Have you checked out our Pearce Brothers Nut Crackers? No? You are nuts!

Hey loyal readership!  Have you checked out our Pearce Brother Cracking Machines?  If you haven't, you are nuts!  Pun intended!  Check out these powerful nut crackers that crack pecans, peanuts, almonds, hazelnuts and English walnuts.  Need 35lbs per hour?  We can handle it!  200lbs per hour?  We can handle that too!  We even have cleaners.  Now is the perfect time to order these commercial nutcrackers-- do it before the season starts!  Questions?  Hit us up and we will lend our expert advice.  Email us at hello@855sheller.com.  Meanwhile, check out these crackers in action right here. 

Holt's Nut Wizard-- A wirey issue!

 

Holt's Nut Wizards are one of our most popular products.  We often receive calls from customers who want to replace just the basket of their nut picker uppers due to the wires becoming spaced incorrectly.  We wanted to share a helpful hint on how to correct this issue-- a real $$ saver!  Check out the above video and give it a try!  

A few facts about the Holt's Nut Wizards:

-- These nut harvesters are proudly manufactured in the United States.

-- The nut roller wires cannot be replaced as they are press-fitted to ensure durability.

-- The size of the Nut Wizard basket is NOT to determine how much you can pick up.  Instead, it determines WHAT you can pick up.  Check out the chart below and feel free to contact us with further questions!  We are here to offer expert advice.   

-- Nut Wizards are not just meant for nuts!  They can also pick up pistol and rifle brass, shotgun shells and wads, tennis and golf balls, sweet gum balls, small/medium fruit and more!

Which Nut Wizard is Right for You?
Large Nut Wizard	Medium Nut Wizard	Small Nut Wizard	Ex-Small Nut Wizard	Mini Nut Wizard
1" to 4" » Black Walnuts » Sweet Gumballs » Apple and Pear Sized Fruit » Magnolia Seed Heads »Tennis Balls	3/4" to 4" »English Walnuts »Chestnuts »Red Oak »Buckeye »Large Pecans »Shotgun Shells »Golf Balls	1/2" to 2" »Most Acorns »Pecans »Hickory Nuts »Bitternuts »Mocker Nuts »Hazelnuts/ Filbert Nuts »Crab Apples	3/8" to 1" »Chinquapi (a.k.a. Pin) »Beechnuts »Brass Casings (9 mm and up)	3/8" to 1" »Chinquapi (a.k.a. Pin) »Beechnuts »Brass Casings (.22 and up)

The Calm Before The Storm....

It's been a bit of a quiet week here at Southern Garden Tools but we know what this means.  A week or two of quiet before the phones start lighting up as people realize that nut season is approaching.. or arrived.  Nut season is very busy here and for good reason-- we literally stock some great nut products.  If you need a nut picked up, we have a solution for you.  We sell everything from $21.95 Griffith Pecan Gatherers (these are great for those who like to take a walk and collect pecans or go out by the backyard pecan tree with the kiddos) up to the heavy duty 36" double wheel, double basket Bag-A-Nut Nut Picker Uppers.  These hook up to your mower/ATV and roll behind you as you drive along comfortably.

These aren't just for pecans-- we have them for black walnuts, acorns, filberts/hazelnuts, almonds, chestnuts, English walnuts, hickory nuts, macadamias-- and even sweet gum balls (aren't they annoying), golf balls and pine cones!  They will run you about $750 and that includes shipping.  But truly-- you will make that money up in extra harvested nuts!  It picks up nuts you can't even see.  Trust me that we have plenty of products between the $21 and the $750.  Just check us out and let me know if you have any questions.

What good would it be to have a whole bunch of nuts but no way to crack them?  We have that too!  We have the basic hand crackers that you place a nut in and squeeze... all the way up to electric crackers.  If you've ever tried to crack a black walnut... then you know it can be next to impossible.  Not with our Drill cracker!  And have 10 tons of pecans but don't relish the thought of cracking them?  Our Kinetic Kracker can do 1,560 pecans per hour.  So those 10 tons... they don't look so laborious anymore.


We are nuts about nuts and this season is personally my favorite.  Fall is the best!  Pumpkins and nuts and leaves and cooler weather-- count me in!  So we can handle this calm before the storm.  But nut season draw near, my friends, and let us help you be ready for it! 

Tis That Time of Year!

