need a job done

Steve,call a few local shops.,and mention that you will bepaying in cash, they will be very receptive.

I'm not sure about that design. When I moved to TX and found I had pecan trees I searched around for pecan shelling machinery designs and don't recall any that cracked across the short dimension, they all worked on the long dimension. I found the easiest thing for me is a 1T arbor press where I can just stand the pecan on end and apply a small amount of force to crack without crushing. The separation once cracked is the real challenge and from what I found far too complicated to try to replicate small scale.

I am thinking you would need some kind of sizing process, and then crackers setup for each size.

Had investigated short travel actuators that could deliver a stout blow to a nut held so it impacted the ends. Might still go to that. I would eventually like to come up with something that allows me to get two halves out, even if it takes some finger time, and it is not all automatic. The machines for that are around $15k. It needs to shatter from both ends without compressing enough to contact or damage the meat. Probably 1/16" to 1/8", something it would be easy to do with an actuator and some steel stops. Even did some experimentation with dropping ball bearings, but didn't have the inertia, and the variables of the different nut ends produced nonrepeatable results.

For right now, some people want the nuts just cracked, and they will extract the meat. This would be the purpose of this machine. Just crack them enough for the buyer to do the rest. Some places charge up to 50 cents a pound to crack pecans. Sounds pretty lucrative to me for running them between two spinning rollers.

Steve

A grape crusher works that way, adjustable rollers and all although the rollers are much different. Try to get a look at one to see how the drive and roller adjustment works.

A thought, if all you want is the two rollers turning in opposite directions you can do that with a bicycle chain (or motorcycle) by running the chain over one sprocket and under the other. With a spring loaded idler you can change the roller spacing easily.

My great uncle Bill built several that used opposed cylindrical weights, about 1-1/2" x 4", sliding on rails 1" apart. One weight was operated by hand to load a pecan, the second weight with limited travel was struck every few seconds by a third which was drawn back and released by a little gearmotor and cam. I don't remember the release mechanism, but it was simple. Force was regulated by the number of rubber bands on either side of the striker. Pull back the hand weight, stick in a pecan (there were conical recesses both sides to hold the pecan), the striker would be released hitting the limited travel weight, pecan breaks, drop the pecan through to a bucket underneath, stick in another. It went pretty quick, and they were perfectly cracked for separation.

If I had any bearing pecan trees, I'd build one.

Pete Keillor

There has to be lots of ways, to satisfy the demand for Pecan Pie. A little bit of searching came up with the following patent, which has the counter-rotating rollers that catch and break the shell.

US 6541057

Go to or Google Patents for copies.

Joe Gwinn

Google a Rocket nut cracker.