Manual vs electric crusher

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DaGilb

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Hi to all,

I am knew to this forum and starting to make cider here in Québec, Canada. I live near Trois-Rivières with access to plenty of wild apple trees (escaped and crab apple) and decided to get into cider making. I am looking for a set up to crush apples for around 50-70 gal this fall, kegging. Two options seem open: 1-manual crusher with knife blades or 2-electric all stainless crusher. The electric one are pretty expensive (around $1,000) but a dedicated friend and serious cider maker swears by them. However, they seem to be made in Italy with unreliable motors when they are converted to American electric system. Manual ones go for cheaper costs around $300. My question is: will the manual get the job done without too much elbow hurt or is it worth investing into an electric one or perhaps rigging one myself.

Thanks for your help. This looks like a great community on this forum.

Think global, but drink local!
 
Manual crushers work fine. The real question is volume. I would not want to run 100 bushels of apples through a manual crusher. Most manual crushers can be motorized with a little effort.
 
My brother-in-law got a manual, removed the crank handle and welded a bicycle gear on. Then got a $69.00 motor and used another bicycle gear and the bicycle chain. It works like a champ and he has had it for about 10 years now and uses it every year. He has about 10 trees.
 
I ended up getting a modified grape press with stainless cutters. Then I had the end of the shaft machined to 3/8 to fit a heavy duty powered drill that I had(DeWalt low rpm, but power). It does not heat while curshing bushels and bushels of apples. It did however heat up a little when I crushed 4 bushels of Dolgo crabs, which were tougher. Just had to give it a little brake now and then and got the job done.
 
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