Time for a filter press.

[ericjeeper]

I am in the market for an electric gear pump filter press,to old to be hand pumping. Daryl is going to put me together a price,I am also looking at other models too.. Any suggestions in the $1500 and under range?

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[jimsudz]

you can get a wes-fab short bank for $1200-$1300

[nymapleguy607]

I am assuming you have a 5" hand press made by Daryl already. If you dont need the larger capacity of a 7" press you could convert your current press to use either a gear pump or air pump. I have one of Daryl's presses and I just purchased an air pump to retro fit it. I had thought about a gear pump but after pricing out a pump and motor combo it was cheaper to go with air powered. I should add that I was pricing a stainless steel gear pump, you could go with a brass pump but I know some places are phasing them out due to the risk of lead.

[super sappy]

I have a wes-Fab Short bank now. Id rather have a CDL or a D&G because they have thicker plates and you can get more syrup thru them . I can get like 13 - 14 gallons thru on the short bank that I have , Not quite enough to hot pack a single beer keg without changing papers. -Foamy

[ericjeeper]

I currently gravity filter.

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[ericjeeper]

But I only bottle in glass. I want crystal clear syrup.

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[BreezyHill]

Last season I repowered my hand press with a gear pump for under $200 with a new pump and motor off ebay. Fittings were local. Works good but need more capacity so as not to change papers as often. Works good if we have time to keep up with the draw off.

[WESTMAPLES]

wesfab makes nice units I have a 10 in short stack works great paid a good bit for it, but it was well worth it. depending on how much your doing or your buget try for a electric powered unit, and once you get the hang of it you will wish you got one sooner any brand will do..... then you will have crystal clear syrup with ease

[highlandcattle]

We got ours at our dealer during open house so got a good deal. It saved our marriage. Seriously. Used a canner filter for years. Great with a small operation but not when you get bigger and no patience. Worth every penny(well lots of pennies)got a Wes fab short bank

[Starting Small]

At how many gallons per year do you all suggest getting a press after working from a gravity canner?
-Dave

[Shaun]

I have made 11 to 45 gallons and have a 7 inch full bank press. My father makes 100 to 200 and uses flat filters. He gets backed up pretty good during the season and it takes days to filter, 10-15 gallon batches at a time. He has time.

You wont regret getting a press if money allows. I'm very small and press into a 16 gallon electric honey bottler and have great results. The filtering and bottling is far less stressful and the electric bottler lets you bottle in glass with confidence.

[lpakiz]

You will NEVER regret a filter press. If the situation allows, look into air powered diaphragm pumps, too. They are very user friendly.

[MISugarDaddy]

Highland you make me laugh. Last year I convinced my wife we should invest in a filter press, so we got a Wes Fab short bank. Prior to getting it all we ever used was a gravity filter. Do to medical issues my wife was having the last two years we only produced 40 gallons per year, but after getting the filter press, it sure was a lot more fun and led to a lot less cursing on my part. Now we don't dread filtering syrup. We only wish we had gotten one sooner.
Gary

[ericjeeper]

7" wes fab short stack or 5" Daryl?

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[WESTMAPLES]

i vote wes fab

[ericjeeper]

I am looking for actual facts on size,compatible for upgrades and such.

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[WESTMAPLES]

well the 10 short stack i feel does between 20-27 gals (depending amount of nitre or whatnot the syrup has in it ) , it easy to load papers and charge , disassemble and clean/ flush (has a nice large drip pan under filter plate bank ), has 3rd port so it can be used as a syrup pump without doing more that turning the valve and picking up the hose. and a pump of FG grease to the gear pump once or twice a season for maintenance . overall great machine i worried.... thinking i was getting to far ahead of my production when i bought it.... its a tremendous help with the biggest PITA part of making alot of syrup every year. now when it comes time to filter and pack i think to myself ` have no fear, the syrup press is here`... lol any filter press should help keep things moving ( without waiting) toward the bottling process good luck

[mellondome]

You should get more from a 10 short than that. I get 20 with a 3 bank 7"( narrow plates).

As for comparison, 5 in press had less surface area which means slower filtering flow. With them being custom built, you may be able to expand them. 7" are everywhere. Expansion is available and they are easy to resell if you want to go bigger. Most 7" units are Aluminum. Daryls 5" I beleive are milled from stainless. Smoky lake is also putting out a 7" which is milled stainless.

A short bank (3 hollow plates) 7" will get you roughly 200 sq/in of filtering surface.
Same setup in a 5" will get you roughly 100 sq in filtering surface.

In 10", 3 bank will get you roughly 460 sq in filtering surface.

The new 7.5" POLY from leader will get about 250 sq in filter surface for 3 bank.

[mellondome]

As for how much you can filtwr per paper change depends on :
Narrow or wide hollow plates
If you prefilter off the evaporator
Early or late season
Amount of niter/sugarsand in syrup.

I have found that taking the small amount of time to prefilter the syrup @ the drawoff will almost double the amount I can filter before changing papers.

[WESTMAPLES]

honestly never pushed it to it limits and i don`t take notes. 20-27 is what i was told when i bought it . i could be very wrong but thats what i remember, i only bought the 10in short because i had already bought a 4 sets of used 10in wes fab center plates to make my own press but ran short on time, bought the 10 in short thinking in 5 years i will expand it to a full bank 10in. and yes ive filtered 25 gals of batched syrup my bro in law made it was full of nitre and other stuff ( which i would consider `dirty syrup` ) and the press filtered it clear with little effort and probly could have done more. my own syrup its usually 20 gals each round and its doesn`t have much nitre or whatnot to begin with so i clean the press when im done, because i think to myself that im not going to try to push another 20 gals thru it, and have it f*#k up on me or blow a paper.

[WESTMAPLES]

oh yeah and 20 gals thru a 7in short stack that 5 more gals than most of the 10-15 gal specs the manufacture says it will do, im not going to jump allover you for begin higher from what the specs says thanks

[mellondome]

oh yeah and 20 gals thru a 7in short stack that 5 more gals than most of the 10-15 gal specs the manufacture says it will do, im not going to jump allover you for begin higher from what the specs says thanks

Thanks.
Last year I tried to skip the prefilter at my drawoff. It dropped me to the 10 gal range. Changing prefilter is easier then changing papers.

[WESTMAPLES]

exactly mellondome, ericjeeper once you get the hang of changing papers and prefilters... you will have time to burn lol, compared to gravity filtering especially when your tried and want to get everything filtered & bottled before the syrup cools for the day.

[Shaun]

It is possible to put a plate in backwards. Pumped some hot pack jugs full of DE. Hours to clean up re-heat and re-jug. Only make that mistake once.

[VT_K9]

We have had a filter press for the last three years. It has been a great investment. The clarity in the syrup is stunning, especially if you package in glass. Last year we skipped the pre-filter for the first time. Thinking that maybe we can get a little more syrup by not loosing any to a prefilter. Definitely seemed to fill the filters a little faster without using the prefilter. I am not sure how much syrup we really save. Maybe a 1/2 pint over 70 gallons.

We have a Wesfab short filter. I think we run about 10 gallons through each set of papers.

Good luck,

Mike