Seems like you only need a nut to use as a jam nut assuming that rod is already threaded in.
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I found a source for black walnuts so figured i better buy a cracker, vice grip gets old pretty fast…
used the paint mixer in a 5 gallon pail method to hull these nuts, might need to get a cement mixer next year.
ordered this cracker, seems effective based upon the reviews and video of it in use… anybody own one here?
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I recommend using a heavy duty vise or even better a 3 ton ratcheting arbor press to crack black walnuts.
Plus the vise/arbor press will do double duty instead of being a single purpose tool.
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I know the Kenkel will work (I have one); Cliff England sells them for $59+ shipping cost. Here’s a ‘used’ (new-in-box) Kenkel for a bit less than that, and quite a bit less than that off-brand one you’ve pictured… it’s ‘tube’ construction worries me that it will be strong enough to crack some really thick-shelled BWs or shellbark hickories.
Kenkel Inc. Hardshell Nutcracker 22 in. Plated Steel black walnuts macadamia haz | eBay
If you are working hickory nuts… shag or shell or mocker…
You can split them perfectly in half in about 2 seconds with a short stout kitchen knife and hammer.
Example below…
Then use 8 inch diagonal cutting pliers (recommend compound action) to cut the shell and release the nut meat.
Works well… no nut cracker or crusher needed.
That is how I work hickory nuts.
TNHunter
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man those nuts have a seriously thick shell. how do game eat them? whole? i know bears have enough jaw strength but the others?
They don’t. Squirrels are pretty much the only thing that eats black walnuts and hickories other than people. Other rodents will get some as well, but to my knowledge no other animals have the wherewithal to get into them.
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I have bought numerous nut crackers specifically made for black walnuts. They ALL broke within 1-2 seasons. NOTHING will last. Welds will break. Sheet metal will be destroyed at the seam. Handles will bend and eventually snap. Especially when you have 1000+ nuts per season as I do.
The only lasting solution is a heavy duty cast iron arbor press. Like the one I linked above.
@steveb4 … per google deer will eat hickory nuts… but it is sort of a last resort food for them.
They prefer acorns for sure.
I have never seen a deer eating hickory nuts myself… but dont doubt that some hickory nuts… they could and would if starving.
Bitternut, reds and pigs have thinner shells… and those should be possible for deer.
The two nuts above that are cut open…
1 is a mocker… very thick shells
2 is a shag… not as thick as mocker but still… i doubt deer could eat those.
Shelbark nuts are a little thinner than shag on average.
I broke a cast iron nut cracker on a mocker.
TNHunter
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I’ve used a master cracker from Gerald Gardner for the last 20+ years. Walnuts, hickory nuts, pecans, no matter, it cracks them all. I’ve had a lot more than 1000 walnuts per year most years. Some years I filled up my pickup truck bed with walnuts.
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Stored indoors (in my unheated tackroom)… field & house mice will absolutely ravage black walnuts.
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After years of throwing out thousands of walnuts or letting squirrels take them I finally took the plunge and dehusked well over a thousand black walnuts from my 100+ year old tree.
I also decided to go all in and invest in several good walnut crackers.
Here is the first one that arrived. It appears to have been made in the 1950s. Very robust construction of heavy duty cast iron body and steel arbor. The board is made of oak.
It looks elegant on my kitchen window.
I cracked a few nuts and was very pleased that it easily produced quarters. I don’t know anything about the provenance of my tree but the nut quality seems excellent. I understand there might have been an attempt to grow black walnuts here as a food source by a previous owner.
I’ll post a few pictures later.
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@ramv that cracker looks very similar to my King Kracker.
If my memory is right, the King Kracker was designed by a man in Springfield, MO just right up the road from me many decades ago. Seems like several nut crackers were invented in Springfield, which makes sense since Hammonds is just North a ways. Mine is a modern reproduction someone made a production run of in Taiwan and shipped them over to the US. They work well.
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Today, I hosted a gathering of 10 people tasting persimmons, figs and pawpaws. And black walnuts.
One of my friends brought over a master cracker. I have to say it has now become my favorite cracker. Halves are very easy to get with this cracker and with very little effort
You can see the cracker on the table.
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Looks like the model Gerald Gardner made roughly 2005 or thereabouts. He made a heavier duty casting about 2007 or 2008 which has a handle with red or black heat shrink.
I had 2 Master crackers and sent 1 to Dax nearly 2 years ago.
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It is far better than the other 2 cracker types I’ve used so far. I was very happy to regularly get halves out of this cracker. My 100 year old tree appears to make very high quality nuts.
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