Tag Archives: Equipment

Equipment – Spring 2017

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A coyple of weeks ago we outlined Pine Island’s spring targets. This week, we spoke with some members of the equipment team for a little more detail on their particular projects!

“We have the sand screener in this week for preventative maintenance,” says team member Coco Mercado. “We’re checking the bearings and greasing everything, putting in a new screen in because there were holes in the old one…we’re fixing anything major so in the field they don’t have problems with it.” This is important, because the sand we use for this project needs to be as pure as possible in order to prevent soil compaction (which can restrict water and limit growth) so we screen it before using it on the barge to take out any clay, stones, or other debris which could cause problems. “Since they got a little ahead with the screening, now’s the perfect time to bring it in,” Coco says. “If we work on it now, when they need it again they don’t have to wait, they can just get moving. We’re just waiting for a few parts to come in and it’ll be back out there!”

Other ongoing shop projects include a revamp of the debris trucks that we use in conjunction with our bog side cleaners.

“We had some issues during the last harvest season because the trucks were getting a little top heavy,” says team member Fred Henschel. “We’re going to knock a foot off to help with that. I’m cutting the original ones apart and making them more like the newer ones with the exposed sides and and painting them all to match. Very similar to the original trucks, but a foot shorter in hopes of them being easier to control; there was so much weight hanging off the back that it grew really difficult for the drivers to steer once the trucks filled up. We’re modifying a couple other little things such as changing the way doors are hinged so if something gets stuck, it’ll be easier to access. Whatever we can do to make it easier, better. And in addition to fixing the original four, we’re building three more brand new ones!”

The next phase in our automation program is also underway just in time for the upcoming frost season! Pump automation has been a boon to our operation. Field data is sent wirelessly to a master controller, which continuously communicates with the network of devices, sending commands to turn on engines and pumps when needed. It gives our team a lot more control: the computer actually handles a lot of the start-up and shut-down process, which is what usually takes up a big chunk of the time an operator is out there running water, either during frost or heat. It also helps us reduce our fuel cost and wear and tear on vehicles as well as protecting that most crucial resource for a cranberry operation: water!

Spring Targets – 2017

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The weather today is perfect for a blog update on our targets for this spring!

. . . Well, it’s giving us something to look forward to, anyway. Our team is currently finishing up their winter tasks and preparing for the growing season, and so far, things are going well.

“We’ve already taken the water off the beds that are in either their first or second growing season,” says CEO Bill Haines. “We’ve also made good progress this winter on renovation thanks to mild weather, and are hoping to be ahead of schedule so we can begin work on the new renovation project. Sanding is on track; we’ll finish within a week, then start taking water off the established beds as well as start getting irrigation set up and removing swan strings. We’re going to continue to get the dams ready for use of the semis.”

As always, fruit rot is an ongoing concern. “Mike and his team are thinking hard and talking with the scientists at Rutgers and Ocean Spray to see what we can do to better control rot,” Bill says. “We’ve had increased rot for past couple years while standards from the market are higher and higher, so that’s important for us to work on. We’re also looking into improving our equipment; we want to prevent rot altogether, but with either additional equipment or improved equipment we can also try removing rot before delivering to Ocean Spray.” And, of course, our renovation program is expected to assist with this. “We have an entirely new system that we upgraded last year; we’re trying a different layout as well as different sprinkler heads to see if we can improve coverage. We’re also going to work on modifying one of our buggies as a prototype for doing ground coverage as part of rot control.”

“Mainly I’ve been doing a lot of prepwork,” says ICM manager Mike Haines. “Once it gets busier I’d rather not make decisions on the fly; it’s much to have stuff planned out beforehand. So I’ve been spending time with Peter [Oudemans], Dan [Schiffhauer] and Cesar [Rodriguez-Saona] as well as emailing with Joan [Davenport]. We’re mainly thinking about early season applications and putting micronutrients on, specifically copper and zinc. We’re also planning our roughneck fertilizer, which is our first application after micronutrients, basing our decisions on tissue samples, and last year’s yield. For example, everything that got sanded won’t get nitrogen; that sand layer of sand helps decomposition, which in turn increases nitrogen. One interesting thing, looking at tissue samples at Sim Place: the nitrogen levels are higher there, so we’re not making any applications during the roughneck stage. What’s neat about is that we know that the soil is different than at the home farm–it’s much sandier at the home farm–but it’s pretty cool to see that actually reflected in the numbers.”

