for both livestock feed and fuel, setting up your own oilseed press makes a lot of sense, says Scott Robinson, who sells oilseed presses, filters and burners. "Northern Wis. dairy farmer Jerry Martin buys soybeans and presses them out for the meal. The oil is secondary," says Robinson. "He blends the meal with a liquid mineral for what he says is an ideal feed for use in his TMR for his dairy herd." Martin runs soybeans through a CC4 Commodity Cleaner and a M70 AgOilPress. He uses a home-built divided tank reservoir to catch the oil. While the heavier oil and solids stay on one side, the lighter oil runs over the notched wall and into the second compartment. There, a sump pump moves it to a storage tank for burning in a KBB-85 Kingbuilt boiler. Mark O'Brien of O'Brien Hybrid Seed in southern Wis. raises canola seed specifically for pressing. His main goal is getting the oil for use in the farm's 12 Deere tractors. He averages 2,200 lbs. of canola seed per acre, which presses out to 100 gal. of oil per acre. Last year, he produced 3,000 gal. of oil that he filtered and blended with diesel fuel. He says the canola oil improves engine lubrication. "He uses the byproduct meal for his cattle," explains Robinson. "He harvests his seed early to reduce shattering and stores it in dryer wagons." The homemade wagon boxes have perforated steel false floors. Landscape fabric draped over the floor and duct taped to the sides keeps the seeds from falling through. A fan on each box blows air up through the seed to dry it. O'Brien currently uses a two-tank system. Oil is pumped from the press to the first settling tank. As sediment settles out, the oil is pumped to a second tank for more settling and finally through water filters to take out finer sediment. Oil and sediment from the bottom of the tanks are drained out and run through a five-gal. bucket with holes drilled in the bottom. Paper bags and fabric liners in the bucket filter solids out of the oil, which then also is mixed with diesel fuel. "Last year he produced $7,800 worth of fuel from 30 acres of canola," says Robinson. "He has run up to 80 percent canola oil in the summer and cuts back to a 45 percent canola oil mix in the winter." Even without livestock, Robinson says the oilseed press can pay with multiple end products. He sells Buskirk pellet mills for turning the oil cake (pressed seed) into fuel pellets and Hestia multi-fuel pellet stoves for burning meal and other biomass. "I have a seed producer in Saskatchewan who intends to use his press on damaged seed," says Robinson. "Another farmer buys spoiled seed to press it." The M70 AgOilPress sells for $7,740. Accessories, such as the Commodity Cleaner, are available. Smaller and larger oil presses will be available soon, adds Robinson. Contact: FARM SHOW Follow up, Chippewa Valley Alternative Energy, 1204 Superior St., Chippewa Falls, Wis. 54729 (ph 715 924-4871; toll free 866 460-8656; www.cvalte.com).

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