# Cowen wax spinner



## swarm_trapper (Jun 19, 2003)

it would be great if anyone with experiance with this machine would post your experiances on this post publicly as i also am interested in a machine like this. thanks Nick


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## honeyman46408 (Feb 14, 2003)

I have a friend that uses a spiner (dont know the brand) it runs all the time he is extracting (500 supers), I dont know all he does but I do know he ends up with very dry wax to put in the melter,very little honey out of the melter.


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## Sundance (Sep 9, 2004)

I picked one up at auction and will
be using it for the first time this
fall so I would love to hear any and
all info you all have.......


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## Gregg (Dec 22, 2003)

Well, since no one chimed in or sent me a message, I'll relate my experience.

I bought a new Cowen 60 frame autoload extractor this year complete with a Silver queen uncapper, conveyor, auger, honey pump, and wax spinner. Overall I was pretty happy with the system, EXCEPT, with the spinner.

The spinner would get (not sure how else to describe it) "clogged" up with wax on a quite frequent basis, which resulted in the wax coming out quite "clumpy" or "gummy" (again searching for words to describe it). 

Talked to Cowen several times about this and they said a lot of guys were having the same problem this year since the honey was so dry. Very possible I guess, since it was very dry here this year and the honey even felt noticeably different this year (so dry it felt "gummy"). I don't have a refractometer, never having needed one in the past. I plan on getting one for next year. I tried shooting steam (at Cowen's suggestion) into the spinner to help leach honey out of the wax, and it helped a little, but not much. Think I need to get a bigger steamer if I have this problem again.

Still, overall, not very happy with the spinner. I realize this was the first year I used it and don't have prior years to compare to. I'll try it again next year and see how it goes, if it's not any better it'll go bye-bye and I'll find something else.

Anyone who wants to discuss this some more feel free to contact me.

[ September 26, 2006, 10:24 AM: Message edited by: Gregg ]


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## pahvantpiper (Apr 25, 2006)

Gregg,
Thanx for the post. I'm buying a used Cowen 60 frame autoload system in a month or two but it doesn't come with a spinner. I've been going back and forth between Cowen and the Cook and Beals spin-float. Supposedly, from what most people tell me (having never used either myself), the Cowen is more trouble free than the Cook and Beals but the Cook and Beals takes out more wax and really is a better system if you can get it to run properly. I'm sorry to hear that "trouble free" has not been your experience with the Cowen. I have found the people at Cowen to be very helpful when I've talked with them, and visited them. I would encourage you to keep working with them. Anyway, good luck.

-Rob


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## SGebauer (Nov 11, 2004)

Betterbee has a cowen spinner and it is great. The cappings come out almost like saw dust. The only problem I have found is if it is turned off for an extended period of time (say a weekend) with wet cappings it will be terribly out of balance once it is started again. It runs nonstop once extracting has started.

Cheers,
Shane


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## Latif (Sep 27, 2006)

Do somebody has Dakota gunnes uncapper. I want to discuss about advantages and disadvantages of this machine.


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## Bob Harrison (Mar 15, 2005)

I have used all models (50/100/200) but we had a long discussion of the Dakota about a month ago so you might try a search.


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## Latif (Sep 27, 2006)

Bob, I tryed to search, but I did not find you long dscussion of the Dakota. Please help me to find it. 

Latif


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## Gregg (Dec 22, 2003)

Latif, search under Dakota Gunness uncapper in this section (equipment/hardware review). I found 2 threads back in 2005 which discussed it.


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## Bob Harrison (Mar 15, 2005)

Latif,
The Dakota NEVER breaks down ( or at least I have never seen a breakdown and in our operation we have used two since they were first built over ten years ago). With the right amount of help the model 200 will feed six large extractors ( 60 frame).

in the above operation the stainless steel flails need replaced each season as they do get shorter in length but extracting was being done around five times a year for fifty thousand hives.

In the above operation the Dakota was replaced by a boganshutz (for a off season reason unrelated to extracting honey) but a spare boganshutz sat in the next room in case of a breakdown. 

Both Adee Honey Farms( largest in world today) and Bell Honey ( largest at one time before retiring) used the boganshutz uncapper.

The dakota Model 100 & 200 are fast but they are hard for one person to run. Switches need replaced every couple years if used by a single person due to having to constantly switch off and on.

The 100 & 200 use a conveyer and the model fifty uses a slide which holds two deeps or three medium depth combs.

The Dakota does not heat the honey and you do not have to worry about help getting steam burns. You can stick your hands in the stainless steel flails without getting hurt. Many look in disbelief when I stick my hand in the flails to prove the point!

