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“Industrial-Sized” Walnut Cracker
“Since you published the story about my homemade nut cracking machine (Vol. 32, No. 6) I’ve built a couple of much larger machines. If you need to crack a large quantity of nuts fast, these industrial beasts will do the job for you,” says Mike Andreasen, Nampa, Idaho.
  His patented Get Crackin’ nut cracker, called the Patriot 600, weighs about 450 lbs. Constructed from solid steel, with a hard-faced cracking chamber, it can process 600 to 1,300 lbs. of nuts per hour. A companion model called the Adjustable Patriot is also available.
  “These massive nut crackers work great for anyone who handles larger volumes of nuts including farms, fruitstands, and commercial processing plants,” says Andreasen. “They produce well more than 800 to 1,000 inch pounds of torque.”
  A patented cone-shaped cracking chamber receives the whole nuts through the hopper. As the chamber spins, the nut drops down into a wedge-shaped compartment, finds its optimum place, and rolls with evenly placed pressure until the shell is cracked. “Both the shell and meat then fall down a steep, angled discharge chute and onto the customer’s separating conveyors or table, leaving you with halves and quarter pieced meats,” says Andreason.
  He says the transmission used to drive the big machine is a right angle worm gear- driven speed reducer that’s coupled to a fully enclosed, AC thermal protected, 1 to 2 hp. electric motor. The machine is equipped with a 220-volt, single phase, 50-amp weld plug that plugs into any welding outlet or 30-amp dryer outlet. An on/off toggle switch starts and stops the unit.
  “The Patriot 600 does not need to be adjusted to fit different sized nuts. It receives all sizes, large and small, and all varieties of nuts, from the softer shelled varieties of English walnuts, hazel nuts, and pecans, to the hard shelled varieties of native black walnuts, cultivar black walnuts, hickories, macadamias of Hawaii, and heartnuts of Canada,” says Andreason. “However, if your operation requires custom sizing nuts for a specialized need, check out the Adjustable Patriot model. It can be set up with a discharge opening anywhere from 1/8 to 1 1/4 in.”
  You can check out a video of the nut sheller in action at FARMSHOW.com.
   The Patriot sells for $6,200 and the Adjustable Patriot for $8,500.
  Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Mike Andreasen, 11341 Hall Dr., Nampa, Idaho 83651 (ph 208 880-5487; michelleandreasen@q.com).


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2018 - Volume #42, Issue #3