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Black Walnut Hulling

Posted: Sat Oct 02, 2010 2:09 pm
by Eugene
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Current price is 11 cents a pound for hulled black walnuts.

The process begins by dumping the walnuts into the hopper. Elevator carries the walnuts and drops them into a cylinder (round cage made of heavy steel bars). Inside the cylinder/cage is a rotating shaft with chains attached (flail). Chains are set at an angle to move the hulled walnuts to the rear of the machine - dropping the nuts into the bags. Hulls drop through the bars of the cylinder and are carried toward to front of the machine to the elevator - dropping the hulls into the manure spreader.

Each bag weighs about 60 or 70 lbs. Bag are weighed then stacked on pallets.

I have guessing 400 or 500 black walnut trees on the acreage. This year I have only two trees that produced nuts. Normally I pickup, hull, dry and then crack and pick, 4 or 5 milk crates full of hulled walnuts a year for my own use. This year I may get enough walnuts for my own use. Nothing to sell.

This winter I am cleaning up about 4/10 acre. I have tagged 63 black walnut trees in the 4/10 acre to trim, remove vines and release. Release = remove surrounding trees that shade the walnuts.

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Employee cleaning out built up hulls inside the machine.

Re: Black Walnut Hulling

Posted: Sat Oct 02, 2010 2:57 pm
by Virginia Mike
Looks faster than a Blackhawk corn sheller.

Re: Black Walnut Hulling

Posted: Sat Oct 02, 2010 7:18 pm
by beaconlight
We always hulled by laying in drive way and driving over same.. Noine at all this year. There was frost killed the blossoms and first set of leaves. Fortunately the trees laeved again and got through the year. Always next year.

Re: Black Walnut Hulling

Posted: Sat Oct 02, 2010 7:44 pm
by Eugene
Photos are of a buying station. You must bring in the unhulled walnuts.

For my personal use, I dump the walnuts on the drive and run over them. Float test the nuts. Bad nuts float. Wash and dry the nuts. Nuts are then stored in milk crates under shelter until it gets to crappy to work outside.

I am getting a few nuts from a neighbor's tree and replanting them. This tree is straight, first branch is about 20 plus feet above the ground.

I'm getting a high percentage of floaters, bad nuts, this year. There is always next year.

Re: Black Walnut Hulling

Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2010 3:21 am
by Yogie
Eugene, are the leftovers saved after hulling to make stain and such ? Just guessing, but that's always where I thought it came from. :roll:
Next weekend here in Spencer, WV we have a big blow out called the Black Walnut Festival. Pretty big deal here with thousands of people pouring into town.

Re: Black Walnut Hulling

Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2010 9:15 am
by John *.?-!.* cub owner
A little it of hillbilly engineering
Back before the commercial hullers traveled around we would jack up one rear wheel of our old 51 Chevy pickup and put a snow tire on it. We then built a wooden trough just wide enough for the tire to fit in and let it down just enough that the hulled nuts were a tight fit under the tire. Blocked the other wheels and ran the truck at a fast idle (not a good set up with a limited slip rear end :lol: ). We stretched an old binder canvas a few feet behind it and would throw the walnuts into the trough in front of the wheel. The wheel would knock the hulls off and they would go 3 or 4 feet out the back, but the walnuts had enough force to go 10 or 15 feet and would be caught by the binder canvas. Occasionally would would hang up in front of the tire and we would have to use a stick to reach in and push it harder into the tire. Like many other things we did many years ago, it was not the safest thing in the world, but by being careful it was safe.

Re: Black Walnut Hulling

Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2010 11:52 am
by Eugene
Yogie wrote:Eugene, are the leftovers saved after hulling to make stain and such ?
The hulls are loaded into the manure spreader and then broadcast on near by fields. The hulled walnuts are shipped (guessing) about 200 miles to the processing facility. It is probably not profitable to save the hulls and ship to a processing location to make stain. Actually, I don't know how they make walnut stain - something for me to look up.

