Tag Archives: Equipment

Gates Harrow

Posted on by

We mentioned a few weeks ago that our equipment team was working on a new machine for our harvest season. The Gates Harrow is the latest addition to our equipment program and everyone is very excited to try it come harvest time. “It’s much less labor intensive,” said manager Louis Cantafio at the time. “We typically run a six man picking crew and their target is about 12.5 acres per day. On a more level set of bogs, they can do more than that, but with a Gates Harrow we’ve seen a two-man crew get through 40 acres. It’s a lot more efficient.”

The Gates Harrow is a simple machine set up to cover more ground. At the front is a rod which holds vines down to the ground; as the tractor moves forward, the berries pop off the stems and roll up over the tines on the rake.

It’s not as hard on the plants as our usual method, and our renovation program is geared for increased efficiency by being user-friendly for equipment like this. Team supervisor Jeremy Fenstermaker thinks there are several advantages to the new equipment: “The biggest advantage is labor. It also picks a lot cleaner; it knocks almost everything off the vines. With the standard reels you’ll still find some berries left here and there. There’s also some fuel savings with just one tractor running.” While the machine uses less water for picking than the reels, the bogs still require additonal flooding for gathering, which is still done in the usual way. “Adding water isn’t a problem,” Jeremy says. “If you figure out timing it works out fine. As long as Rick [Zapata] is ahead it’s not that big a deal.” Another advantage: “The fruit is ‘cleaner’ as far as debris: fewer weeds, vines, twigs, all that kind of thing. Which means Mike can get fruit out faster at the packing house because his crew can process it faster.”

CEO Bill Haines is pleased with how things are turning out: “It’s been a steep learning curve, but I’m encouraged by the outcome,” he says. “Jeremy, Rick, and Mickey [Mercado] have done a great job learning the best way to use it. Every day is going a little better; I’m very pleased with the results.”

Interested in seeing the machine in action up close? Watch as team leader Rick Zapata takes us on a brief tour around the bog:

GoPro Gates Harrow from Pine Island Cranberry on Vimeo.

Equipment program: Hydrema

Posted on by

Pine Island Cranberry prides itself on efficiency, and both our hard-working team and our equipment program reflect that. To that end, our equipment program recently started test-driving a Hydrema for hauling.

“We got the Hydrema about a week ago and we’ve been running it hard ever since,” says equipment team member Coco Mercado. “Joe [Colon, Bog Renovations Manager] has been out there on it just about every day.” He was working yesterday to remove the hitch, as it’s heavy enough to do some of our major towing as well. “We used it to bring the sand screener out and I got to drive it back; it handles like a Cadillac!”

Equipment supervisor Carlos Baez is impressed as well. “There are a lot of tight turns on the bogs,” he says. “In a regular dump truck, you really have to work it. But the Hydrema is articulated, so it’s easier to make turns or back up to the sandbox. And the tires are big enough to keep it from wearing deep ruts in the dams or getting stuck in soft sand.”

The Hydrema can also take double the load that a dump truck can carry. “It moves a little slower, but we can load seven buckets as opposed to the 3.5 we can get in the regular dump truck,” Carlos says. “That’s still the equivalent of two loads, even taking the slower speed into account.” Our demo model also has the “multi-tip option”, which means we can drop sand from the right side or the left side in addition to the back. This is an highly useful option in many of our typical tasks, such as sanding and bog renovation.

But the ultimate review might be from our bog renovation manager. Though he was working on another project and was unavailable to comment, he’s been keeping the equipment team updated. “Joe loves it,” Carlos says. “And you know Joe doesn’t hold back.” COO Bryan vonHahmann concurs: “Joe was skeptical at first, but he’s been the primary driver ever since!”

Pine Island Team Profile: Fred Henschel

Posted on by

This week, we took another trip to the shop to meet the newest member of our Facilities/Equipment team. Fred Henschel started at Pine Island Cranberry three months ago and has been doing a great job ever since.

He’s been doing a lot of the normal prevention and maintenance tasks; he’s rebuilt sanders, the reels for the boom reels, the pickers, and so forth. But his latest task is working on our new Gates Harrow machine. “This is what I like best,” Fred says. “I was an inventory control specialist, but I’ve been a builder and fabricator as a hobby for my entire life. Getting to do this for a living is great. If it needs to be built…I’ll build it.”