Automation is wonderful until it breaks down or starts eating equipment. Waiting for parts(even hours) when you are paying a large crew is problematic.

If your cowen breaks down you are faced with trying to get help over the phone.

Trying to find the solution to a car problem or an uncapper problem over the phone is tough.

Many times only an adjustment is needed. I have been told the hand crank cowen feed is trouble free but the 60 and 120 units can be tempermental at times.

Those are a few thoughts.

The cowen is I believe the most widely used uncapper by the commercial beekeeper in the U.S. and those guys are loyal. I suspect you will get some information now from the list!


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

Gregg, my honey was comming out at 14.5% moisture!! I havent extracted honey that dry before. It came out just fine, probably becasue the supers came in real hot!

My wax wasnt all that dry either, but I use an old old Jones spinner. Works great,

I am looking to purchase the 60frame auto load also, and I am interested in hearing your opinions of it. 
About how much honey would you expect to extract in a good 10 hour day, with how many men?
Why did you choose the silver queen uncapper and not go with the Jumbo?


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

Discribe what exactly autoload means,..


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

>>You can stick your hands in the stainless steel flails without getting hurt. Many look in disbelief when I stick my hand in the flails to prove the point!

Wow, so I guess it would be real easy on the comb. Does it miss like the cowen will, will it rip combs apart?


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## Spigold (Jul 31, 2004)

I have helped in an operation that runs a Cowen set-up that sounds pretty much like the 60 frame auto-load described above. It takes two people to run the line. One on the de-boxer and feeding the uncapper, the other prepping frames and loading/unloading. Plus part of one if the holding tank doesn't hold lots of honey to fill barrels. That line in 10 hours extracts 350-400 7 frame mediums. 

The uncapper needs to be watched pretty closely so that it doesn't eat frames, which can put the knives out of adjustment (ugh). It's favorite trick when you turn your back to get another super, is for the conveyor chains to pull a frame off of the de-boxer and then feed the frame in at an angle. Another favorite trick is for the frame to be turned upside down as the conveyor drops it into the uncapper. Keeping the frames (being fed into the uncapper) pressed tightly against one another and the uncapper helps alleviate these problems. 

They used a maxant spinner which they had some disgust with, I thought it worked well though it just barely kept up. The wax comes out pretty dry.


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## Bob Harrison (Mar 15, 2005)

Ian,
We never have frame damage *by the uncapper* or injury by the machine. The machine uses no steam or heat.
The machine does leave little flakes of wax on the comb after uncapping.


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## Gregg (Dec 22, 2003)

Ian,

As previously stated, I like the Cowen 60 frame setup (except for the spinner, this year at least). Auto-load means that after the frames go through the uncapper they get on a conveyor and are pushed into the extractor, either by a hand crank (which I got) or by an air ram. The empty frames are also pushed out. This is where time is really saved, the loading & unloading part, rather than lifting each frame in by hand.

I never was able to extract for 10 hours straight this Fall (or even 8 hours for that matter), the longest I went was about 6 1/2 hours, and we (my wife & myself) generally got through about 200 medium supers. I chose the Silver Queen mainly for $ reasons. I didn't think I needed their bigger uncapper, and it would've made sense to get the deboxer along with it, and didn't want to spend the extra money. The Silver queen worked fine, and was fast enough for me, but like Spigold said, you really have to watch it (it seems like it can sense when you turn your back on it, then it will chew up a frame







). But it really wasn't too bad, I'd say I "wrecked" about 40 frames total, out of extracting around 1,700 supers.


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## AstroZomBEE (Aug 1, 2006)

I am a Cowen uncapper fan. It is true that they can be tempramental. You have to know every possible adjustment on the machine. Last week I put 11,000 frames through my cowen and had less than 20 frames broken from the uncapper. In the last few years we have put together a new extracting system in our florida operations center. Down there we use a gunness for ease of mind. Honestly and dummy can run it. The cowen on the other hand really needs a compentent mechanic to run it. If i were going to be doing all the extracting myself i would insist on a cowen. But if i am gonna pay my employees to do it, the gunness is simpler.How's that old acronym go... KISS......

Oh and as far as the spinner goes, I use the Cook and Beal, works excellent. The only issue i have with it is that sometimes minute air bubbles are in the honey that may take a few weeks in the cold weather to float out. But most of my honey goes into yearly cold storage. so it's not really an issue.

Aaron

[ October 11, 2006, 05:32 PM: Message edited by: AstroZomBEE ]


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