- Joined
- Oct 16, 2012
- Messages
- 17,700
- Reaction score
- 8,906
- Location
- Fareham, Hampshire UK
- Hive Type
- 14x12
- Number of Hives
- 6
It's marketed by a company in Germany but I suspect made in China or the Far East. I have one the same .. very good value and less than £120 when I bought mine (although it arrived with a dent and all the nuts and bolts loose and I got them to refund £25 off the price as a result !).
It won't quite take a 14 x 12 frame but I think with a bit of minor modification it could as the drum is wide and deep enough. I've modded mine the same as Millet - dead easy .. I just got some stainless rod and bent it round a mandrel to make the hoops which just sit around the existing cage to hold the frame lugs - dead easy mod.
It will take 8 shallow frames tangentially as well as there is room in the basket for two in each quadrant ..
Issues with it:
The ball bearing as Millet says .. don't lose it !
The lid on mine was not quite big enough and it's not attached to the drum or the winder support .. it dropped into the drum when I was testing it ..at high speed. An interesting experience ... I've made a bigger lid with proper locating lugs so it can't now drop into the drum.
Some of the steel is not as stainless as it might be .. the drum and basket are good but the winder support and the centre spindle need to be dried off well after use as they 'bloom' a little.
I had to replace some of the nuts as the domed nuts supplied did not have enough depth of thread to tighten down fully.
The honey gate leaked - really cheap and nasty one - replaced with a better one from Simon the Beekeeper - they are not welded in .. they are just polypropylene bolt in type - easy fix.
It's not very heavy (good in some respects) so it really needs a base to sit in when being used or it does tend to walk around the floor.
The stainless of the drum is fairly thin so it can dent - but the dents push out easily (I've done it !).
The legs would be better if they were about 2" longer as a 30lb bucket won't quite fit under the honey gate. (I have a cunning plan in hand for that as well !).
These are all a bit 'picky' .. if it was a Lega and not a cheap clone I would have to complain about it ... but, for what it cost and for what little work it has to do - great to have the convenience of my own extractor and it works well. All in all .. I'd recommend it. Perhaps not at £180 but they can be found cheaper ...
