Hello I have been reading up on different nut crackers on here and it seems the Mr. Hickory cracker and possibly the Kenkel Hardshell nutcracker might be good options for wild shagbark hickories. My wife seems to think this is not worth is, but it seems a lot better than the hammer method. The only members I have noted with recommendations would be @lucky_p and @barkslip but if anyone else has recommendations, please let me know.
As of right now I would only be cracking wild shagbarks which I have two on my property but I have been taking note of other trees to test out their nuts. I really have only become aware of these this year, but they seem to be having a bumper crop this year! I have seen branches breaking under the weight of the nuts! So I am starting to get excited. Hopefully I like the nuts haha.
TG,
I have both a Mr. Hickory and a Kenkelā¦ and use them both. The MH gets more use, but there are some nuts that I have that crack out better with the kenkel.
You just kinda have experiment someā¦ some nuts crack better end-to-end, others side-to-side, etc.
Fred Blankenship stopped building Mr. Hickory a few years ago.
I havenāt used a Kenkel I donāt believe. I know however that for most nut contests they use: C.E. Potter. Iāve used that one a lot and itās powerful.
I think if I was in the position of buying a cracker literally today, Iād buy āThe Master Nutcrackerā. Any thoughts Lucky?
I have the Get Crackinā nutcracker, and it does pretty good on shagbark and black walnut. I wonāt break any speed records with it but itās strong. My kids use it too. It worked well enough that I never took some other cracker (canāt recall brand) I meant to try out of its boxā¦and my family āstoredā it for me somewhere.
The Get Crackinā is similar in design and function to Fred Blankenshipās āMr. Hickoryā.
Gerald Gardner. who designed and marketed the Master Cracker, is a long-time black walnut grower, so Iām sure it works well on hardshell nuts. Not sure if Iāve ever used oneā¦ may have seen one at one of the KNGA meetings in the past.
I ended up buying the get crackin. My wife was not amused when I told her I wanted to buy a $120 but cracker. I found this one for $12 on eBay plus $10 shipping. Super excited. The only issue I see is that my one tree (on the right ) produces smaller nuts and it is a little too small if I need to crack a piece a second time. I need to hunt down some trees with bigger nuts!
I bought 4 Master nut crackers from Gerald Gardner and gave two to friends and kept two for myself. It is a good cracker for most hard shell nuts. Iāve used a Mr. Hickory and a Hunt. All three do an acceptable job. http://www.masternutcracker.com/ I would use the Hunt for some walnuts such as Thomas. The key with the Hunt is to mount it on a workbench so you can get the most use out of the leverage. I use the Master to crack walnuts, hickories, and pecans.
Perhaps my Google abilities arenāt what they used to be, but I was browsing around to buy something better than the pliers I have been using. Hereās what is currently on the market as of 12/27/23:
Kenkel - No longer being made? Manufacturer website gone. Available on Amazon for $75
Mr Hickory - no longer made
Master Nutcracker - no longer made? Last website update said no more orders due to cancer treatment.
Get Crackinā - Amazon, $90
Duke Black Walnut Nutcracker - Grimo, $87.50 + shipping
Cliff England offering Kenkel from his website for $59, unless price has changed, and heās not yet updated.
A lot of the youngsters Iāve been dealing with are using Grandpaās Goody Getter.
āGet Crackināā looks like a knockoff of Mr Hickory, donāt know how itāll hold up to BWs or shellbark, but should handle shagbarks well.
Iāve had decent luck using a vise to crack black walnuts and hickory nuts. Usually put them in long-ways, squeeze them until they crack, and the toss them into a bowl. There are often full quarters, and I will use a wire cutter to snip the shell of of the rest.
)