He’s also working a plan to “culturally” attack the fruit rot issue. “This year we’re gong back to pruning some beds. The hope is that opening up the canopy will lead to a drier canopy and less fruit rot,” Mike says. “We haven’t done it in a few years, though other growers have, so we’re going back to it to see what we can find out.” Other things Mike’s team is working on: Tim Bourgeois is working on getting bees, as well as making sure we’re compliant on safety regulations; Matt Stiles is already working on young beds, replacing some plants that popped out during winter flood; Vanessa DeJesus is going through ICM supplies and making sure we have everything we needed before we kick into high gear.

And, of course, our team is doing the usual ongoing equipment maintenance as well as designing some improvements. “We experimented last year with the dry fertilizer applications on the new buggy,” says COO Bryan vonHahmann. “We learned a lot from that; we discovered it was under-powered, as well as having a few other small issues, so we’re remedying that. We’re also going to be experimenting with using it for liquid applications; it may not be the final unit that we use, but it’s going to teach us a lot. Mike’s working on the criteria for this; we’ll pick one or two systems that will use it exclusively for the entire season and see how we do.” We’re also moving ahead with the next stage of pump automation as well as thinking ahead to harvest. “There are quite a few things we need to do there,” Bryan says. “We’re going to build two more blower tractors, and we’re getting a third bog side cleaner. We’re also going to have some folks come in and talk to us about how to tweak our machinery at the loading platform to try and eliminate rot before sending fruit up to Chatsworth.”

That’s quite a list, but our team, as always, is prepared to work hard and do everything we do better every day!

Pest control: birds

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Recently our team has begun looking into some new tech to solve an old problem: swans. Tundra swans migrate to the area every year from Alaska and northwestern Canada and are particularly fond of red root, a weed that competes with cranberry vines for nutrients. When they fly in to feed, they not only tear out the red root, they also tear out vines and leave enormous holes that damage the beds themselves.

Since the swans are a protected species, growers have had to come up with a solution to keep them away from the crop. At Pine Island our PIICM team has been installing swan string for several years. The strings help keep the swans out of the bog by limiting the space available. “Swans are like a commercial airliner,” CEO Bill Haines says. “Having the strings up disrupts their attempt to both land and take off again.” Not all of the bogs are strung; our team maps them out where we have found red root and where the swans have been spotted. Just three acres of swan damage can give us a loss of 200 barrels per acre, or even more, depending on the variety. That takes three years to come back.

Pine Island spends a lot of money and time putting up string every year, and we wanted to find a better solution. “The main issue is getting rid of red root, and renovation helps with that, but that’s not the fastest solution,” says Matt Giberson. So they began to do some research. “We found a laser by Agrilaser that we thought might work, so we contacted them to see if we could demo a unit and they said yes.”

Once it arrived, Louis and Mike helped with the set-up, with Louis working on the power sourcing and Mike working on a plywood stand for the truck. “It’s all set up so we can just put it in the back of a truck and go,” Matt says. “Our first run was Tuesday around 10 A.M. and didn’t see any effect, so I went back to Red Road at dusk.” There weren’t any swans out there, but plenty of geese, and conditions were perfect. “I was surprised how far it goes; from Red Road I could hit the tree line at Ben Haines. I moved it all the way across the reservoir within 100 yards of the geese and they ll took off.” Matt then planned a follow-up evening out at Sim Place, but is feeling pretty confident. “If we can keep them out at night time, this thing could really save us a lot of time that we spend every year setting up and taking down string.”

There are still several tests to run, but so far things are looking great; if all goes well, our swan issue should be greatly reduced!

Post harvest clean-up 2016

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All of our harvest teams had a strong finish, and now we’re on to cleaning!

