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Implement Alley Discussion Forum

Hey Paul, about that walnut dehusker?

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Rod in Smiths F

10-31-2005 12:37:32




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I would like to learn how various people dehusk and crack black walnuts. As a demonstration plot for the 2007 Plowing Match in Crosby, Ontario, we have just finished planting 8 acres of them on a 20 X 20' grid.

We know they grow well on the property. The squirrels have been planting them for years.

Paul mentioned using a corn sheller as a dehusker. Are there any other neat ways to crack the shells and recover the meat from the nuts?

Thanks,

Rod

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RayP(MI)

11-01-2005 17:47:11




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 Re: Hey Paul, about that walnut dehusker? in reply to Rod in Smiths Falls, ON, , 10-31-2005 12:37:32  
Be aware that shelling walnuts from freshly planted seedlings is a looooo ooooo ong way down the road!



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Rod in Smiths Falls, ON,

11-02-2005 04:30:42




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 Re: Hey Paul, about that walnut dehusker? in reply to RayP(MI), 11-01-2005 17:47:11  
Not quite that far, I'm afraid.

My woodlot already holds several dozen mature trees. If I can work out something with the squirrels to get a share of the harvest and I'll have to deal with a significant quantity of nuts.



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paul

11-01-2005 05:54:01




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 Re: Hey Paul, about that walnut dehusker? in reply to Rod in Smiths Falls, ON, , 10-31-2005 12:37:32  
The corn sheller just takes the husk off, easier on the sheller than corn perhaps? The husk drops out the bottom in a gooy mess where the kernals woulda come out, & the nuts pop out where the cobs would.

A hammer & a 2-3 foot stump of wood in the basement is what dad used to crack the black walnuts. Now, the butternuts, _that_ was a chore to get them cracked!!!!!

--->Paul



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Jimmy King

11-01-2005 01:38:06




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 Re: Hey Paul, about that walnut dehusker? in reply to Rod in Smiths Falls, ON, , 10-31-2005 12:37:32  
Here in Southwest Mo you can take them to the local huller and pay them so much a hundred to hull them. It used to be .50 cents, but that was years ago.



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msb

10-31-2005 18:46:37




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 here's an idea in reply to Rod in Smiths Falls, ON, , 10-31-2005 12:37:32  
Dad said when he was a young man, he would jack up one rear wheel on his old car,place a brick under the wheel and then make a tin funnel to guide the walnuts down between the tire and the brick.He would have Grandad run the car while he poured the walnuts out of a bucket into the funnel.Said it worked like a charm for a while that was.Well Grandad never drove a car before and when the old car fell off the jack,down the driveway Grandad went,just a flying.Dad said he yelled how to stop the car,but it was a fence post that stopped the car after it crossed the road.
Wife and I use an old hand corn sheller.Never tore it up yet.Makes fast work out of a nasty job.

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RayP(MI)

10-31-2005 18:40:20




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 Re: Hey Paul, about that walnut dehusker? in reply to Rod in Smiths Falls, ON, , 10-31-2005 12:37:32  
My dad used to use a board with a knot hole in it, and drive the walnuts thru it with a wooden mallet, knocked the husks off pretty well. Me, I like to run over 'em a few times, gather about a third of a 5 gallon bucket and hit them with a high pressure washer. Couple of minutes being thrashed around in the bucket of water with the high pressure spray cleans 'em up real good. Throw 'em in the grass or on the sidewalk to dry for a day or two and you're ready to go. Dad used to use a 12oz framing hammer, and worked over a small stand he built out of a pile of cement blocks. Top block had a small indentation in it, and that was ideal to place the nut in it for cracking. I use a large Vice-Grip pliers, set to crush down just enough to crack the nut, and not destroy the meat!

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KEH

10-31-2005 16:12:33




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 Re: Hey Paul, about that walnut dehusker? in reply to Rod in Smiths Falls, ON, , 10-31-2005 12:37:32  

On the rare occasions when I crack walnuts, I use a machinists vise. Works every time, just slow.