Hi out there loyal readership!  If you are a follower of our blog, apologies are in store.  We've neglected you!  However, we've been diligently working on our new website and enhancing our social media presence.  Sorry for leaving you alone for so long!  But what a more fitting time to re-connect than this dawn of Spring!  And with Spring, we have flowers blooming, plants planting and weather heating up.  It's not too early to think about harvesting those gardens and that is why I'm blogging today.  Our lead pea sheller technician aka expert aka Kerry has written a great piece about pea shellers.  If you are thinking of buying one or just want to know more about what the heck a pea sheller is, head over to his review and check it out. (Just click here).  If you have any questions or would like to further discuss pea shellers, don't hesitate to call us at 855-Sheller.  That's 855-743-5537.  We offer expert advice, fast shipping and superior products.  Have a great Spring and be sure to visit us again as we turn our focus to our neglected blog readers. Amy at 855Sheller

Let's Get Crackin'

Are You Ready To Get Crackin'?

We ARE! 
Here at Southern Garden Tools, we eagerly await nut season every year! We are big fans of a little nutcracker aptly named 
Get Crackin'.

You can crack all nuts, big and small, with the Get Crackin'.  I tested out many different sizes of nuts here in the office. I had little acorns, pecans, and big walnuts. I didn't have a problem cracking any of them. I just placed the nut in the groove, pulled the lever down, and had a nicely cracked nut. I did have to practice a little bit to get the proper placement of my nut down, but it didn't take long before I was cracking away. I was even more thrilled when I realized that I didn't need any nutpicks either!  I could gently pull the shell off of my nut and enjoy yummy nutmeat. If any nuts decided to be pesky and give me a problem, I just gave another quick pass through my trusty Get Crackin'. The lever-fulcrum action allows precision pressure control which minimizes shell shatter and increases the larger amounts of nutmeat you can enjoy from your trees.

Something else that I really love about the Get Crackin'  is that even though it is lightweight, it is built strong. It is made from a light weight steel, so picking it up to carry or store won't strain you at all. Since Get Crackin' is made with steel, it will not break easily. You will never have to worry about a nut being too hard shelled or too big for your nutcracker.The Get Crackin' allows peace of mind that you won't ever have to stop in the middle of cracking your nuts because it broke. This is a nutcracker that you can pass down for generations to come. How wonderful that you can enjoy the Get Crackin' and as you show your children or grandchildren how to use it, you know that one day you can pass it down to them.

Speaking of future generations, I am so very pleased to say that you also don't have to worry about little fingers accidentally getting cracked in the Get Crackin'. As a Mother myself, I worry about things like that. My sweet little ones always want to help out when it is nut cracking time. They know if they can help, they can enjoy the fruits of their labor even faster. The same design that allows the Get Crackin' to protect those little nuts, like acorns and hazelnuts, from getting smashed also protects little fingers. That means so much to me and I know it will mean a lot to you as well. Now, you can share time with them and encourage healthy eating. That sounds like a total win to me!

Are you ready to have your very own Get Crackin' Black Walnut Cracker shipped right to your front door? Check us out at www.blackwalnutcracker.com or www.gardenharvesters.com  Don't let nut season sneak up on you!

Pecan Season is COMING! Are You Prepared?

Good Day!

 I would love to talk about a nut cracker that is going to make your life so much easier. Pecan season is really just around the corner. In the past, have you been cracking all of those pecans by hand? I did for a long time. Sometimes my hands would hurt so badly that I wondered if the effort was worth it.

 I like to make all sorts of candies, pies, and breads during Fall. Giving these things are such a thoughtful gift from the heart, especially knowing that you took the time to gather all of the ones that have fallen from your trees, crack and shell them and then put them into those goodies. I also love to put away and freeze my excess pecans for year round pecan treats. For such large quantities, had cracking is a drawn out and ,honestly, painful process. So, are you ready to hear about this great product we have available?

Let me introduce you to the Kinetic Kracker ELECTRIC pecan cracker.

 I got to try this sweet baby out a few days ago. The cracking and shelling time was drastically reduced while the nut cracker did all the hard work for me and best of all my hands didn't hurt at all. After I had my pecans cracked, I just easily peeled away the rest of the shell and gently pulled all the nut meat out. No tugging and fighting with it either! This Kinetic Kracker made that possible with nearly every pecan. I did come across just a few that were't cracked enough, so I just turned the Kinetic Kracker back on and gave them another go!

Did I mention that it was super easy to use? Plug into the wall, flip the on switch and start putting your pecans in the shoot one at a time. It does make a loud *POP* if you do not have a pecan in the shoot, but that is a helpful reminder not to run it without pecans in the shoot. You could wear down the aluminum cup if you do, but even that is a simple fix since we offer replacement aluminum cups. Here is a video of one of our employees demonstrating the Kinetic Kracker so you can see for yourself how easy it is to use.

