THE OYSTER IS OUR WORLD: QUICKTUBE SORTER

We came up with the QuickTube Sorter in response to the limitations of other tumbling sorters on the market. We basically took all of the things we didn't like and made them better or wished were doable and made them a reality.

The QuickTube Sorter currently costs $12,995
Great price for what you get!
That includes two sorting tubes, one for seed and one for market/sub-market. The tubes have hole sizes 5/8", 7/8" for the seed tube, 1.25", 1.75" for the market/sub-market tube. We have found these to be the best overall combination for an oyster farm. You can always get more tubes with other size holes, currently the most popular is the small seed tube with 1/4" and 1/2" holes.
Tubes can also be made of stainless steel for increased longevity but they are a lot heavier...call for pricing.

WHAT MAKES THE QUICKTUBE SORTER UNIQUE ?

1.First...and by far foremost, is the ability to switch sorting sizes in a couple of minutes. The mesh style sorters take an hour plus WITH TWO GUYS and are a real pain. Now, with the QuickTube Sorter two guys can change a tube in a matter of minutes.
The video below shows us changing out a tube.

The QuickTube Sorter with it's hood up.

Again, note the motor mount is held in place while the other end is flipped all the way back and out of the way. The spray bar is quickly disconnected as well so it can be removed and placed back inside the next tube.

2.The sorter is hinged on both sides so it can be used from the left or right side depending on your set-up, you just need to reverse the guard and the rotation of the motor which are both easy to do.

3.Round holes instead of square mesh. This gives a better grade than the square hole because square holes have a long side and a short side, round holes measure the same all the way around. The holes are offset in order to maximize the sorting surface area giving a better grade, and round holes can also sort clams.

4.The machine comes equipped with a wash down connection and a spray bar with nozzles. You can hook up a hose from a booster pump or you can run a gas powered pump on it and clean your oysters effectively while they are being graded. In this picture the bar is disconnected from the machine, it has a quick connect fitting for tube changes.

5.The legs are adjustable and the feet pivot so you can change the angle and height of the unit to allow the oysters to roll quicker or slower down the tube and so it can be adjusted to work with other equipment such as a hopper conveyor and/or grading table.

6.The whole unit is made of heavy gauge aluminum so that it is light weight yet strong (a couple of guys can pick one up) and it can endure the harsh marine environment for years of service.

And it fits nicely in a pick-up truck or on a trailer.

7.The unit can be powered by electric or hydraulic. The electric motor (120V) is not variable but we could put a variable speed motor on if desired, its just going to be more expensive. We no longer use the variable speed motors on the tumblers. Years ago we found the "sweet" spot on our original sorter. So as we set out to make a better product that was reasonably priced we got rid of the variable speed motor and spec'd out a gear motor that had the same torque and rotational speed as our "sweet" spot. We also found that the variable speed or varying flow is most important on one of our hopper conveyors that would be feeding the QuickTube Sorter.

8.The unit comes with a tray for the front of the machine that can hold a bushel of oysters for manual loading. The tray is bolted on so it can be removed if you decide to upgrade to a hopper feed, which we totally recommend. However, the most effective and efficient method of feeding a QuickTube Sorter is by one of our two hopper conveyor designs.

9. The shoots the oysters fall into are completely closed so no oysters are lost on the drop and they are attached on an angle to flow better when the machine is in its working position or sloped. Fish totes slide in sideways to catch the oysters that fall through.

10. There is only one seam in each sorting section compared to the three in mesh sorters and the holes cover almost 4' of the tube per grade, both of which mean more sorting area so a better sort.

Its hard to see, but look close and you can see the seam on the back of the tube and how little it interferes with sorting.

At the bottom of the page you will find two videos of the QuickTube Sorter in action, one with seed and one with markets in conjunction with hopper conveyors and sorting conveyors. If you really want to move through a lot of product these conveyors are an ABSOLUTE must. Custom and replacement tubes are also available.