# Tips on keeping a honey extractor from "walking" during spinning



## hex0rz (Jan 14, 2014)

Add weight to it towards the bottom somehow to lower the center of gravity. 

Bolt to the floor. 

Give the feet a larger surface area. 

Spin slowly.


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## psm1212 (Feb 9, 2016)

Cut a piece of plywood large enough to bolt the stand to it AND stand on the plywood while you spin it. It will still wobble, but will not walk off anymore.


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## johnmcda (Aug 10, 2015)

Bolt it to the floor.


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## Dan the bee guy (Jun 18, 2015)

Mine has a large heavy stand built out of two by twelve lumber bolted down.


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## Oldtimer (Jul 4, 2010)

Load it evenly. IE, if you have some frames full and some 1/2 full, put them opposing each other, so when it spins there is not an uneven weight pulling the extractor one direction.

That's 1/2 full opposite other 1/2 full, full opposite other full.


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## Geno (Apr 23, 2015)

All of the above work well. Another method is utilizing a rubber mat much like a stress mat. The rubber provides some energy absorbing material and easy to clean up.


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## ritan1 (Nov 10, 2015)

Adjustable rubber feet, the kind with the wing-nut on top. Plus a cushioned mat.


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## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

From an old thread....but works!


Adrian Quiney WI said:


> Another way to deal with the same problem. http://www.beesource.com/forums/sho...alking&highlight=preventing+extractor+walking
> Skip to post 10 for an explanation and post 19 for a picture. Slow Modem's pallet idea is a good one - it is cheaper than buying plywood and castors.


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## sakhoney (Apr 3, 2016)

some little turn buckles help a lot


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## Luv2beekeep (Dec 11, 2011)

The thread that Beemandan mentioned is spot on. I put caster wheels on mine three years ago. I used to work harder than a one legged man in a butt kicking contest to keep that thing from walking all over the shop and my wife and I. Since I mounted the wheels it stills wobbles but I can hold it with one hand until it levels out and then I don't have to hold it at all. Give it a try. It worked for mine. Good luck.


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## liljake83 (Jul 2, 2013)

I screw mine to a pallet and then stack on 200-300 lbs of sugar loading it evenly is another big help


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## aunt betty (May 4, 2015)

My extractor has no legs but has feet with bolt holes. Built a sturdy bench the right height and size that's connected to the walls. Bolted the extractor to the bench. Made the process a whole lot easier.


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## NonTypicalCPA (Jul 12, 2012)

My extractor doesn't have legs. I bought a small pallet on caster wheels at tsc and will try strapping it down tight. It's has four swiveling casters so not sure if three is the magic number but we will see how four works.


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## Luv2beekeep (Dec 11, 2011)

mine has four and it works stellar.


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## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

Mine has four casters and it works fine too.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

Load the extractor in pairs of frames. Put thick heavy frames opposite each other. If you have frames that have some pollen in them try to match them up opposite each other.


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## Ravenseye (Apr 2, 2006)

Casters for me. Even when it's not balanced, I start it slow and let it wobble. The casters soak up the energy. As the frame weights even out, I can turn the speed up. Not having to hold onto the extractor lets me go about the rest of the work while the extractor dances a little in place.


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## snl (Nov 20, 2009)

johnmcda said:


> Bolt it to the floor.


:thumbsup:


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## Mefco (Oct 16, 2015)

Casters are the way, mine on three, I have the bucket under the honey gate on its own 4 caster platform, bungee the bucket to the extractor, works like a dream, the whole thing moves together


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## challenger (May 27, 2009)

Build an, "offset energy soaking gyroscope". Super er easy. Only costs about $50k and takes a year to build. 
Or casters. Take your pick. 
Personally I bolt mine down so I never have to put a hand on it or worry about buckets getting off course.


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## sakhoney (Apr 3, 2016)

A question - have you ran this extractor empty to see if it walks - may be out of balance from the get go


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## Hokie Bee Daddy (Apr 1, 2011)

Casters work great for me. The plywood platform the casters bolt to is large enough to hold the honey bucket while the honey flows out of the honey gate. I use bungee straps to hold the bucket in place. It works great.


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## Ravenseye (Apr 2, 2006)

Hokie Bee Daddy said:


> Casters work great for me. The plywood platform the casters bolt to is large enough to hold the honey bucket while the honey flows out of the honey gate. I use bungee straps to hold the bucket in place. It works great.


