Plastic Press Juices Apples Fast

Plastic Press Juices Apples Fast FARM HOME Food Don Peterson doesn’t let any apples go to waste since he built his own cider press A garbage disposal turns apples into pulp then a hydraulic ram squeezes the juice through a press made out of plastic pipe “I must have drilled a million holes in the heavy-duty plastic pipe to make the press cage ” says Peterson The apple press and disposal are mounted on a 6-ft high framework of scrap 2 by 4-in steel tubing Mounted on the left side is a small sink Peterson welded out of stainless steel The garbage disposal unit mounts beneath the sink “I use a French fry slicer to cut the apples into pieces that will fit the disposal ” says Peterson The 14-in dia press cage hydraulic cylinder and plunger are centered in the steel frame The press cage rests on a shallow stainless steel pan that drains into a bucket As the apple slices are pulped they feed into a plastic pipe that angles down and into the press cage “I tried just dropping the pulp into a bucket and then dumping it into the press but that took too much effort ” says Peterson “I hooked up the pipe and the pulp drops right in ” When the cage is full he activates a hydraulic cylinder with an extra long ram mounted to the top bar of the frame It is powered by a small electro-hydraulic pump “The plunger is a piece of plastic that’s sized to the cage and mounted on a metal plate The end of the ram presses into it ” says Peterson “The ram is long enough to push to the bottom of the cage and then pulls back up and out of the way ” Aside from the disposal unit and the plastic pipe that Peterson bought new the rest of the cider press system was put together from salvaged parts Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Don Peterson 827 W 400 S Heyburn Idaho 83336 ph 208 431-7363

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.