# Maxant Chain Uncapper/Spinner



## wildbranch2007 (Dec 3, 2008)

bermybee said:


> As for the uncapper I've hear a lot of people complain about how the flail method leave a lot of wax/air bubbles in the honey after it goes through the extractor. How bad is it really, will the air bubbles be out by the time it goes through the sump?
> How harsh is this method on the wood frames them selves. Would I definitely have to move to a 9 or 8 frame setup in order to save the frames from being chewed up? Does Maxant uncapper reach right up to the top bar or does it miss a little at the top or other places for that matter? How do the flails treat new foundation? Lastly compared to when you first started out in beekeeping and you just mastered picking or scratching (you know when you treated the comb better then you treated your wife & visa versa)


I owned the uncapper so I can talk to that. I bought new and uncapped two med supers, put it away. Basicly as it was shipped 10 years ago, it didn't uncap straight, it uncapped one side right down to the foundation, the other side just enough to get the caps off, on deep frames it didn't go all the way down. I brought it back to maxant and they put a user mod on recommended by another customer but I never did try it.

as to the amount of wax, I would normally be able to put two load(40 frams) of my extractor through the stainless steel sievs that are sold using a block
plane, using the chain uncapper i had to wash the sievs out twice for each 20 frames, and it would still plug up my filters.
the recommended way from people I talked to was just run the honey out of the extractor into a heated settling tank, let sit overnight, skim off the stuff floating in the tank and then pump it through the filters.
a person in N.H. had the design for a block that you had to make up that gave the uncapper better adjustments so that you could do 8 or 9 frames better but right now I cant find the directions.

for the money its a fine unit, just have to extract the wax to get at the honey but from what I have found that its the same for all chain uncappers,
I sold it and went with a cowens, less wax but other small problems.

mike
here is the block : www.beesource.com/plans/pillowblock.htm
here is discussion : http://www.beesource.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-205057.html


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## bermybee (Nov 2, 2008)

Thanks Mike for the information doesn't sound like things worked out for you at all. When you say your filter needed to be cleaned twice as much, what type of setup did you have? 

Maybe things worked out better for some one else????????????????????? :scratch:

Also Mike when your talking about the Cowen & say "less wax but other small problems" could you please elaborate:s.


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## wildbranch2007 (Dec 3, 2008)

bermybee said:


> When you say your filter needed to be cleaned twice as much, what type of setup did you have?
> 
> Maybe things worked out better for some one else????????????????????? :scratch:
> 
> Also Mike when your talking about the Cowen & say "less wax but other small problems" could you please elaborate:s.


The person I sold it to loves it. If you are set up to let the honey settle and then filter people say it works fine. I didn't have the room to put in a small milk tank or equivilent.

My filtering was a double siev SS. like they sell in all the catalogs, into a maxant settling tank, pumped through two maxant filters. the siev basiclly wouldn't flow any honey and the maxant filters pluged up with wax after two supers.

the cowens is fast and does a good job, minor problems, you have to uncap some parts of the frames by hand if comb was uneven, the chain uncapper took off more comb(I use 9 frame), with the block would have been able to adjust better. the cowens tears new frames wear the cuttors drag on the frames, but less damage than the chain uncapper. It uses heat and alot of people want(natural = no heat) so the chain uncapper would have been prefered for that.
The cowens can have two sets of cutters, mine came with one set that basicly causes the same wax problem, ordered the second set that looks like a knife and works a whole lot better for me.

mike


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## MAXANT (Sep 13, 2008)

The pillow blocks are adjustable now, in and out with almost 3/4" of movement each way. Years ago, they were not.
The chains are also all stainless steels, years ago they were not, and each link is spotwelded on the end.
Good luck on your quest bermybee, you know where to find us!


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## bermybee (Nov 2, 2008)

MAXANT said:


> The pillow blocks are adjustable now, in and out with almost 3/4" of movement each way. Years ago, they were not.
> The chains are also all stainless steels, years ago they were not, and each link is spotwelded on the end.
> Good luck on your quest bermybee, you know where to find us!



Thanks again Mike:thumbsup:

Jake I figured by now you guys would have fixed the adjustment problem.  When you say spot welded end are you talking about to the real itself or at the end of the chain instead of the rivets? How is this an improvement when compered to your older models? 
If you would be able to answer any of the other questions I asked above also, I would greatly appreciate it. :s:


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## MAXANT (Sep 13, 2008)

The end of each link is spot welded(Its fun spot welding them, link by link by link by link..............inch: ). Some years ago someone complained that the links were breaking off in their capping so we decided to spot weld each individual link(Thats alot of links!). Rivets are to harsh on frames and comb. 
I am not sure why the pillow block wasnt adjustable from day 1, not an issue any more.
As for the spinner, line the inside of the basket with the provided window screen. When the cappings are dry to your likings, shut it down and tug on the screen. This will make the wax fall to the center in nice clumps where it can then be removed by hand, or removing the basket.
Typically you will run it to about 110lbs of cappings before emptying.


