Do I need a press?

[geek]

Things got in the way yesterday and we headed down to the city, so texted the guy to try again today, BUT now it has been snowing up here and will continue to snow until early AM
Just hating this freaking snow....

Maybe tomorrow....thanks for checking

Budget is a bit tight now though, so I thought about making an offer of $100 but he said on the phone his price is firm.
I also noticed the add says "extra handmade dunnage, missing pipe to turn ratchet but easily made at depot".
Wondering what piece is the "dunnage".
Also missing the pipe to turn ratchet but assume any steel tube or something like it should work.

 

[nicklausjames]

If you are doing 5 gallons of wine at a time just use a kitchen pasta strainer. Use a sterile plate or something to push on the grapes in the strainer. Don't push too hard. Keep in mind you may quickly start to do more wine. For example I started winemaking about 1.5 years ago. I went from 5 gallon kits to 5 gallon frozen grapes to to 5-10 gallon fresh grapes to 15 gallons. I bought a small press that was fine for 5 gallons. I used it maybe 4 times and needed a larger one. I hardly use it now. I'd recommend looking on craigslist, ebay, etc and trying to find slightly used equipment. Let someone else pay the markup for the new stuff.

 

[JohnT]

Just to weigh in..

Go for it geek! Any steel pipe about 1/2" in diameter should work fine. For the money, I would jump all over it if I were you.

If you plan to continue making from fresh grapes. and this hobby/obsession being what it is, why spend money on something you will definitely replace later?

If you do go an take a look at the press, make sure you test out the ratchet. These types of presses work much like a car jack and you want to make sure that the workings move freely.

 

[geek]

Oh yeah........