# Bushy Mountain Compact Extractor VS Mann Lake Stainless 6/3 Frame Hand Crank Extracto



## Fisherprice (Sep 30, 2014)

Bushy Mountain Compact # 792. PRO'S--has a side crank, Spring loaded crank , Metal gears, Tank is 18/10, 22-guage stainless steel, 16" diameter. CON'S- Only holds 4 shallows and 2 deeps. Price $310.00
Mann Lake Hand Crank Extractor #HH161. PRO'S-- 6 shallows or 3 deeps. CON'S--Top crank, 26 gauge stainless steel. Price $380.00.

I only have 3 hives so not a lot to extract. Has anybody had any experience with either extractor? Thanks


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

Welcome to Beesource!

Are you sure that you really mean "shallows"? I suspect that "mediums" is more likely accurate. Medium frames are 6 1/4" high, shallows are about 2" less.


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## Fisherprice (Sep 30, 2014)

Rader Sidetrack said:


> Welcome to Beesource!
> 
> Are you sure that you really mean "shallows"? I suspect that "mediums" is more likely accurate. Medium frames are 6 1/4" high, shallows are about 2" less.


4 shallow (5 3/8"), 4 medium (6 1/4"), or two brood frames (9 1/8")


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## crofter (May 5, 2011)

I have the Mann Lake one; it does the job but I find the top crank to be an unnatural motion compared to other crank operated things I have played with. When the gears go out it will get powered with a cogged belt and sprockets and a drill motor. Have only spun out about 500 lbs of honey on it but it is a nice light little unit to carry outside and hose it clean.


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## MichiganMike (Mar 25, 2014)

I have the Brushy Mt. Model and am very pleased with how easy it is to spin and clean.


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## dsegrest (May 15, 2014)

I bought the "little Tiger" from Pigeon Mountain. I was $129 with the honey gate installed. Did a great job for 4 hives. My buddy extracted them as fast as I could uncap them.


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## zhiv9 (Aug 3, 2012)

Fisherprice said:


> I only have 3 hives so not a lot to extract.


Is 3 all you ever plan to have? If you plan to have more, I would save up for a motorized extractor - the hand cranking gets old in a hurry and the motor freezes you up to uncap while the extractor is running. If you plan to stay at 3, I would stick with cut comb and/or crush and strain.


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## Joeinthehills (Jul 31, 2013)

I too have the Brushey Mt compact extractor. Its a nice little extractor if you only have a few hives. Its well made and easily extracts shallow, medium, and deep frames. My only complaint is that I should have gone bigger. If you plan on having more than 3 hives or if time is an issue something a larger may be a good idea. I 2nd the previous comment. save up for something a little larger that is capable of handling more frames.


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## grozzie2 (Jun 3, 2011)

Fisherprice said:


> Bushy Mountain Compact # 792.


The blurb on the BM website says 'This is the best "little basket" style extractor in the industry. Extracts all frames tangentially.'



> Mann Lake Hand Crank Extractor #HH161.


If you look at the mann lake catalog online, HH-161 is actually the legs for HH-160. That's a 6/3 extractor, that can do 6 shallows radially, or 3 mediums / deeps tangentially.

Tangential extractor = HUGE PITA because you have to spin the frames, then flip them all, and spin again.

For just 3 hives, it's not such a big deal. My wife and I extracted for 6 hives with a 2 frame hand crank tangential a couple years ago, and it was a fairly big job, took most of the afternoon. It also sealed the deal for us on choosing our own extractor, that one was a club unit on loan for a weekend. We bought a radial, that can do 18 mediums at once. This summer on our second honey pull, we extracted a dozen boxes in a short afternoon, including the time to set up and clean up. It was a joy to watch 18 frames spinning in the extractor, while we uncapped 18 more for the next load. Armstrong spinning has some value, for a load or two or five, but when you are doing larger volumes, armstrong doesn't hold a candle to electric motor. I dont want to think about what kind of a job it would have been to do that volume, using a 2 frame hand crank. I know we would not have got thru it in one afternoon.

If you are going to stick with just 3 hives, then either extractor will 'do the job'. If you are planning on using shallows for honey supers, then the mann lake unit gets an advantage, it can do 6 shallows at once, radially, so no flipping. If using mediums for honey, then the BM one will have an edge, it can do 4 at a time vs the Mann Lake unit doing 3, but both cases are tangential, so you'll be flipping frames. And if you plan to use deeps for honey frames, story changes again, the Mann Lake unit can do 3 at a time, the BM unit can do only 2 deeps. With only 3 hives, its unlikely you will be extracting more than 4 boxes at any given time, but even 4 boxes is a bunch of loads going 2 or 3 frames per load. For us, a few years ago, extracting 4 boxes with a 2 frame tangential unit, was a project that lasted all weekend.

FYI, when we first looked at extractors, I had pretty much settled on wanting the cute little BM 9 frame extractor, then my wife asked me one dumb question. When you go to pull honey in 2 years, how much do you think will be coming back to the shop ? At our old home, we only had room for small hive counts, but at the new home, we have an acre of land inside the bear fence. We are up to a dozen colonies now, and plan to double that number next year, and again the year after. By that time, a typical honey pull will be bringing _at least_ a couple dozen boxes back to the shop for extracting. 9 frames starts to look small when you are staring at a couple dozen boxes to extract, and a limited amount of time to do it.


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## Peter Proboscis (Nov 27, 2014)

If you have not made your decision yet...check out Maxant Industries. They have a two frame extractor for $299 (not including legs). Extremely well designed and built. Down the road you can upgrade to a 9 frame basket. Farther down the road, when you have far exceeded three hives, you can add a motor to the original unit. And... for the month of December Maxant is offering free shipping. If you are sticking with only three hives for a while a two frame extractor will suit you fine.


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