I made mine similar. In my case, I made a triangular base to which I bolted the extractor to. It's thick. MDF, 1 1/2". The casters are bolted underneath the MDF base and I cut out a half circle near the extractor front into which I fit the bucket so the tall, 5 gallon bucket sits on the floor with space for a couple of strainers. Works great. If the description is confusing, I'll post a pic or two. It was pretty easy to build and since I can't bolt the machine permanently to one spot, I like that I can just wheel it to where I need to use it, wash it or store it. I also lend it out to friends and it's easy to wheel around here and there.


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## DavidZ (Apr 9, 2016)

The extractor needs to be balanced like your car tires with a small added weight, it's the same as your washing machine when to many clothes get stuck to one side of the washing barrel.


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## kaizen (Mar 20, 2015)

ya'll are genius. I've been thinking of a way to stop my wobble and get my extractor up 6 inches to get a bucket under it. casters will solve both those problems !


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## NonTypicalCPA (Jul 12, 2012)

Well it was a huge improvement over last year! Thanks for the idea, the casters worked great! I got 11 gallons from four shallow supers.


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## D Coates (Jan 6, 2006)

I tried casters a few years ago. I've got a Dadant 20/36. It worked well but eventually would simply start walking away or into a wall. I couldn't drain out of it until I turned it off because it walks away from the bucket and made a multi gallon mess.


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## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

D Coates said:


> I couldn't drain out of it until I turned it off because it walks away from the bucket and made a multi gallon mess.


I mounted my casters to a half sheet (4'x4')of plywood. Then I mounted the extractor to that platform. Then...the bucket rests on the platform as well....and what little walking they do...the extractor and bucket walk together.


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## camero7 (Sep 21, 2009)

beemandan said:


> I mounted my casters to a half sheet (4'x4')of plywood. Then I mounted the extractor to that platform. Then...the bucket rests on the platform as well....and what little walking they do...the extractor and bucket walk together.



Exactly what I have. Works for me.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

> I couldn't drain out of it until I turned it off because it walks away from the bucket and made a multi gallon mess.

And you should never run an extractor without the honey gate open... if the honey backs up and the frames bog down you'll burn out a motor very quickly... so the casters seem to make a new dilemma to me...


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## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

Michael Bush said:


> so the casters seem to make a new dilemma to me...


Doesn't need to be a dilemma



beemandan said:


> I mounted my casters to a half sheet (4'x4')of plywood. Then I mounted the extractor to that platform. Then...the bucket rests on the platform as well....and what little walking they do...the extractor and bucket walk together.


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## camero7 (Sep 21, 2009)

Ever hear of bungee cords?


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## Groundhwg (Jan 28, 2016)

beemandan said:


> I mounted my casters to a half sheet (4'x4')of plywood. Then I mounted the extractor to that platform. Then...the bucket rests on the platform as well....and what little walking they do...the extractor and bucket walk together.


Please post a picture if you can. Thanks.


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## Groundhwg (Jan 28, 2016)

camero7 said:


> Exactly what I have. Works for me.


If you do not mind please post a photo. Thanks.


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## camero7 (Sep 21, 2009)




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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>I mounted my casters to a half sheet (4'x4')of plywood. Then I mounted the extractor to that platform. Then...the bucket rests on the platform as well....and what little walking they do...the extractor and bucket walk together.

If you're going to do casters I guess that would be the best way to do it.


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## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

I used four casters...one at each corner. You might note that each leg of the extractor is mounted to a block of wood...which is then mounted to the platform. The legs on my Maxant extractor are too short to fit a five gallon bucket beneath the gate....so I added the extra to give it some clearance. I may add another block....to make the clearance for a five gallon bucket and strainer a bit better.


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## sakhoney (Apr 3, 2016)

I run 2 each X 32 frame extractors - I can close off the drain valve and make 3 spins of full frames before the honey reaches the frames on the basket on load #4. Now if it were me and I left that honey gate open - I would nail some 2X4s around the bucket - securing the bucket on all 4 sides where if the plywood moves - the buck has to stay with it


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## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

sakhoney said:


> securing the bucket on all 4 sides where if the plywood moves - the buck has to stay with it


I can't even guess how many loads have run through that extractor....and it has never been an issue. I guess we all have our own ways of getting the job done.


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## sakhoney (Apr 3, 2016)

only has to happen once


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## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

sakhoney said:


> only has to happen once


probably true with either a burnt out motor because of a closed gate...or a bucket spilled. I've got to tell ya though....I'm in the room when the extractor is spinning and if it is ever that far out of balance...I'm pretty sure I'll stop it before it gets out of hand.