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“Cleaning ditches, cleaning excess leaves from bogs, cleaning up everything from harvest. Grass, weeds, debris: all of it,” says COO Byran vonHahmann. “Then once that’s done, we’ll have a crew installing swan string.” Under the direction of Matt Giberson, our foremen are trying out some new equipment to help with some of debris cleanup.

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“We’re trying out some new-to-us equipment that municipalities use for leaf and brush pick-up,” Bryan says. “When we harvest and gather off the same corner of the bog every year, all the leaves come to that corner and settle there. Those are hard to rake out of the vines, and then year after year they settle to the ground. Which means that eventually they’ll choke the vines out and kill them. With some bogs, especially the bigger ones, you end up with a lot and that space becomes significant. So the plan is to vacuum those areas right out. We tested it a couple of weeks ago and it worked really, really well to help us reclaim those corners and keep them healthy.”

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At the same time, the crew is cleaning out the ditches inside the older bogs.

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As far as our other post-harvest project, however: “There’s nothing new with swan string,” Bryan says. “We just have to get it done.”

Tundra swans are a tremendous annoyance to local growers due to their feeding habits. They are particularly fond of red root, a weed that competes with cranberry vines for nutrients. You might think that swans are a natural solution to the problem; unfortunately, when the swans fly in to feed, they not only tear out the red root, they also tear out vines and leave enormous holes that damage the beds themselves.

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Since the swans are a protected species, growers have had to come up with a solution to keep them away from the crop. At Pine Island our team installs swan string. To start, the team places rebar in the ground along the longer sides of a bog, about every 75 feet. On the ends of the bog, the team walks it out and determines how many lines they’ll need to run lengthwise though the center.

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Once the rods are laid out on the dam, a team of three to five people gets into the bog and walks the string across. Once the entire bog is strung, the team goes back in and puts up poles, which are used to keep the strings out of the water so that they don’t freeze. They’re placed in a checkered pattern, not necessarily on every line. The poles can either be cedar posts or recycled irrigation pipe. In addition to the recycling/environmental aspect, reusing the irrigation line is lighter and easier to handle.

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The strings help keep the swans out of the bog by limiting the space available. “Swans are like a commercial airliner,” CEO Bill Haines says. “Having the strings up disrupts their attempt to both land and take off again.” Not all of the bogs are strung; our team maps them out where we have found red root and where the swans have been spotted.

Once all of this is done, our team will be ready for our next targets: sanding and the winter flood!

Harvest begins at last!

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The 2016 cranberry harvest is finally underway at Pine Island, and the Pine Barrens have never been prettier!

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This week was the real test for the new customized tractors we spoke about last month. Since the last harvest, our team has modified two tractors with high-powered blowers (much higher than we have used in previous years). On the front is the hookup for the boom, which can be used by a single operator. The idea is to have the driver hydraulically operate the boom so that when he comes up to a pipe gate or a corner, he can run it out from the cab and will no longer need to rely on extra crew to change it manually.

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“It went extremely well,” says COO Bryan vonHahmann. “Like anything you design, research, develop, and build, once you finally implement it you find things you might have predicted but weren’t quite sure about until it’s put to practical use. But this first week’s been great, and we can now boom up a bog with two people versus six people. It’s so much more efficient; the team moves faster because the equipment moves more quickly and we can allocate resources better.”

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Tweaks are already being planned. “The blower portion works phenomenally,” Bryan says. “One thing we need to adjust is that we run the clutch a little bit, because even in the lowest gear the tractor moves a bit too fast. The other is that a boom full of fruit is heavy, and the arm that pulls the boom is flexing more than we would like once gathering gets underway. Part of that is just getting the operators used to how they need to position it and to keep an eye on it, and part of it that we’ll need to reinforce the arm. We did think of these two things before we put the equipment out there, but weren’t quite sure to what degree it could impact us.” The team can likely use the tractors all season without issue, but we’ll start making the modifications and apply what we’ve learned to the two additional tractors Bryan wants to build for next year! “It’s a huge advantage,” he says. “Even with the changes we’re going to make, the work the team is doing with them is fantastic.”

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Bogside cleaner testing

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Harvest is starting soon, and as we discussed last week, we took delivery on a second bogside cleaner for use in the upcoming season!