The Kinetic Kracker is AMERICAN HANDMADE from sturdy materials. A wooden box encloses the 26 RPM motor. What does this mean for you? The ability to crack 1,560 pecans per HOUR! WOW! That is a lot. We also have a steel anvil and aluminum cup system that gives the electric pecan cracker the ability be precise in the amount of pressure applied. No smushed and pulverized pecans thanks to that great engineering.

When I was testing out our Kinetic Kracker, I commented on how I would love to use it for my walnuts and other hard shell nuts. Unfortunately, that is not something you want to do. The kinetic action and aftershock will pulverize your hard shell nuts.....no one wants that mess!

Order Now and Be Ready!

You will want to get your own electric pecan cracker ordered as soon as possible. We manufacture our Kinetic Krackers with the highest quality. We want to give you a product that will last for decades to come, but that also means that the ones we have handcrafted and in stock ready to ship may go quickly.  They also make wonderful gifts. In fact, many of our customers are so happy with theirs that they come back and order for loved ones. Another bonus we have for you, the box your new electric nut cracker ships in doubles as a wonderful storage container. The boxes were specially designed to cradle your Kinetic Kracker so it will be safe while it ships and as you store it.  We are very proud of our electric pecan cracker and happy we could share it with you!

 You can buy your very own Kinetic Kracker electric pecan cracker at

 www.lawn-gardening-tools.com
or
www.GardenHarvesters.com

Heart Healthy Pecans

Pecan trees are a species of Hickory that are native to Mexico as well as south-central and south-eastern United States. Pecans are not truly nuts, but are actually considered a drupe, which is a fruit with a single pit and surrounded by a husk. When it is time, the husk splits open, revealing the pecan, which will then fall to the ground for you to gather and crack open to enjoy the buttery flavor of the seed inside.

Pecans provide a multitude of health benefits. Ranked among the nuts highest in antioxidants, pecans will aid in subduing blood lipids and coronary heart diseases. Pecans are very heart-healthy thanks to their unsaturated fat content. Each one has 60% mono-saturated  and 30% polyunsaturated fat, which means that only 10% of a pecan has saturated fat. Naturally sodium-free and fiber-rich will make your heart thank you when you add pecans to your diet.

Pecans contain over 19 vitamins and minerals including, but not limited to:

• Vitamin A
• Vitamin E 
• Vitamins from the B group
• Magnesium
• Folic Acid
• Calcium
• Potassium
• Zinc
• Phosphorus

 Do you have pecan trees in your yard? Lucky you if so! How do you gather them? I love to use my Nut Wizard. It rolls right over my pecans and grabs them up in the wire basket. The Nut Wizard leaves behind sticks, leaves, and grass when it gobbles your pecans.

There are many ways to crack your pecans. We have a few that we particularly love. The traditional Duke's Pecan Cracker will be a favorite for generations to come. Wonderful when you just want a handful of nuts at a time.

 Our Kinetic Kracker electric pecan cracker can easily crack up to 1,560 pecans per hour! Perfect when you have a bucketful of pecans that you would like to crack for pies and candies, or just to put away for later.

When you have large amounts of pecans, or you would like to crack pecan for others, the Pecan Cracking Machine fits the bill. It is able to crack 35lbs of pecans, English walnuts, and peanuts per hour. Portable and perfect to set up at a farmer's market or in your barn to crack a large amount of pecans each season.

You can find all of these rollers and crackers, plus so much more, on our websites.

www.Gardenharvesters.com

www.lawn-gardening-tools.com

www.855sheller.com

Pecan Cracking BEAST!

We have the pleasure of working with a lot of really neat nut crackers. We just linked up with a new manufacturer that produces the Pecan Cracking Machine. This pecan cracker is a beast when it is time to start cracking pecans. So many people take their nuts to commercial cracking houses where they have to stand in line to pay someone else to crack their pecans for them. Whereas that isn't a bad thing, if you need very large quantities of pecans shelled every year it can become quite costly. Maybe you sell pecans from your home, farm, or at a Farmer's Market and would like to answer "Right Here" when someone asks where is the best place to have them cracked. The Pecan Cracking Machine  is portable so it can go where you need to be.

35lb per hour Cracking Machine

Now, you are probably asking yourself, "What makes this cracker so great?". The Pecan Cracking Machine  easily cracks 35lbs of not only pecans, but English walnuts and even peanuts, per HOUR!  This sheller gives 80% - 90% nutmeat halves for Pecans and 90% - 95% nutmeat halves for English Walnuts. That gives you the ability to crack nuts at commercial volumes right in your barn if it pleases you.