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## sakhoney (Apr 3, 2016)

You can't make a spin with a closed gate? I can run 3 full loads and on the 4th have to let out honey. Also - the motor should be a DC motor - variable speed yes? if so bogging it down will not burn out the motor - just won't let it get to controller speed
If its an AC motor with VFD controller - again as long as its turning it will not burn out the motor - what gets motors are them setting in one spot and having electricity running through the armature welding it into place


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## D Coates (Jan 6, 2006)

The Dadant 20/36 I use as my extractor fortunately has a fuse that blew. PITA to go and get a fuse but I could have been stuck with a burned out motor so I really didn't have anything to complain about. Lesson learned to not let it get too full though. Ironically the fuller it gets the less it shakes so I do keep some honey down there.


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## sakhoney (Apr 3, 2016)

hoped ya got more than 1


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## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

The motor on mine is an ac. Speed control is via a Rube Goldberg spring loaded pressure gizmo. And yeah.....if the honey got up to the frames in the carriage....something would break.
My point was....as you said....it only has to happen once.....and I agreed that the same held true for a tipped bucket or a blown motor. I studied electrical engineering...but my degree is from 1972...so some things are a bit foggy. All the same, it is hard for me to believe your overtaxed dc motor/controller won't be damaged. I'm not going to argue it with you....I'll just say that I've seen dc motors get cooked.


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## sakhoney (Apr 3, 2016)

Beemandan - if its a AC motor it is using what we call a VFD. variable frequency drive - That's what were using on drilling rigs now a days. I have one setting just right outside of my window right now used on 1500 HP motors X 4 with 3 X 1450 KW generators powered by 3512B caterpillar motors. That's my real job
Now I did work with DC motors way back with SCR controllers - that's a whole other different animal. But where I'm going with this is anybody putting a drive system together - weather for a extractor, drilling rig, or freight train - has to have a protection system as well just for these kind of events as dcoats above - a fuse or breaker. The ones on this rig are massive - rated for 2000 amps. (that's a lot) While I don't have an engineers degree on electrical - I got 38 years experience with it.
Steve


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## Riskybizz (Mar 12, 2010)

Sakhoney 

You just broke a beesource record today! And your at work to boot! Your working on over 39 threads! You sure do know a little bit about everything don't you. Slow it down a little will ya I'm trying to write all this stuff down.


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## jbeshearse (Oct 7, 2009)

The most popular single phase AC motor used for variable speeds is a split capacitor motor(spc). There area couple of control methods for these, but vfd's(variable frequency drives) are normally used on three phase motors. 3 phase power is not normally found in ones home. There are vfd's that convert single phase power to three phase, but they tend to be pricy. The main advantage of an inverted rated three phase motor connected to a vfd is that not only can the speed be controlled but the controllers can be programmed for ramp up and ramp down, think slow start and slow end, also they can run the motors in reverse. The ramp up is definitely a plus to minimize blowing frames out while they are still full of honey.


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## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

sakhoney said:


> Beemandan - if its a AC motor it is using what we call a VFD. variable frequency drive -


No. My Maxant 20 frame extractor has a single phase ac motor. Period. Maybe a quarter or third horsepower....I'm not going to bother looking. You may have missed it but as I said in a previous post....the speed is varied by a mechanical contraption. I know how my extractor works.
My extractor rests on a platform with casters. It doesn't walk to any significant extent. The bucket remains under the gate. Photo included in previous post.


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## D Coates (Jan 6, 2006)

sakhoney said:


> hoped ya got more than 1


Yep. Got 2. The other one is held on with electrical tape behind the motor so I always have it where I need it.


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## AstroBee (Jan 3, 2003)

beemandan said:


> The legs on my Maxant extractor are too short to fit a five gallon bucket beneath the gate....


That seems like a giant oversight in its design. Is that how they are still made?


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## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

AstroBee said:


> That seems like a giant oversight in its design. Is that how they are still made?


It surprised me when I put it together. I have no idea if they're still made that way....although they'd been making them for years when I got mine....so, I'd think they'd have fixed it by then.


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## MAXANT (Sep 13, 2008)

Not anymore!


AstroBee said:


> That seems like a giant oversight in its design. Is that how they are still made?


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## camero7 (Sep 21, 2009)

I agree, plenty of room under mine for the bucket and screens


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## AstroBee (Jan 3, 2003)

MAXANT said:


> Not anymore!


Nice! Thanks for the update.


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## sakhoney (Apr 3, 2016)

riski - keep up


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## Riskybizz (Mar 12, 2010)

Keep up with the posts...lol


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