Last year, we began using this new equipment to help improve efficiency. During the harvest, berries are placed on a truck via an elevator. The truck then goes to our packing house to unload and prep the berries for the receiving station by removing as much bog debris as possible. The bogside cleaner improves this process by removing the packing house step entirely and removing debris as the berries come out of the bog. This is better on fuel and easier on the team, as it requires fewer people in the water. As with any new equipment, there was a learning curve, but our team made modifications as they became necessary and took notes for subsequent harvests.

“It’s been a long process,” says COO Bryan vonHahmann. “When we first started considering a berry pump, we went out to Wisconsin and looked at three or four makes of cleaners as well as looking at one owned by [our neighboring growers] the Lees. We ended up going with Paul’s Machine & Tool because they’d already done quite a bit to accommodate the user interface to make it more intuitive, and they were also very willing to customize it however we wanted. In practice, this meant changing the 6 inch pump to an 8 inch one, as well as asking them to build it a little higher to make it easier for our trailers; a few small changes, and some significant ones. But they provided us with great service, and came out themselves to help set everything up last year.”

The real test was during harvest itself, of course, and as expected, the team found that the machine would need some modifications based on practical use. (As Bryan says, succinctly: “When we placed the order, we didn’t know what we didn’t know.”) One of the issues the team discovered was finding a lot of bog debris in the final product, as well as a diminished ability to remove the wastewater fast enough. “We wanted it to be as efficient as possible,” Bryan says, “so we made some minor changes during harvest last year to remove vines and trash. But it became more labor intensive than it was worth.” So for the second machine, we asked Paul’s to make some design changes. The new berry pump added extra row of cleaning grates to the cleaning box and changed spacing on the box. At same time we sent the old cleaning box back and they sent us the new 5 grate design in return. The combo of the new spray boom and an additional cleaning grate should provide better quality fruit for the trailer to take directly to the Chatsworth receiving station.

Testing the new machine on a young bog will be useful for a couple of reasons. Young beds have yet to develop a dense canopy, and while they often yield fruit, a high percentage of that fruit contains rot. This makes them a good place to test run new equipment immediately pre-harvest. “We may well need design changes,” says Bryan, “but we’re looking forward to trying it and see how the new design works. The more fruit that goes in, the less water goes in. We’re going to run the older one on two bogs and bring the new one out for a third bog. We’re trying a modified 5 grate cleaning box with wider spacing on the teeth on one bog, and the standard 5 grate on the other to see if it makes any difference. In young beds you’re going to get a lot of rot and vines; it’s just the nature of the beast. But we’re hoping the wider tines will help push those through.”

Harvest prep 2016: Part 2

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When we talked about pre-harvest prep a couple of weeks ago, COO Bryan vonHahmann discussed how everything now becomes more critical as we enter the pre-harvest interval, in particular the final fertilizer application that helps the plants through the winter.

Team members Tim Bourgeois and Juan Carlos Gonzalez-Perez started those applications this week, and it’s going well. “This type is usually applied via fertigation,” Tim says. Fertigation, a process where plant nutrients are applied through irrigation systems, has many benefits, such as increased nutrient absorption by plants and reduced water consumption due to the plant’s increased root mass’s ability to trap and hold water. “We’re taking the truck around from pump to pump, starting each system, looking for any leaks. We’ll fix any, if we find them, then repair any clogged sprinkler nozzles before we start so each area gets the coverage it should.” Typically, a bog should be done two to three weeks prior to harvest, so Tim and Juan Carlos are mirroring the harvest schedule order as they start the applications. Weather can also be a concern: “The wind will blow falling water away from where it needs to be,” Tim says. “If the breeze is under 7 to 8 mph we’re in good shape; otherwise it’ll go on top of the dam, which is a waste. Yesterday we could go till noon, but the day before we had to quit by 9:30 because the wind was picking up.”

The rest of our team is working hard to get the farm ready, as well. “We’ve been mowing like crazy,” says Matt Giberson. “We’re running six mowers, including two on loan from Rutgers. It was really generous of them to do that, and it means we’ve been able to cover a lot more ground.” Mowing is necessary to finish prior to harvest because the grass can get really thick on the edge of the dam, which makes it harder to get the berries out.

