New Crusher / Destemmer

[Johnd]

Finally got on the ball and ordered my new crusher / destemmer and stand. The stand arrived this morning and the machine is scheduled in this afternoon. Apparently shipped from different locations, the stand was Fedex and the machine comes by freight later today.

Bit the bullet and got the Enoltalia Motorized, All Stainless model and matching Enoltalia stainless steel stand. The unit is purported to have a max hourly throughput of 1.5 tons, though I won’t be challenging it’s production capacity.

Pretty stoked for harvest time this year, still need to finalize my order, but will be filling a 60 gallon French barrel with some unctuous wine for a two year ride.

 

[ibglowin]

Congratulations! I believe you are officially......... "ALL IN" !!!!!!!

 

[Kraffty]

Awesome! but I can see it already, 800lbs of grapes, 10 mins work, 60 mins clean up and you mumbling "damn, better get at least 1500 lbs next year".
You will LOVE it,
Mike

 

[heatherd]

Nice!!!

 

[Johnd]

It’s a beast!! Standing 5’-6” to the top of the loading hopper, but plenty of room for the 32 gallon fermenter to fit under when it’s got its wheels on it. It’ll be nice to be tall when it’s time to load the hopper. Runs nice and smooth, no metallic noises, all in working order. Guess I’ll have to put it away until October.

 

[Johnd]

Awesome! but I can see it already, 800lbs of grapes, 10 mins work, 60 mins clean up and you mumbling "damn, better get at least 1500 lbs next year".
You will LOVE it,
Mike

I’m looking forward to it, probably do somewhere around 1000 - 1200 pounds this fall. I’m only planning on making wine once a year, so gotta make it count.

 

[ibglowin]

Pretty! Can't wait to see it covered in sticky grape juice and skins!

It’s a beast!! Standing 5’-6” to the top of the loading hopper, but plenty of room for the 32 gallon fermenter to fit under when it’s got its wheels on it. It’ll be nice to be tall when it’s time to load the hopper. Runs nice and smooth, no metallic noises, all in working order. Guess I’ll have to put it away until October.
View attachment 50236

 

[NorCal]

Very Cool! I have a stand as well and works great for the <500 pounds. Anything over that I put 2X4 across the macrobin and crush right into it.

 

[Johnd]

Pretty! Can't wait to see it covered in sticky grape juice and skins!

Guess it’ll be here before we know it, hope it doesn’t ruin the white carpet.....

 

[Johnd]

Very Cool! I have a stand as well and works great for the <500 pounds. Anything over that I put 2X4 across the macrobin and crush right into it.

Mrs. JohnD would frown at a macrobin in the sun room, it’s easier to get away with the 32’s on wheels, I’ll need to pick up a few more before the time comes.

 

[ibglowin]

You might want to think about moving someplace with a floor you can hose down!

Guess it’ll be here before we know it, hope it doesn’t ruin the white carpet.....

 

[Boatboy24]

It’s a beast!! Standing 5’-6” to the top of the loading hopper, but plenty of room for the 32 gallon fermenter to fit under when it’s got its wheels on it. It’ll be nice to be tall when it’s time to load the hopper. Runs nice and smooth, no metallic noises, all in working order. Guess I’ll have to put it away until October.
View attachment 50236

You may want to have a damp paper towel on hand to dab any drops off that rug. LOL!!

 

[Johnd]

You might want to think about moving someplace with a floor you can hose down!

You may want to have a damp paper towel on hand to dab any drops off that rug. LOL!!

For sure, the C/D process will require a much more comprehensive plan. Might just have to bite the bullet and do it outside in the garage and hose it all down when done. Just depends on the temps, don’t want to start with must 80’s or 90’s.

 

[Ajmassa]

It’s a beast!! Standing 5’-6” to the top of the loading hopper, but plenty of room for the 32 gallon fermenter to fit under when it’s got its wheels on it. It’ll be nice to be tall when it’s time to load the hopper. Runs nice and smooth, no metallic noises, all in working order. Guess I’ll have to put it away until October.
View attachment 50236

All stainless. Nice. I expected nothing less from you.

I think outside is best. I got my c/d last minute before grapes and whipped together a stand and chute the night before. Sucker was so powerful it was spraying my entire body with grape juice! Realized quickly a chute guard was also needed. And even with that, the mess was unavoidable.

Awesome new toy. She’s a beaut Clark.

 

[ibglowin]

From my experience the most important thing is to keep any direct sun off it. Seems to dry grape juice in no time. You will have to hose the C/D down on the driveway for 20 minutes with the hose (high pressure) to get all the hidden areas that skins and juice will hide out of site. Figure out a way to cool down the garage for a few hours while you C/D. Portable A/C, swamp cooler, misters whatever. keep it cool and moist and keep the juice from sticking to everything as it will go EVERYWHERE you don't want it to go guaranteed. You will also need a can to catch the stems coming out the side as well. LOL

Might just have to bite the bullet and do it outside in the garage and hose it all down when done. Just depends on the temps, don’t want to start with must 80’s or 90’s.

 

[Johnd]

All stainless. Nice. I expected nothing less from you.

I think outside is best. I got my c/d last minute before grapes and whipped together a stand and chute the night before. Sucker was so powerful it was spraying my entire body with grape juice! Realized quickly a chute guard was also needed. And even with that, the mess was unavoidable.

Awesome new toy. She’s a beaut Clark.

Using the one at FVW last year, I saw where the mess issues come from. I’ll have a little piece of plexiglass hinged to the stand to cover the open front side of the chute, the rotating fingers inside the destemmer sling juice out of the front. Want something clear so I can see what’s happening in there, easy to open to clear any problems. No way to eliminate messes, but minimizing is good.

 

[Johnd]

From my experience the most important thing is to keep any direct sun off it. Seems to dry grape juice in no time. You will have to hose the C/D down on the driveway for 20 minutes with the hose (high pressure) to get all the hidden areas that skins and juice will hide out of site. Figure out a way to cool down the garage for a few hours while you C/D. Portable A/C, swamp cooler, misters whatever. keep it cool and moist and keep the juice from sticking to everything as it will go EVERYWHERE you don't want it to go guaranteed. You will also need a can to catch the stems coming out the side as well. LOL

Got a 12 x 12 pop up for camping if it’s hot and sunny, and a pressure washer, cleanup will be fine, just don’t want superheated must. Also have 55 gal trash cans that’ll fit under the stem discharge end. If it’s too hot, I could put the grapes in the wine room overnight and C/D in the early AM, the grapes would be 55 F, good start that way. Kinda got the scenarios worked out in my head.

C/D’d 16 lugs at FVW last year, really inefficient setup and an hourly employee, no thoughts at all about how to minimize the spray out of the machine. Short, improperly sized receptacles to catch must, I learned a lot. By the end, we were skating around in a slippery mess, and there were many groups waiting behind me. That had to be a holy mess by the end of the day. I took notes.

 

[ibglowin]

Keep some dry ice on hand and toss it in to the recently crushed bins. That will keep it cool until you can move it into your winery/cellar room

 

[Scott Harbison]

Wow! That's a nice looking piece of equipment. I sure hope I'll get to play assistant when you fire that bad boy up!

 

[winorookie]

It looks great. I've been thinking of getting the manual version but the shipping cost seems awfully high. I keep looking for a lower shipping cost but everyone seems to want about 200 to ship the destemmer. I destemmed and crushed by hand 105 lbs of a rubiano grape last year and spent 4 hour s doing so which finished up with a stem free must but my back was killing me.