Pecans cracked clean from this machine

The Pecan Cracking Machine  is 100% American made! It is durable and sturdy with wheels for easy transport. The Pecan Cracking Machine  is made from a mild steel that has been primed and painted with an oil based paint. This oil based paint aids in the nut cracker's ability to endure many of the outdoor elements and gives longevity when being stored.  It is equipped with a 120-volt gear motor that turns a cage housed motor. This motor is easily adjusted with a hand jack to fit the size of your Pecans, English Walnuts, and Peanuts. Minimal maintenance is required, usually only yearly bearing greasing. To use the Pecan Cracking Machine  simply plug it it, adjust the hand jack using the site reference gauge, flip the on switch, and start manually hand-feeding your English Walnuts or Pecans into the cracking barrel.

English Walnuts cracked clean.

You can find this cracking beast on our websites, along with a selection of manual and electric nut crackers for any size nut you want to crack from acorns, to pecans, to black walnuts. Our electric Kinetic Kracker is a very popular pecan cracker. It is able to shell 1.560 pecans per hour! The Master Cracker is perfect for Black Walnuts and built to last. Or most popular nut cracker is the Get Crackin'. It cracks them all!  Big, small, soft or hard shelled, the Get Crackin' has you covered.


Come on over and check us out!
www.gardenharvesters.com

www.855sheller.com

www.lawn-gardening-tools.com

Macadamia Nut Day! September 4

 Happy Macadamia Nut Day!

It is no secret that we love nuts here so when we heard it was National Macadamia Nut Day, we could barely contain ourselves. Macadamias are usually eaten own their own by cracking with a nutcracker, then enjoyed raw, roasted, salted, or sweetened. Also, besides pairing them with white chocolate for a great cookie, we wanted to share some other benefits of this little nut with you. So, without further delay..... 

Did You Know?

• Macadamia oil has close similarities as that of olive oil. Added to dishes, it imparts sweet delicious flavor to a wide variety of foods. It is widely applied as cooking and dressing oil in the preparations of vegetables, seafood and meat dishes in many cuisines.
  
  
  • Since macadamia is free from gluten, it is one of the popular ingredients in the preparation of gluten-free food formulas. Such formula preparations are a healthy alternative in patients with wheat gluten allergy and celiac disease.
  
  
  • A serving of Macadamia nuts contain 7% of your daily dietary fiber and are packed with protein.
  
  
  • They are a great source of antioxidants, palmitoleic acid, and omega 7. The antioxidants help protect the body from various diseases while it destroys bad free radicals that may be lurking around. The omega 7 helps to burn fat while curbing your appetite while the palmitoleic acid increases fat metabolism and reduces fat storage.
  
  
  • Macadamia are 100% cholesterol free and even aid in reducing cholesterol levels.
    

This is just a short list of the great value of Macadamia nuts. Aside from just eating them or chopping to add to dishes and goodies, you can make butter and oil from them as well to use in even more ways to increase the benefits you will gain from them. 

There have been claims that Macadamia Oil can help dry skin, acne, and wrinkles, even as a deep conditioner for dry hair!


Replace your Peanut Butter with Macadamia Nut Butter for a pleasant treat as well. It is also easy to make right at home.

Who knew such a little nut could pack such a big punch?

What is your favorite way to use Macadamia? 

Do you need a little help gathering or cracking all those nuts?
 We have you covered over at www.855sheller.com with a variety of nutcrackers and Nut Wizards. 

Nut Cracking with Power Tools

Need a Little More Nut Cracking Power?

You are in luck! We have just the thing you will want to know about and it is called the Drill Cracker. Super speed nut cracking and shelling power for nuts of all sizes. The Drill Cracker boasts that is can crack a 5 gallon bucket worth of nuts within 5 minutes. You know I had to see that for myself!

I watched a few short videos on Drill-Cracker.com to make sure I was putting everything together right. To say I am unsure of power tools would be an understatement. I normally find the nearest guy and recruit them to help me, but today I wanted to do it on my own. The part I was unsure on was actually hooking up the drill to the nut cracker. Everything else seemed pretty clear. Thanks to Drill-Cracker.com, I was able to watch an instructional video and realized I was making it harder than it actually was. No surprise.  See, watch it for yourself right here.