In addition to all of the grounds maintenance, the second bog side cleaner arrives today. “We have to unload that and put everything together, which can get a little involved,” Matt says, “and then we need to get it ready for a practice run on Wednesday or Thursday to make sure it’s good to go.” For the practice run, the team will be at the young beds at Old 11. “It’s a second year bed, so there’s not much fruit,” Matt explains. “We’re not expecting great fruit from that, because it’s not really ready, which makes it ideal for a trial equipment run.” Additional ongoing maintenance includes clearing the weeds, especially by the pump houses, crowning dams, and working on the wider turnarounds. “Now that we have a second bog side cleaner, we’re going to need more room, so Steve [Manning] is out there with a crew widening the dams at Red Road and Bishop’s Mill as well as the top of the property at Rancocas, including gate extensions to make sure we can make the turn with no problems. It’ll help with sanding in the wintertime, too.”

Water is a big concern going into the autumn. “We haven’t had any rain,” Matt says. “We’ve been running the wells off and on every day, and with the irrigation you lose some on the reservoirs. The home farm is okay, though we’re hoping for a good rain. Sim Place is lower because that big reservoir is so huge it takes a while to fill up. And the weather between here and there can vary a lot; we can get a shower on the home farm while Sim Place doesn’t get anything. All the boards have been in for weeks, but haven’t taken any out so we can maintain everything. We’re trying to save water where we can, but we’d love to see a good rain before we start, especially at Sim Place.” So far, though, he’s optimistic: “The fruit’s looking good! Some of the numbers I’m seeing look good, and I can’t wait to see how a few of our newer bogs do this year.”

Harvest prep – 2016

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Harvest is getting closer every day, and our team is working steadily to make sure everything is ready!

“Everything now becomes more critical because we have the pre-harvest interval that we need to be sensitive to,” says COO Bryan vonHahmann. “We also apply fertilizer this time of year, which helps the plants through the winter. Those are the big things. We’re going through and looking at the sequence for TAcy, for what beds we expect to pick first. We want to take advantage of the higher TAcy levels.” Some varieties color earlier than others, and that is a factor we consider when planning our picking strategy. Ocean Spray likes a consistent color, so we will take samples to the receiving station to check the TAcy number (an acronym for “total anthocyanin concentration” and is a unit of color measurement used in a cranberry) before harvesting. While the humidity gets worse in late summer, the nights tend to get cooler, and this actually improves the color.

“Equipment is also a big part of prep,” Bryan says, “so we’re designing new stuff for equipment to make us a little more efficient, and we’re looking forward to experimenting with that.” To that end, manager Louis Cantafio walked us a through a little bit of what the Facilties/Equipment team has been working on.

“Most of the equipment that we already own has already been serviced and put away ready to go,” he says. “We knew we were going to be jammed up late in the summer and coming into harvest to do the regular maintenance work, so a lot of it’s done.” Many of the projects the team has in the pipeline are also harvest-related, however. “We’re fabricating a lot of new equipment we didn’t have before, and modifying a lot of equipment we got last season. So we’re making improvements to the berry pump, which is a lot of work! We also have a new trash truck design, so we’re working on the ones we have already as well as building a fourth.”

The biggest modification is going to be for the gathering crew. Gathering is always a teamwork-intensive task: when it’s time to put the boom in, you need at least one person in the water as well as on the tractor, and sometimes more depending on the bog layout (trees, heavy grasses, etc.). Each end of the boom is then attached to a tractor, which slowly moves along the dam, corralling the berries. Some members of the gathering crew follow alongside, “sweeping” the berries and making sure they stay within bounds. Once that is done, both ends of the boom are connected to the boom reel, which is wound ever tighter as the berries are brought up the elevator onto the truck. This year, though, our team is making some changes: “We have two blueberry tractors we’re customizing for this,” Louis says. “With the current system we have a blower on the back of the tractor, which means someone has to drive the tractor, someone else works the blower nozzle, and when the berries are really thick and the grass is thick on the edge of the dam, we have the guys sweeping. That’s a lot of manpower. But we’re modifying these tractors with really high powered blowers; much higher than we have already. On the front will the hookup for the boom, and a single operator should be able to run one end of it. This means two guys should be able to boom up a bog on their own, whereas as before it was easily eight.” The idea, he says, is to have the driver hydraulically operate the boom so that when he comes up to a pipe gate or a corner, he can run it out from the cab and will no longer need to rely on extra crew to change it manually. “We’ll have one guy doing the work of four or five,” Louis says. “We’re not only going from eight to ten guys down to two, but they should be able to do it faster; they’ll be in the tractor instead of muscling hose/boom around edge of dam. It will improve safety and efficiency.”