The Gates Harrow is the latest addition to our equipment program and everyone is very excited to try it come harvest time. “It’s much less labor intensive,” says manager Louis Cantafio. “We typically run a six man picking crew and their target is about 12.5 acres per day. On a more level set of bogs, they can do more than that, but with a Gates Harrow we’ve seen a two-man crew get through 40 acres. It’s a lot more efficient.” It’s not as hard on the plants as our usual method, and our renovation program is geared for increased efficiency by being user-friendly for equipment like this.

“Coco [Mercado] and Carlos [Baez] put the tracks on, and then they passed this part over to me,” Fred says. “It came in on a skid, but no attachments for the tractor, because we’re going to customize it.” He has an appreciation for form as well as function, and wants this new piece to fit into this aesthetic. “I want it so you can’t tell where the tractor ends and the additions begin. It has to look seamless. It’s got to be functional, but I’d like it to look nice, too.” Fred is especially looking forward to seeing the harvest this year. “I can’t wait to see this in action, but I’ve never seen it done the usual way, either!” he says. A professional photographer, he’s also looking forward to the opportunity to capture it all on film.

“Fred’s extremely creative,” Louis says. “His skill set has only increased since he got here, and he showed up in pretty good shape to begin with. I think he’s a keeper.”

Crowning dams – new equipment

Posted on by

We’ve posted before about the new scraper we commissioned over the winter. Over the past couple of weeks, our team finally got a chance to put it to work.

While our team had tested it after arrival, last week they put the new land leveling blade attachment to work on the renovations at 11 Acre and Benny’s. “The land leveler we already have is great, but it’s getting worn out,” explains Facilities/Equipment manager Louis Cantafio. “We like the model we have, but it’s been discontinued. So when we commissioned the new machine, we decided to make it multifunctional and did some re-purposing. We made the new blade straight and a fixed width, as opposed to the crowning blade, which is curved and able to be expanded if necessary. We also made it wider than the old leveler.”

“As part of the project we put a laser receiver and electronically driven valve on the tractor to make leveling easier,” Louis says. “The tractor had one before, but it was just the indicator. Now the operator can just pay attention to driving while the laser and the controller communicate and make necessary corrections. Plus, the wider blade helped us get the edges of the bog, which previously had to be done after the main leveling was finished. Speed and communication have helped us get the leveling done forty percent faster, which is huge.”

So far the team has had to change the blades twice: once to put on the new leveling blade and once to put the crowning blade back on. In both instances it took the team about 45 minutes to make the conversion. “It was a little bit of work, but we’ll get better at it,” Louis says. “The time we spent is a worthwhile investment. And as it turns out, it works very well. We had to do some custom modifications to make it work and they turned out fine.”

Team member Junior Colon, who is scraping dams this week, agrees. “The wider blade on the crowner makes things a lot easier,” he says. “There were some new controls to learn, but once you pick it up everything’s great. The whole thing tilts, which makes it easier to smooth things out, and having the ability to expand or retract the blade is a huge help. Once you know which dam you’re on and what it needs, it works out perfectly.”

Scraper

Posted on by

It’s been a tough winter at Pine Island Cranberry (and almost everywhere else), which has done a number on our dams. On a cranberry farm, dams serve two purposes: to detain the water used for irrigation and water management, and for vehicle use. Dam maintenance is highly important for both safety and equipment. Most of the year, our team will “scrape” the dams as necessary in order to save wear and tear on equipment. Then, in the spring, we target the ones that need crowning.

Until this year, the process to scrape crowned dams was completed by a dozer, which meant each dam had to be gone over twice, just to make sure the crown was not scraped off. This year we decided to maximize our efficiency and commissioned Hollyford Enterprises in Hainesport to build us a new scraper to use on crowned dams. In addition, we’d like to modify it for land-leveling in renovation projects. Owner Bob Shinn based the design off our current scraper and made some adjustments for both flexibility and durability. “It turned out to be a bigger project than I expected,” Bob says, “but the final result is meaningful.”

This week, team member Ivan Burgos took the scraper out for a test run!

He towed it up to the top of the Black Rock system in order to see how it handled and to test some of the new features Bob had designed.