Again guessing, the hull is about 60% of the entire walnut. So there is a lot more hulls to use or dispose of than nuts.

Re: Black Walnut Hulling

Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2010 3:14 pm
by bear10
I was under the impression that walnut hulls were toxic, meaning it woul kill all vegatation

Re: Black Walnut Hulling

Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2010 6:29 pm
by Eugene
bear10 wrote:I was under the impression that walnut hulls were toxic, meaning it would kill all vegatation
http://www.extension.umn.edu/yardandgarden/ygbriefs/h407blkwal-tox.html

Above, an article on the subject. Black walnut is toxic to some types of plants. More of a concern around vegetable gardens than any place else. If black walnuts were toxic to all vegatation I would have 36 acres of nothing but walnut trees.

Actually many types of vegatation such as pasture grasses, brush, trees and weeds grow quite well under black walnut trees. I'm currently in the process of cleaning up 4/10 acre, under, in and around 63 black walnuts trees. Any way, spent 6 hours in the last two days girdling honey locust trees in the 4/10 acre. And I'm still not done girdling trees.

Re: Black Walnut Hulling

Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 1:11 pm
by Dan England
Some sixty years ago when I was growing up in south Missouri, some folks collected green walnut hulls to drop into pools of water in creeks. I have never seen it done but it was said to poison fish which would soon float to the surface where they could be collected for food. As you can imagine, that practice was frowned on by game and fish personnel. Also used at that time, although illegal, was putting fish traps in streams during spring of the year. Wings made of chicken wire would be run from the trap to each bank, forming a "V" which directed fish to the open mouth of the trap. Once in the trap, the fish could not escape. Hopefully, public attitudes toward conservation of natural resources have now improved. Dan

Re: Black Walnut Hulling

Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 5:00 pm
by Eugene
Dan England wrote:Also used at that time, although illegal, was putting fish traps in streams during spring of the year. Wings made of chicken wire would be run from the trap to each bank, forming a "V" which directed fish to the open mouth of the trap. Once in the trap, the fish could not escape.
Hopefully the statute of limitations has run out. The brother of an uncle by marriage used to set fish traps in the spring or when ever the rivers were rising.

Went to a farm auction several years ago at what used to be an old ferry acrossing on the Gasconade river in Missouri. Up for auction was quite a number of fish traps, sold as decorative items.

Couple other relatives and family friends had low areas that flooded. They had gates that they could close off the flooded area. When the water started dropping they would go out and pick up the fish.

That would have been in the late 1950's.

Re: Black Walnut Hulling

Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 5:47 pm
by Dan England
Yep, Eugene, the events which I described occured during late forties. At that time, many residents felt that they should be able to hunt/fish in any fashion and at any time of the year. Hopefully, education has brought about an appreciation of game and fish personnel but they were viewed as enemies by many people during my early years. Dan

Re: Black Walnut Hulling

Posted: Sat Oct 23, 2010 9:20 am
by Brent
:big embarrased: :big embarrased:

My brother-in-law has a black walnut tree in his back yard. I haven't seen one since I left the east coast 47 years ago. I picked up one nut, still green, and pealed the green shell off. Took a week to get the stain off my hands. Maybe stain comes from green walnuts.

Re: Black Walnut Hulling

Posted: Sat Oct 23, 2010 10:18 am
by Oliver Douglas
Eugene,
I had a black walnut tree in the yard of a house I owned 30 years ago. My two young kids were outside playing and came in stained from head to toe. I don't remember how we got them cleaned up but we must of found something. Never knew you could "test" walnuts by putting them in water. Thanks for sharing that.

Re: Black Walnut Hulling

Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2010 10:33 pm
by Eugene
Black walnut stain sort of wears off the hands. Doesn't wash off.

In elementary school we had an inspection almost every day. You get a gold star for the day if you were super clean. Silver star if you were so so. Walnut season - I got no stars due to walnut stained hands.

Not sure what that school girl inspector would think of my farm labor, mechanic's hands now.