Wool Press

[Old Tip]

Well, the wool job has suddenly taken a turn for the better.

I may have to break my 'unswerving alligence' to the WB.
Out of the blue, I've had a chap ring me up and ask for 25-30 Lincoln fleeces for some new venture he's embarking on and a local girl wants a sheet full of Herdy wool and another one of Lincoln wool for another new project

This time next year Niths

Hope there paying well, Lincoln Wool should be around a fiver a kilo

 

[Old Tip]

I'd try highway shearing for a price on a new one and see if they know of any second hand ones.

Asked and they weren’t very helpful I’m afraid

 

[Guiggs]

Depends on how much and what you want doing with it plus what your turn round time is.
Under 500kg is very expensive but if your not in a rush some firms are cheaper than others, on average a hundred kilos of greasy wool will cost you £2k to get 60kg of knitting wool back.
If you want more info pm me or @delilah

Bloody hell!!!
Pricey!

 

[Old Tip]

Bloody hell!!!
Pricey!

Yep it certainly adds up

 

[tepapa]

Bloody hell!!!
Pricey!

100kg's would be a bloody full wool sack, pressed into every corner and bulging at the seam, or two full but not packed sheets. So not a lot of wool in fairness but a heafty price to process it.

 

[Old Tip]

100kg's would be a bloody full wool sack, pressed into every corner and bulging at the seam, or two full but not packed sheets. So not a lot of wool in fairness but a heafty price to process it.

Depends on the type of wool, Teeswaters you will get 150kg in a wool sheet easy, more bouncy wool like Cheviot more like 70kg

 

[Hilly]

Depends on how much and what you want doing with it plus what your turn round time is.
Under 500kg is very expensive but if your not in a rush some firms are cheaper than others, on average a hundred kilos of greasy wool will cost you £2k to get 60kg of knitting wool back.
If you want more info pm me or @delilah

What’s 60kg of knitting wool worth ?

 

[Frank-the-Wool]

We have a TPW which we hire out to neighbours. Had it around 20 years but was expensive then.
BW imported a number of them and used some in the depots for packing small batches and also for packing up sheets to reduce space.

A wool press is completely different to a cardboard press as wool will always return to its original bulk so needs to be held down after each pressing before the next lot goes in. It also has another unusual property in that it never spreads sideways when compacted. I did a lot of work on wool presses and revolutionised the presses in the depots as well as making compactors to increase weight with the sheets bundled together.
The original wool presses used were made by a company called Bank Bottom and were top fed and pressed by chains and hydraulics each end of the press.
The first improvement came in the late 80's by converting a Hop press to a wool press which was made by a local company on the Romney Marsh, Marsh Engineering. These made the first bulk presses where whole skeps of wool were tipped in and bales of 300kg were made and wire tied.
There were efforts made to develop better presses, one used a vacuum system to such out all the air, not very successful. Another was based on a press that compacted cigarette filters made in Belgium. This relied on having a huge amount of travel in the chamber, both from the bottom and top. I believe these are still used in Newtown. They were a nightmare to install as they had to dig a hole some 20' deep.

More recently another company has been making a better press similar to which Marsh made that is faster, however they need a lot of hydraulic power to get to 350kg.

BW also had some farm presses made by a company in Shropshire, I am not sure what happened to all of these, they were about half the price of the BTW but only worked on external hydraulics from a tractor, whereas the BTW has an electric hydraulic pump or can run off a tractor.

 

[Frank-the-Wool]

What’s 60kg of knitting wool worth ?

In balls of wool or as raw fibre?

 

[Hilly]

In balls of wool or as raw fibre?

I don’t know , the way old tip gets it back ?

 

[Hilly]

We have a TPW which we hire out to neighbours. Had it around 20 years but was expensive then.
BW imported a number of them and used some in the depots for packing small batches and also for packing up sheets to reduce space.

A wool press is completely different to a cardboard press as wool will always return to its original bulk so needs to be held down after each pressing before the next lot goes in. It also has another unusual property in that it never spreads sideways when compacted. I did a lot of work on wool presses and revolutionised the presses in the depots as well as making compactors to increase weight with the sheets bundled together.
The original wool presses used were made by a company called Bank Bottom and were top fed and pressed by chains and hydraulics each end of the press.
The first improvement came in the late 80's by converting a Hop press to a wool press which was made by a local company on the Romney Marsh, Marsh Engineering. These made the first bulk presses where whole skeps of wool were tipped in and bales of 300kg were made and wire tied.
There were efforts made to develop better presses, one used a vacuum system to such out all the air, not very successful. Another was based on a press that compacted cigarette filters made in Belgium. This relied on having a huge amount of travel in the chamber, both from the bottom and top. I believe these are still used in Newtown. They were a nightmare to install as they had to dig a hole some 20' deep.

More recently another company has been making a better press similar to which Marsh made that is faster, however they need a lot of hydraulic power to get to 350kg.

BW also had some farm presses made by a company in Shropshire, I am not sure what happened to all of these, they were about half the price of the BTW but only worked on external hydraulics from a tractor, whereas the BTW has an electric hydraulic pump or can run off a tractor.

Some of the farm ones I think have been lost on farms , poor management that .

 

[Frank-the-Wool]

I don’t know , the way old tip gets it back ?

100 kg or raw wool will give around 50kg of useable knitting wool from say a Romney.
I believe that balls of wool are 50 or 100 grams so it is an awful lot!!
I know someone who sent their 2 ton clip off and had it dyed and all in balls of wool. Took 5 years to get rid of it. They didn't do it again!!

 

[Hilly]

100 kg or raw wool will give around 50kg of useable knitting wool from say a Romney.
I believe that balls of wool are 50 or 100 grams so it is an awful lot!!
I know someone who sent their 2 ton clip off and had it dyed and all in balls of wool. Took 5 years to get rid of it. They didn't do it again!!

A lot of balls of wool right enough !!! Take a lot of marketing to shift that .

 

[delilah]

Bloody hell!!!
Pricey!

It doesn't get done overnight by the wool fairies .
https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/wool-processing-mini-mill.205896/

 

[Tubbylew]

TPW | Aussie Shearing Equipment

I wouldn't want to be the presser trying to keep up with 10 shearer whatever the wool press!

 

[Will 1594]

Daft question ,but could you put it through a little baler ,

 

[tepapa]

Depends on the type of wool, Teeswaters you will get 150kg in a wool sheet easy, more bouncy wool like Cheviot more like 70kg

I know, I've 10 grey face Dartmoor fleeces in a sheet and you can hardly move it yet it looks empty. 70kgs would be a good average for average sheep which is why I tried to imply 100kgs in one sheet would be rammed to bursting but 50kgs would be full but floppy.

 

[Old Tip]

Daft question ,but could you put it through a little baler ,

May be a strange shaped bale but maybe worth a try

 

[Frank-the-Wool]

Daft question ,but could you put it through a little baler ,

No!
It wraps around everything which is why you can spin it into a thread and you would never get enough pressure on it to keep it in shape.

 

[Agrivator]

Depends on the type of wool, Teeswaters you will get 150kg in a wool sheet easy, more bouncy wool like Cheviot more like 70kg

Wouldn't it be better to clip them, and only put the wool in the sheet?

Just trying to make a sensible suggestion.