 You can use black or English walnuts, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, almonds, and possibly even pistachios. We haven't actually tried out the pistachios yet, but we have been given reports from happy customers that have tried them and were very pleased. Most of the time, you will have to make a few passes through the Drill Cracker to make sure all of the nuts are just how you want them. I strapped on my safety goggles (in case of dust debris) and I did 3 passes. You can see how the piles all change with each pass. 1st pass through yielded about the same amount of completely empty shells and shells with a nutmeat left inside. You can also see how much nutmeat was completely cleared from the shell. By the 3rd pass, you can see my huge pile of shell and nutmeat and little pile of shells with nuts still inside. If you are wondering what that 4th small pile is at the bottom, it is the little dusty debris or tiny nutmeat pieces. The whole process was less than 10 minutes for a 5 gallon bucket. So, yes a 5 gallon bucket with 1 pass in 5 minutes was true. That time can all depend on how eager you are to sort the shells and nutmeat. I worked at a steady pace. For a 5 gallon bucket, 10 minutes is a very short amount of time and to have whole or good size pieces is even better.

The Drill Cracker is a simplified version of high speed industrial nut crackers that big cracking facilities use. Now, you can have the same cracking power at home, or even set up at a Farmers Market Table. All you need is a 3/8" or 1/2" variable speed drill to attach to the cracker and you are ready! The Drill Cracker has a specially made hood to help contain any shell fragments that may normally fly about. We do strongly recommend wearing safety goggles just in case any debris does decide to fly back up. It also has a turn screw that allows you to adjust the size of the throat so you can crack hazelnuts and then walnuts with just a minor adjustment. 

Are you ready to get everything in place for nut season? Then join us at BlackWalnutCracker.com to get your very own Drill Cracker! It will be shipped right to your front door free of shipping charges. Do you need help gathering all of those nuts? Check out all of our Nut Wizards while you are there! They will save your back and save you time.

The Master Cracker

Pecans, Walnuts, Hazelnuts, Chestnuts, Filbert 

Nuts are the topic of the day. What do you use to crack your nuts? Here at Southern Garden Tools, we have a variety of nut crackers that we love. I will tell you about each one in a series of blog posts and what makes them each special. I would love to hear about which ones you like and if you have used ours.

The Master Cracker

Master Cracker

I tested out the Master Cracker here in the shop one day last week, nearly all day. I put it together (very simple) as if I had just received it on my front doorstep, then proceeded to round up all the nuts I wanted to test out. I was eager to see if it really does what it promises. Our makers of the Master Cracker proudly boast minimal shell shatter. This is important in nut cracking for a variety of reasons. Shell shatter can just make a mess of the nutmeat and you won't get those intact halves like you may desire or you are digging to separate shell and nutmeat. Shell Shatter can also be slightly dangerous. Why on Earth would you want to have a nut cracker that recommends protective eye wear when you use it? Who wants to worry about thinking you have all the shell debris cleaned up only to walk across the room and step on broken shell that literally flew way over there? Personally, that is not something I want to deal with when I just want to enjoy some pecans or walnuts from the trees in my yard.

Don't let this be you when cracking your nuts!

 So, I bet you can't wait to hear my final verdict. The Master Cracker delivers on it's promise. I tried a variety of soft and hard shell nuts only to be delighted as the shells just cracked off the nut and didn't explode all around it. I sat back and marveled at the ease of use and promised kept while I munched on those freshly shelled pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts, and chestnuts.

Now that I have assured you the Master Cracker keeps its promise, I want to tell you some of the details of the quality American craftsmanship. First off, this nut cracker is attached to a wide sturdy wooden base. This helps the nut cracker to maintain stability while you crack. It has deep oval cracking cups that cradle your desired nut firmly and snugly into place. The cracking cup paired with an adjustable tension spring is where your drastic decrease in shell shatter comes from. This design makes getting your scrumptious nutmeat out a breeze. No more need for nut picks or pliers, just a gentle tug of the nutmeat. Even better, 2 different cracking cups are included. The ability to change those out makes for transition from big walnuts to little hazelnuts a breeze. The makers of the Master Cracker have given the handle a rubber coated grip. The thoughtfulness in this means you can crack and shell nuts to your hearts content without a painfully sore hand. I know I have had tender palms after cracking pecans, then sore fingers after fighting to get my nutmeat out. The makers of the Master Cracker made that a thing of the past! To show you how buying a genuine American made Master Cracker compares to a cheaper version, have a look at this video recorded by one of our employees.

What are you waiting for! Jump on over to 855sheller.com so you can buy your very own Master Cracker Black Walnut Cracker! Don't let nut season sneak up on you without one.