perry~
"With a half dozen hives the hand crank should be fine. "vandy~
"No doubt it will be enough" 40 acre bees~
"I can get a motor attachment for the extractor for $240.00 USD but I don't know if it is worth it with only 4 hives. I have never extracted before only crush & strain.... Any opinions. Thanks "
get the motor attachment, it is worth it, buy for the future. an example, i don't keep much more than 6 hives. last season i had 5 hives. i harvested well over 700 lbs of honey from 4 of those hives, (about 750 lbs) the 5th one i kept having queen issues.
so if you want to hand crank honey just call perry and vandy to help you out!...................
if you have only crushed and strained you will welcome the hand crank and more so the option to add the motor. you won't regret it.