KEH



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Jeb2N

10-31-2005 15:48:19




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 Re: Hey Paul, about that walnut dehusker? in reply to Rod in Smiths Falls, ON, , 10-31-2005 12:37:32  
I guess I always cringe a little when people start talking about using corn shellers as walnut huskers. The fact is they were made and designed to shell corn, not walnuts. Granted, they may work well for the purpose, but I keep seeing these shellers with all kinds of very large, thick, heavy cast iron teeth missing all over the place on the sheller wheels and the only thing I can think of would be someone tried to shell walnuts with it. That, or they threw in a piece of angle iron and tried to shell it. Both would seem to have the same effect on the sheller.

Please don't take what i've said the wrong way. I'm sure they work great, i'm just saying that if you do decide to use a sheller for walnuts, I would suggest either getting one of the smaller cast iron "blackhawk" style shellers which are currently available new, or be very gentle with the sheller that you do have to prevent it from being damaged extensively as I have seen. I just hate to see good, old, original pieces of machinery get broken due to misuse.

Jeb

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John (MO)

11-01-2005 08:21:17




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 Re: Hey Paul, about that walnut dehusker? in reply to Jeb2N, 10-31-2005 15:48:19  
Walnuts must be larger in your area than they are in mine. I"ve seen corn shellers used to dehusk walnuts for 50 years without damage. The dehusked walnut isn"t any larger than a corn cob and therefore causes no damage to a sheller.



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De;bert from Lincoln

10-31-2005 14:02:31




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 Re: Hey Paul, about that walnut dehusker? in reply to Rod in Smiths Falls, ON, , 10-31-2005 12:37:32  
I kknow of 2 ways to dehusk walmuts. One is the oldfashioned hand corn sheller mentioned. The othe is to thllrow them down in the driveway and drive over them for a while, depending on how much traffic you have. This can also be temptation to squirels that live in the neighbor hood. A hammer and a flat pice of iron or steel is the only way I know to cravk the hard shells and get the meats out. Slow hard work. Have seen several fancy patented gadgits that people bought but none that worked well. After they tried them they went bavck to the hammer method.

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NEsota

10-31-2005 15:02:36




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 Re: Hey Paul, about that walnut dehusker? in reply to De;bert from Lincoln, 10-31-2005 14:02:31  
With some imagination you can make a good walnut cracker. A metal lever about a foot and a half long, L, shaped with an inch and a half leg on the one end,with a pivot mounted for use on the kitchen table will work.



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old

10-31-2005 12:54:00




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 Re: Hey Paul, about that walnut dehusker? in reply to Rod in Smiths Falls, ON, , 10-31-2005 12:37:32  
I have a page from an old magizine that shows a way to make a dehscker. Its a rig that sits under a care/truck tire and you feed the nuts in. This was and has been in a JD-B owners manual from 1935. Some thing my grandfather put in for some reason.



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mark

11-01-2005 13:05:27




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 Re: Hey Paul, about that walnut dehusker? in reply to old, 10-31-2005 12:54:00  
I just finished hulling 15 five gallon buckets of walnuts with my old JD corn sheller...powered with an electric motor...that hand cranking is for the birds! Not a problem and don't expect any. These old sheller innards are made from chilled cast iron and tough as nails. I've seen broken teeth too but I seriously doubt a walnut did it. These old shellers aren't rare by any stretch if you know where to find them.

I have heard of the jacking the car trick before..I imagine the walnuts get shot all over behind the car after that tire hits them.

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Rod in Smiths Falls, ON,

11-01-2005 15:43:11




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 Re: Hey Paul, about that walnut dehusker? in reply to mark, 11-01-2005 13:05:27  
Mark, what do you do with the walnuts?

Is there any viable, small-scale way to reduce them to shells and meat?

How much would a processing mill cost?



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