Wall Mounted Aluminum Can Crushers

Why did the can crusher quit his job?

Because it was soda-pressing.

Dad joke aside, the can crusher is the man cave item that you never knew you wanted—assuming you drink canned beer or soda.

Not only will you have fun squashing metal from the comfort of your home, you will be doing your part for the environment, and taking a slice of the 800 million dollars the aluminum industry pays out to keen recyclers annually.

There are electric, hydraulic, and dual action machines which takes can compressing to the next level, however, we will focus on the more affordable consumer-grade wall-mounted crushers instead.

Pacific Precision: The Crusher

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Living up to its name of "the crusher", this pneumatic machine from Pacific Precision compresses 12 oz aluminum cans with ease.

Simply lift the handle connected to the front section, place a beer can under the durable steel plate, then pull the handle down until the force becomes too strong. Release the handle and out pops a uniformed metal puck ready for the recycling bin.

As with most consumer-grade can compactors, it is designed to be mounted on a wall. Instructions are on the box but its just a matter of inserting three screws into their respective holes.

Tip: Use a piece of MDF or plywood as a barrier between it and the wall. The back plastic near the top joint can graze your wall so it will avoid you having to repaint in the future.

We found this type of can crusher to work significantly better than the basket type machines. Not only are the basket types generally poorer quality, since multiple cans are stacked on top of each other with only the bottom one getting crushed, the cans constantly get stuck and have to be manually dislodged.

Note that larger 16 oz cans can be used assuming you pinch the sides to make them short enough to fit under between the plate and the platform.

Dial Industries Easy Pull

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The Easy Pull is similar to the previous one in many ways but has a few other features that suit your needs better.

First of all, there is the option of buying it with a collection bin (height with collection bin = 33.8 inches) that slots into the bottom of the machine to automatically collect cans as they are crushed. And with a capacity of 48 fully-compressed cans, you will spend less time throwing each one in the bin.

Secondly, the whole mechanism is exposed which lets you see those pop cans crumple into thin disks; something that never fails to entertain.

Thirdly, the Easy Pull is a gift that keeps on giving. Due to the high-quality standards that come with being made in the USA (made from heavy-duty plastic and metal components), crushing the five hundredth tin can will be just like the first.

16 oz cans, however, struggle to fit without manually pinching the sides before inserting into the machine. In fact, none of the products we reviewed in preparation for the buyer’s guide were designed for those taller cans. It is strange because that is the number one complaint we saw from customers.

DIY Project

Wondering how you would go about making one from home out of wood or metal? There are several step-by-step guides online but this one in particular peaked our interest.

It combines mechanism used in the machines above with an Arduino and few lines of code.

The effort required far surpasses two wood planks connected by a metal hinge, but the joy you will get out of building a can-crushing robot is hard to pass up.