Chain uncapper

[Haraga]

What are the pros and cons of the chain uncapper that maxant sells?

[EastSideBuzz]

I only know if Maxant sells it they stand behind it and it is well built. I am also interested in your replys so I know what to get in the future also.

[wildbranch2007]

http://www.beesource.com/forums/show...capper-Spinner

[westernbeekeeper]

We are pleased with the Dakota Gunness the we have.

[lakebilly]

On my second yr w/ sideliner. I ran 60 plus supers with minimal issues.

adjustments for startrun seem to be loosening often. cannot run plastic (I believe they're older Pierco frames), which also do not fit in my extractor very well. 2 screws hold the bracket, maybe Maxant sells wider brackets to accomodate a 1 1/2" wide frame. Vertical rods need to be wiped of honey, they get sticky & stuck periodicly, no big deal.

I would like a place on the unit to clean frames & scrape knives. That is the biggest detractor I have complaints about. If anyone has a pic of their setup, I would appreciate that.

Overall I like mine, with only other experience with a steam knife uncapper (very expensive for me) that my mentor had. The heater unit I bought from W. Kelley isn't very accurate @ temp control.

[Joel]

We've been running our maxant chain uncapper for 300+ hives for 4 years and think it's great, just like the maxant 20/40 extractor we bough 15 years ago that has not had a single break down or issue of any kind! Started with cold knife, went to hot knife and then to a maxant plane, which we really liked, before the chain uncapper.
As to pros and cons - the only con is on thick frames you drop a good deal of honey in the uncapping tank and we are committed to either seperating it in the clarifier after a day of running. We do have a wax spinner but at the volume we have it still leaves too much and frankly cleaning it is a pain. Has had nuts and bolts fall of here and there and if you don't keep it cleaned and greased the frame lowering rack can get sticky at times. If you have the uncapping stand that holds 40 frames you can easily fill a 40 frame run in the extractor in about 20 minutes, start that load and have the next one ready to load before the next round.