Traditional methods of palm oil extraction from palm fruits (Elaeis guineensis) produce low quality and quantity of oil. This study sought to design, construct and test a motorised palm oil extractor with evaluation of the oil extracted in comparison with a manual vertical press. The performance parameters tested were oil extraction ratio (OER), oil extraction efficiency (OEE), machine discharge efficiency (MDE) and oil extraction losses (OEL) while the tested physio-chemical parameters were free fatty acids (FFA), iodine value (IV), saponification value (SV) and peroxide value (PV). There were significant differences (p􏰄0.05) in OER (16.20􏰀 and 13.53􏰀), OEE (77.13􏰀 and 64.44􏰀) and OEL (18.30􏰀 and 24.76􏰀) while the MDE (81.70􏰀 and 73.13􏰀) were not significantly different (p􏰅0.05) for the motorised and vertical press, respectively. No significant differences were observed for IV and SV while FFA showed significant differences (p􏰄0.05). The PV was not detected for both methods. A motorised palm oil extractor produced oil of higher 􏰆uality and had higher performance efficiencies as compared to the manual vertical press. The novelty of this work was in producing an efficient e􏰆uipment that is affordable to a smallholder farmer which extracts palm oil of high quality.