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## goldenmeadowhoney (Apr 14, 2009)

I have used the Maxant chain uncapper spinner combo for several years
extracting 2000 honey supers per year.

some things to consider with the combo

as in all extracting ,supers need to be warm for the uncapper to work best

if the honey is cold and is on plastic the uncapper can pull off comb
that also happens with my $34,000 cowen system

the spinner will need to be cleaned mid day

you will need some type of sump or clarifier to collect the honey from the extractor and spinner (heated)

can pump to a filter or to settling tanks and the honey will be fine.

If your budget is tight and you have lots of supers to do, the combo will work fine.

a gunness uncapper works extremely fast but puts lots of wax flakes in the honey that you need to spin out or have more sumps to float out.

My cowen works perfectly but I still needed to add a cook & beals spinner to handle all that wax/honey mixture.

all that machinery is costly

I just sold my Maxant combo unit

I still have a used sideliner/conveyor/sump for sale that I used with my combo to hold frames and honey.
We also sell and stock the full line of Maxant honey processing equipment

If you want more info on the Maxant combo please e-mail me

[email protected]

Andy
Reseska Apiaries,Inc
Holliston,MA


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## Joel (Mar 3, 2005)

We've run a Maxant Chain Uncapper for 3 years (prior was a maxant plane) and sell around 20,000 lbs of honey retail a year. We've yet to have a complaint about honey clarity. We run into a clarifier which I think eliminates most of the air issue. We do not have a spinner (because of the clarifier) but have used one and they are great. You'll make the money back in honey if you are producing an amount of uncapping you need a chain uncapper and it leaves the wax dry like oatmeal and ready to process. If you are buying one use there is an allen screw in the center shaft that can be a real sticker, make sure you check to see that it will come loose before you load it for home.


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## dblocher (Dec 8, 2011)

Best purchase I ever made. I have the combo uncapper/spinner. With the honey I recover from 200-250 supers/year, it paid for itself within 4 years. I was able to find a used one at a steep discount, but I would not hesitate to buy new, as improvements have been made from my model, i.e., mine has galvanized chains rather than stainless, as they do now, no adjustment to cutting depth, and probably others... As everyone says and knows the quality of all their products is superb--these are built to last. How much honey you can recover depends of course on the temperature of the cappings slurry and how long you spin it. In my case, I have a very old Bogenschutz uncapping machine (now Cook and Beals), so that's what I use to uncap with, and I shovel in the cappings after they've drained for a couple of days in the uncapper, and then run the spinner for an hour. Out of 60 pounds of slurry, you may have 10-12 pounds of wax and honey. And I'm spinning cappings that may be 50-60 degrees. I know you would get a better result if they were warm, but you can only do so much. And as I said, the combo has already paid for itself, even without using the uncapper regularly
Howevever, if you use the Maxant uncapper, and uncap into the spinner while it is running, the result is truly amazing--almost paper dry cappings result. The difference may be the size of the wax flake from the Maxant vs the tiny wax particles from the Bogenschutz, or maybe that you're not tossing in big globs of slurry. No matter, it does a beautiful job with both. 
As far as air in the honey, I dump the pail of honey into a clarifier. Always leave the gate open when you are running the spinner, and you won't have a problem with air bubbles.
As for as the uncapper, when my Bogenschutz dies, I'll use the Maxant uncapper. It's simple, quick, and does a good job, but can leave a cell or two at the top uncapped, which you can fix with an uncapping fork. Also, I've noticed that if there is propolis under the ears of the frame, that will raise the frame and result in the top 1 or 2 rows of cells not being uncapped. When I get to that stage, I'll probably get the pillow block modification to allow for cutting depth, but it works right out of the box.
Honestly, I cannot say enough good about Maxant. Their machines are built to last a lifetime (and longer), well-designed, and of the highest quality material. I've got a hodge-podge of equipment, but have a bottling tank, wax melting tank, and this combo uncapper/spinner. Love all the Maxant equipment--trouble-free.


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## BGhoney (Sep 26, 2007)

I have an older Maxant chain uncapper and a new maxant junior cappings spinner. They are built great. Dont have a complant with either. The uncapper misses some low spots on 10 frame supers but 9 frame stuff gets almost all. The cappings spinner is great, cuts down on all the waste. I extract on a small scale, 20 frame extractor. I put about 20-25 supers worth of cappings in the spinner, the wax cappings are around 2 inches thick in the spinner at that time. Let it run a few hours and add the next load.


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