Our senior capstone team, Noah Farrenkopf, Mia Pursel, Robert Vukovich, Kaeden Wilson, Ross Reyes, and Logan Crawford, worked under the guidance of mentor Milton Aguirre to develop an improved cider press system for Wea Creek Orchard, a seventh generation family farm in Lafayette, Indiana represented by Dr. Perry Kirkham. The existing cider press requires operators to manually remove and handle 100–150 pounds of apple pomace, creating safety risks and significantly increasing cleaning time compared to the pressing process itself. To address this, our team designed a solution that enhances efficiency, safety, and usability while meeting key requirements such as limiting operational force to under 50 pounds, supporting full system weight, enabling up to 90° barrel rotation, and ensuring food safe materials. Our final design features reinforced ¼ inch support arms, a rotation locking plunger for stability, dual pillow block bearings for smoother motion, gas struts to reduce lifting effort, and an increased frame height to accommodate standard collection containers. Testing confirmed that these improvements reduce strain, minimize structural deflection, and provide stable, controlled operation, resulting in a safer and more efficient cider press that supports the orchard's long standing production traditions.
The cider press cleaning process at Wea Creek Orchard requires manually extracting apple pomace, weighing 100–150 pounds, often requiring multiple workers and posing safety risks. While a single press takes about 10 minutes, cleaning the press can take up to three times as long. With each batch yielding only 4–5 gallons before cleaning, there is a need for a safer, and more efficient solution to improve productivity.