Handheld corkers does'nt do it

I use a hand corker that has two levers. I put the wine bottle on the floor between my feet and I lower the levers as I bend down. I occasionally have a cork that doesn't want to go in, and so I start with a couple of extras for each batch. I am always worried that I'm going to spill the bottle of wine... in about a dozen 30-bottle batches, I haven't spilled one yet, but a floor corker is in the future if I keep making wine.

I have a hand corker that came with my wine making kit. It's red plunger thing with a small slot on the side to put your cork in.

The first time I tried to use it, I could not get the cork to come out. After trying this on a few corks (and cutting the ones that would not come out with a knife), I figured that maybe I just wasn't pressing hard enough. I put the bottle on the floor and tried to push with all my might: still, nothing except the cork coming out another

Then I thought: This thing looks pretty solid. What if I used something to hit it?

A claw hammer? The head was too small.

A big crescent wrench? Still too small?

A piece of 4 x 4 lumber? Way too dirty.

Wait, what if I put my 4 x 4 into a bag or something? YEA, that will work!

At least on the 20 bottles I used it on.

So now I have my 4 x 4 plunger-helper wrapped in a plastic bag to keep everything around it clean. If I ever get around to it, I may get a broom stick and a drill to make my own Galagher-style Wine-maker's-sledge-O-matic to put the corks in my bottles.

If I clean it well enough, I can probably even use it to pulp my fruit. Do they make a de-stemmer for one of those? I will probably need to cover the walls, cieling, and floor with plastic to funnel the juice into a jar or something...... That would be cool.

Just a thought....

Alex.

FYI - check how wide your bottles openings are...I've found out that they are not all the same. It came up while we were bottling this one batch awhile back. We just couldn't get the cork in this one bottle after successfully bottling the others. My husband gets out the ruler and starts measuring - it was a bit smaller than the others. Anyway, I measure the top of all my wine bottles. If they are (I believe) 3/4 inch wide, then my #9 corks fit great. If they are smaller, then I will go with a #8 cork. It also helps if your corks are fresh. When I first started, the bag of corks sat around and I think in some cases might have dried out a bit and they are tougher to get in. Now that I have a batch to bottle almost every month, my corks don't sit around as long. We noticed when I bought my newest batch of corks right before bottling, it was much easier to get them in. It may not all be your corker. Good-luck. Darlene