The unit came almost full assembled (just had to put on stainless steel chute to direct crushed fruit into the bucket). I used the 'table mounting' option, so I only had to use the supplied clamps to fasten the already-mounted machine to a table top.
I just used the unit to crush 50 pounds of ugly, bug-bitten Asian pears in preparation for pressing them for cider. Asian pears have the consistence of apples (hard, crisp and juicy, not soft, like European pears. They are sometimes called 'apple pears' because they and just like apples in texture). I did NOT quarter the pears (as instructed), but just tossed them in, one or two at a time. The handle turned easily, and a child could have turned it. Usually I only needed to pull on one handle spoke, however occasionally I used two hands if I put in two pears. Two hands solved the problem with ease. At no time did I break a sweat, and the job was done in about 15 minutes. The drum teeth ground the pears quickly with only a slow rotation of the handles. Of course, if you are doing 5,000 pounds of fruit, this isn't the machine for you, but for those who only are doing a few bushels at a time, this is a very efficient machine.
I was a bit concerned because some of the crushed pieces, particularly those with skin attached, were larger than others (this would probably have been avoided, had I quartered the fruit beforehand. However, after pressing (my own press, based on the 'bottle jack' model), I extracted a full three gallons of juice (50% of the initial fruit weight) which appears to be about standard no matter what fruit crusher is used, so I don't think the Weston caused very much loss despite the fairly large pieces that sometimes resulted.
The ease of operation, coupled with the 'portability' (no need for electricity) makes this a very good machine. If I worked all day, and did ten cycles, I could have processed 500 pounds of fruit and produced 30 gallons of juice (sweet cider). If I had a helper, I could do even more.