Beesource Beekeeping Forums banner

Mounting an Extractor

16K views 29 replies 13 participants last post by  snl 
#1 ·
When we extracted, we learned that balancing the frames inside the extractor makes the process smoother. We learned that by not having it balanced and watching the extractor trying to jump around. Luckily, we only did that at low speeds, so that we could slow it down.

One thing I noticed is that the tops of the sides of plastic frames is just a tad wider than wooden frames. This requires wiggling, pushing, and muttering under my breath to get them in the bottom frame holders. I have ordered a few medium wooden frames to see if they fit any better. I may end up grinding/sanding the sides of the plastic frames a little to make them fit better in the extractor.

Anyways, I had an old pallet laying around in the yard and we mounted the extractor to that to give it a more stable base (plus now I could move it on a forklift if I had one!). We put 2X4s underneath the top pallet wood to strengthen the setup. Here's what it looks like:







This shows the 2x4 underneath for strengthening and support:









Room for a bucket on the pallet under the outlet valve:

 
See less See more
3
#6 ·
So I still haven't purchased my new 20 frame extractor yet, but the thought of taking a crescent wrench or tool to bend the frame guides so my plastic frames will fit into the slot is not the most exciting thought i've had this week. You guys are serious? I use PF100 and 120's and a lot of Mann Lake wood frames.
 
#9 ·
Riskybizz,

I don't know what Dan is talking about. My Mann Lake plastic PF's fit in fine with my Maxant 3100p without bending anything. The 20 frame I don't know about. Ask Jake with Maxant, he's on this forum all the time.
 
#11 · (Edited)
One thing I noticed is that the tops of the sides of plastic frames is just a tad wider than wooden frames.
Any one ever notice how the slots in plastic frames are a great place for SHB to hang out too??? I have gotten rid of most of the ones I had and pretty much only run wood now...

Cool way to mount an extractor by the way... I think that is exactly what I am going to do with my 12 frame. :)
 
#14 ·
Here is my mount. Thanks to a lot of people posting their ideas and pics I was able to put this together with little difficulty or generations of my own learning. I posted the pics on a thread on how to keep your extractor from walking and decided to post here as well. I used a bungee cord, not shown in pics, from front leg around bucket to other leg to make sure bucket stayed put. Thing works flawlessly.

Cylinder


Cylinder
 
#25 ·
I have to jump on this thread so I can follow it I have the Maxant 20 frame extractor and I used it once and it was nuts I had such a tuff time of it I had never extracted in my life and never seen one in real life I extracted 15 frames took 5 hours got alittle over 100 pounds of honey and I learned to tango I was pretty stressed out by the time I was done.
I have to build a frame for the beast by the time the flow is over .{just starting here}
What I extracted was from dead outs from this past winter. So hope to find a way to tame this :D Hoping to have over fifty frame to extract this year all deeps we'll see.
 
#26 ·
Is the consensus that an extractor will walk less with the castors than without them? My 3100P is just mounted to 1 & 1/8 plywood & it dances like crazy when a little out of balance.
I have the 20 frame Maxant in route, Its about 75 miles away, & I'm tempted to just go pick it up.
 
#27 ·
Fuzzy showed me the best way to mount an extractor. Have a plywood base but just set it on a moving dolly. It works great. The dolly absorbs the unbalanced movement, not your bearings and other internal connection points in your extractor so it saves on wear and tear. Minimal shaking and walking.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top