855SHELLER is your one stop shop for all things pea shelling and pea sheller accessories. We carry residential to commercial units from the small hand crank Mr. Pea Sheller to the large TaMaCo 515 & TaMaCo 520 pea huller. You'll find our staff to be very knowledgeable about the Taylor Manufacturing and Lee Manufacturing brands, as well as a large array of secret tips and techniques from people who actually use the various pea shellers.
Let's start with the oldest and premier pea sheller manufacturer. They produce the wildly popular Little Sheller (Model 675) which is geared toward small farms, vegetable stands, and large gardens. The Mini Sheller (Model 640) is the residential version which covers large gardens to the pick-your-own group. The commercial pea hullers, TaMaCo 515 & TaMaCo 520 are some of the highest yield hullers today.
Both American-made Taylor pea shellers feature an aluminum body and adjustable rollers. Both use "roller differential" to rip the pea pod to force the peas to roll out of the side seam rather than push each other out the back of the hull. This dramatically reduces mashed peas and increases yield.
The rollers are adjustable making them excellent bean shellers as well. In less time than a NASCAR pit stop, they can go from shelling purple hull, cream 40's, black-eye peas or small beans to zipper peas, crowder, or butter beans.
Most everyone who has ever used a pea sheller has used the Taylor Little Sheller (Model 675), although there was a Model 665. The difference is the Model 675 uses a 1/3 hp motor while the 665 used a 1/5 hp motor. The Model 665 has not been made for over 10 years as the cost of the motors was insignificant. The Model 665 will work just fine with a 1/3 hp motor.
There have been a number of improvements over the years, however, all the consumable parts coming out of the factory will work with even the original pea sheller machines made in 1960's. Amazingly, a pea sheller design that is approaching 50 years old is still the best selling and highest performer.
The powerful 1/3 hp motor means that three people can work the Little Sheller at one time which increases the potential to over 3 bushels per hour.
The newest model to the Taylor stable is the Taylor Mini Sheller (Model 640), which is roughly 2/3rd's the size of the. We take full credit for its birth in the world as we begged the engineers at Taylor for a smaller residential model for people like us. The Mini is meant for large gardens all the way down to people like me who just go to the local pick-you-own patch down the road. Although compact in size, the engineers refused to skimp on quality. The 1/10 hp is all a homeowner would need. A lot of churches and community organizations like the Mini Sheller because it is highly portable.
There are some people who want to build their own home made pea sheller from plans. Although somewhat functional, they end up costing more in lost yield and extra maintenance.
One of the things I often mention to people who ask about homemade pea hullers is the paddles. Homemade machines and cheap manufactured units use wood paddles that beat the pea pod into submission. Amateur constructionist don't realize that it is not the brutal spanking of the pea hull that causes it to give up its bounty. Rather it is the bending of the said pea hull that breaks it open and spills the beans.
The wood paddles do two things that are not good. One, it causes visual bruising (and a gushy texture) that can been seen after pulling the beans out of the freezer after about two weeks. The next, and far more important is lost yield from the inefficiency.
While the TaMaCo bean hullers can expect 92% to 97% yield, the cheaply made pea hullers can fall into the low 80's and even into the 70's! Now where do you make the most money, selling butter beans in the market or feeding them to the cows? The fact is, a TaMaCo model that can last 30 years, pays for itself in only a season or two.
But an inefficient homemade pea sheller keeps costing season after season.
The hand crank Mr. Pea Sheller (Model 600R) and The Electric Mr. Pea Sheller (Model 800M3), have been renamed Pea Sheller Jr. and Pea Sheller Sr. Both of these units use fixed rollers that are not adjustable for the various size peas and beans. Their low price point makes them appealing to many who can't afford to make the jump to the Taylor pea sheller machines. Lee Manufacturing uses spline rollers (rollers with ridges) to grab and pull the pea pod through the rollers. For the price point, you get what you pay for and results are what should be expected from such a low price. That being said, they do create a good value for small, residential use.
The hand crank Mr. Pea Sheller has been around for almost as long as the Taylor Little Sheller (Model 675). They used to be manufactured in Texas. However, they are now made in China. That is not necessarily a bad thing except the gears are now made of nylon instead of brass. I am lobbying for them to change back to brass gears as the cost is not that much more but changes the quality of the Mr. Pea Sheller dramatically.
The Mr. Pea Sheller has a loyal fan base. It is surprising how many people buy a new one from me every couple of years or so. It is all they need for the small garden or those who go to the local market for fresh peas.
The Mr. Pea Sheller can easily be hooked up to a drill or hand mixer. It is important when using a drill to run it on slow speed or a mixer on medium speed, as any faster will melt the nylon gears. In reality, the faster speeds translates into lower yield as the pea pods don't have time to split so you'll end up with more mashed peas in the bucket and less good peas in the pan.
This is the lowest-cost electric pea sheller. It uses the style spline roller similar to the Mr. Pea Sheller. It is also the lightest and smallest. I personally like it as a purple hull pea sheller when getting them from the vegetable stand right down the block. However, we get a fair number of returns because the rollers are fixed so it can mash a few more peas than the Taylor Mfg. pea sheller. Once again, the lower cost equates into lower yield.
Crowder and zipper peas can also give it some fits because the peas have to go in at an angle. Once again, for the lower price-and what few we do each year- I find it a good value.
Which is the best pea sheller? That's a trick question. If you can afford the best, go with Taylor Manufacturing. However, the Lee Manufacturing electric model is a good choice for low volume purple hull and cream 40-type peas.
Over the last 50 years the Taylor bean hullers have a proven track record of lasting more than 30 years in a commercial environment. That alone should give anybody seriously looking for a pea huller reason to give the TaMaCo line serious consideration.
Besides dependability, the TaMaCo models are well engineered. The paddles are made of long lasting metals that are designed to maximize yield (more on that later). The motor/transmission system and safety features are the central the the long live of the unit as well as the user.
Although there are a number of internal differences, to the end user, the differences between the to models is the TaMACo 515 is designed to run on standard 115 v electrical power and can do 1.5 bushel per load. The TaMaCo 520 runs on commercial 220 v and can handle 2 bushels per load.
Depending on the pea or beans to be shelled, run time per load is some where between 2-5 minutes.
Icons | W x L x H | Wt. | Peas | Beans | Rollers | Motor | Origin | Production | Add | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
16.5 x 27.5 x 14 |
35 lbs |
YES |
YES |
Adjustable |
1/3 HP 120V |
USA |
3-4 Bushel P/HR |
|||
$449.95 |
8 x12 x 10 |
12 |
YES |
No |
Fixed |
1/15 HP |
Taiwan |
- |
Out of Stock |
|
$3,795.00 |
25 X 36 X51 |
488 lbs |
YES |
YES |
- |
1.5 HP 120V |
USA |
1 1/2 Bushel 2-5 minutes |
Out of Stock |