As for the rest of the Pine Island team? “We’re doing everything we can to keep the fruit healthy until harvest!” says Bryan.

Ditching 2016

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Every year after the winter flood comes off the bogs, our team begins cleaning ditches. Ditching is important for two reasons. First, it helps maintain the proper moisture level in the soil. Second, and most importantly, removing water from the bogs quickly is urgent in case of a big rain event. The process is simple–the machine moves along the water line, removing the debris that has accumulated over the winter and placing it along the dam–but in the past has been time-consuming.

We have, however, recently acquired some new equipment to help streamline the process. “We lost the engine in the excavator that had the big ditcher on it at kind of a critical time,” COO Bryan vonHahmann explains. “But just recently we bought another arm mower with a longer reach that can go down 25 feet rather than 20. So we were able to just purchase another attachment; now we just take the mower off and put the ditcher on that arm. That makes it a lot easier to get to everything.”

“Not only does it save us some time,” says Matt Giberson, “but since it’s narrower, it doesn’t tear up the vines as much. And that also means the operator can see obstacles such as irrigation lines and underdrain much more easily, which means it frees a team member to be elsewhere, since they don’t have to act as a guide.”

Long-time team member Rick Zapata is running the show again this year. “I’ve only been at it for about a week, but it moves fast,” he says. “It’s a little different this year; usually it goes in a particular order, but this year I’m skipping around to different sections.” He emphasizes the need to be careful of the irrigation systems. “You have to look at the pump house and figure out the layout. I know where most of them are by now, but a new guy will take a little longer. There’s a lot to keep track of: the pipes, the pole, the wires. But the machine works great. It gets a lot of the dirt and the obstruction and just keeps moving.”

“The only thing we have to do is come back around where the underdrain is and clear out those spots underneath,” Matt says. “We had to put off the project due to the weather, but now that we’re catching up, Rick is moving really fast.”

Trommel

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Pine Island Cranberry has only been using our bogside cleaner for one season but our team is already figuring out ways to make it even better!

Our Equipment team spent a considerable amount of time over the past month or so working on a trommel attachment in order to increase the efficiency of the bogside cleaner. (A trommel, also known as a “trommel screen,” is a screened cylinder used to separate materials by size.)

The team took it on a trial run last week and were pleased with the results! “It did exactly what it was supposed to do,” says welder Fred Henschel. What this new extension is actually supposed to do is take in all the trash produced by the berry pump: berries that are too small, leaves, twigs…anything not supposed to go with the fruit, along with all the water it’s pulling up from the bog. “The problem before was, we were pulling in so much water it wasn’t separating from the trash enough,” Fred says. “We couldn’t entirely disperse the water and the trash truck would end up pulling away more than half full of water as opposed to full of just the debris.”

The team’s modifications made it possible to send clean water back into the bog and the debris into the trucks. It was also more efficient from a time and fuel standpoint, since instead of using three to four trash trucks per trailer load of berries, the gathering crew was able to load one tractor trailer with one trash truck. “It saved time on switching, as well,” Fred says. When it was time to switch out the trash truck, the team would have to stop the pump, pull the truck all the way out to the far corner of the bog, then back another truck all the way back in. Skipping that step allows the harvest to move much faster.

And in the true spirit of doing whatever it takes…”The guys were so excited to try it out that it couldn’t fail,” Fred says.

*Photos by Fred Henschel