Perry &/or Dadant 20 frame extractor owners

[Perry]

a 24 frame model was just up near me for $600.00.

That sounds like a pretty good deal to me!

[rober]

if I did not already have one i'd have bought it!!

[apisbees]

I have a couple A 20 frame AI Root 1930 to 1950 arra and A 2 frame hand crank that with baskets that flip. When I started with bees most beekeepers were using deeps for both brood and honey. The amount of frames to extract and the the cost of mediums by the time you have super frames and foundation and factored in your time or cost of labor, You get 1/3rd more honey storage in a deep for close to the same price as what a medium costs. Due to this the extractors were mainly designed to accommodate deep frames. Your choices were either 2 or 4 frame extractors in a fixed basket or hinged basket design. The next step up was going to radial which had a starting capacity of about 20 frames.
In the past few years they have come out with combination design extractors that can hold deep frames tangent and twice to three times as many mediums radiantly.
With the number of hives you are wanting to get to I would go for an extractor that will hold the frames radial and with a motor with a variable speed drive.

Although this extractor is listed out of stock I read that they were expecting another shipment in about the middle of August. you could contact seller to confirm.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/VIVO-New-Electric-Four-4-Frame-Stainless-Steel-Honey-Extractor-Model-BEE-V004E-/361194588461

[Papakeith]

the only time I get excessive wobble is when I have frames that have had brood in them.  They are much heavier than honey only frames.  Once I culled those frames out I hardly ever seem to have a walking extractor.

[Perry]

Mine might thump a bit when I get frames with large amounts of pollen stuck in them. It's balanced to begin with, but once the honey slings out they go off kilter.

[Perry]

I just found this video of a nice honey house that runs what looks like 2 Dadant 20 framers. What caught my eye in the video is the "wobble" we have been discussing, and it shows it here at around the 2:10 mark. You can see the clearance between the reel and the wall and how it fluctuates to some degree. Mine does this as well, but I do not believe it is "unbalanced" as it runs smoothly. I think if you liken it to a car wheel, if it is unbalanced they simply add weights to it to get them to run smoothly. I assume when they assemble these things that any anomaly in the balance is accounted for and corrected.