Univex 8713S Semi-Automatic Meat Slicer, 13" Blade, Gear Drive, 1/2 HP

The Univex 8713S is the Premium Series slicer with the carriage driven for you: a 13" German hollow-ground blade at 300 rpm through a gear drive, and a powered carriage adjustable from 21 to 47 strokes per minute. At 180 lbs. it is the heaviest slicer Univex lists, and the company puts it in the same high-volume duty class as the manual Premium machine.

What the automatic carriage is actually for

An auto/manual knob switches the carriage between driven and hand operation, and a speed control sets the stroke rate anywhere between 21 and 47 strokes a minute. Univex publishes those two numbers as a continuous range rather than a set of fixed settings, so the rate is dialled to the product instead of chosen from a list.

The gain is not raw speed — it is consistency and labour. A driven carriage puts every slice through at the same rate and the same pressure, which is what makes a tray of portions weigh the same; and it frees the operator to stack, weigh and wrap while the machine cuts. On a bulk run of cold cuts that is the whole case for the model.

Two places Univex contradicts itself, and what we did about it

First, the name. This model’s specification sheet calls it a semi-automatic slicer; Univex’s own web page calls it automatic, and variable-speed automatic. We have gone with the sheet, because the sheet is the document that describes a hand/auto knob — a machine that can be switched back to manual is exactly what "semi-automatic" means.

Second, the blade. The 8713S sheet describes the blade as stainless steel in one feature line and as serrated steel in another. We have not picked one: both appear on Univex’s sheet and neither is a figure we can resolve from outside the factory. If blade metallurgy matters to your application, ask us and we will get it confirmed in writing.

One thing it will not do

Its manual sibling the 8713M can be had with a semi-frozen blade package. This machine cannot: Univex excludes it from semi-frozen and frozen product altogether. If that capability is on your requirement list, the manual machine is the one to look at, not this one.

Why Operators Choose It

• Driven carriage, 21 to 47 strokes a minute. Set anywhere in the range, not chosen from fixed steps.
• Switches back to hand. An auto/manual control knob, so an awkward product can still be worked manually.
• Gear driven at 300 rpm. The same drive as the Premium manual model, with no belt to maintain.
• Thick cuts. Zero to 7/8" (2.2 cm) slice thickness.
• Built heavy. 180 lbs. net — mass is what keeps a powered carriage from walking the machine across the bench.
• Eight hours a day. Medium to heavy duty, high volume.
• Up off the bench. 3" legs for cleaning underneath.

Controls

An auto/manual control knob, an adjustable carriage speed control from 21 to 47 strokes per minute, a thickness setting covering zero to 7/8", and a sharpener mounted on the machine that comes away for washing. Univex publishes no interlock on automatic operation and no no-volt release.

Ideal For

Bulk cold-cut production, supermarket deli counters, central commissaries portioning to weight, hotel and institutional kitchens, and anywhere one operator has to slice and pack at the same time.

Specifications

Certification

All four Univex slicers carry an NSF statement on their specification sheets, and this one is no exception — the wording is quoted in the table above exactly as Univex prints it. What Univex does not publish, for any slicer in the range, is a cETLus, UL, ETL or CSA mark. If a listing mark beyond NSF is a condition of your jurisdiction or your insurer, tell us before ordering and we will put it to Univex in writing.

What Univex does not publish

Univex labels only shipping dimensions on its slicer sheets. Three further numbers appear beside the line drawing with no indication of which is height, width or depth, so the machine’s own footprint is genuinely unpublished and we will not guess at the axis order. Also absent across the range: cord length, whether the blade itself is removable, any carriage or cover interlock, no-volt release, and any country of manufacture. Univex claims disassembly for cleaning rather than cleaning in place, which is the opposite claim and the one we have repeated.

Factory Options and Accessories (Additional Cost)

• Top-mounted blade sharpener
• Vegetable chute
• Prison package, factory installed
• Optional 208–240 V configuration

Warranty

One year, on-site parts and labor.

Specifications per Univex data; subject to change by the manufacturer.