GM Fred Torres says, “We wanted to check for any adjustments that might need to be made to the hydraulics as well as testing it on different types of gravel. It went through both the soft sand at Black Rock and the harder gravel up at Jonathan Wright without any issues. The adjustable extensions on the back are fantastic for scraping the wider dams and will save us time and money when we start crowning later in the year.” The extensions are going to be very useful; they can be extended to cover the widest possible area, then pulled in when going through a gate or driving on a dam lined by utility poles and no one will have to swerve around the obstacle or double back to get the edge. And it’s pretty cool to watch!

“It’s pretty easy to run,” Ivan says. “You just have to be careful and remember to pull the extensions back in. That might take some getting used to!”

Sandbox

Posted on by

The ongoing project at Pine Island Cranberry this week continues to be sanding, and the winter weather has continued to give our sanding team some challenges. While there hasn’t been much snow, the cold can still cause problems.

GM Fred Torres explains: “It was less than 25 degrees the other morning; that’s cold! When we started digging, there was a crust on the mound of sand; as you dig, you have to try to get that off and then start digging into the mound itself. It mostly works, but some of those clumps inevitably roll down and it’s so cold they don’t break up. Some go into the bucket, some get into truck, and from there some get into the sander. We try to take them out as we see them, but it’s inefficient for everyone.” Team member Jorge Morales tried out the GoPro this week to help demonstrate the issue. (Left unanswered is why he feels the need to wear Dallas Cowboys gear in Eagles country, but perhaps that’s better for all concerned.)

GoPro – Jorge from Pine Island Cranberry on Vimeo.

Things improved after lunch as the temperature went up into the thirties, but as Fred says, “You have to sand when it’s time to sand; you can’t wait for perfect weather to do what needs to be done.”

One thing that’s been a tremendous help to our team is the new sandbox. Built by our equipment team, the sandbox was designed to improve efficiency and reduce waste. In previous years, trucks would back up to the location and just drop sand directly onto the dam. “We figured out that dropping sand directly causes us to lose at least ten percent of it,” says Fred. “That means for every ten truckloads you lose at least one. That’s a lot. But with the box, we don’t lose anything and we’re able to use our time more efficiently; we can get a lot more done. The box keeps everything contained; we don’t lose anything and it’s easier to clean up.”

You can see from Joel DeJesus’ point of view how much easier it is, as well:

GoPro – Excavator from Pine Island Cranberry on Vimeo.

With both teamwork and technology, our team continues to be highly efficient no matter what the weather!

Team Profiles: Kevin Schuster and Coco Mercado

Posted on by

A little over a year ago, we had the grand opening of our new shop, and it’s been going strong ever since!

As we mentioned last week, our Facilities and Equipment Team has been very busy preparing for harvest. Manager Louis Cantafio says that while he’s been ordering more parts in order to be as prepared for harvest as possible, the equipment team is already looking ahead and starting to focus on other machinery. “We’re finishing up work on the planters and the the sand screener, because that all gets going after harvest. And now that we’re starting to get moved into the new equipment sheds, we’re getting everything organized. If something is not in use, then we’ll put it where it belongs.”

Louis has also been training two new employees who started with us this summer: Miguel “Coco” Mercado and Kevin Schuster. Coco is a recent graduate of the Burlington County Institute of Technology (Medford campus), has been with us full-time since June, and is very excited for this year’s harvest. “I worked weekends on Blondie’s crew for the past few years, and also helped fill in on the picking crew sometimes,” he says. “But I’ve never seen it from this side!” He says he’s been learning a lot, especially from supervisor Carlos Baez and fellow team member Ernie Waszkiewicz. “I majored in auto mechanics at BCIT, and I learned a lot about cars and pickups there. But there are so many different things here, new things out in the field that I never knew about. I’ve known how to drive a dump truck for a long time, but I’d never worked on one! I’ve done a lot of new brakes, the oil changes, all the maintenance. It’s really cool.” He has also been working hard on pump house maintenance, prepping the harvesters, and this week, working on finding a leak in one of the tractors. Louis has been pleased by his work. “We have a lot of specialization here, and he’s really been picking up on both how and why we do things the way we do.”

Our other new team member is welder Kevin Schuster. Kevin started with us at the beginning of July and has done whatever it takes to help our team get the harvesting equipment ready. As Louis said last week, the equipment team has been doing a lot of work on the dump trucks: both major and minor repairs as well as preventative maintenance such as reinforcing the welding on tailgates and dump bodies. “During the season we’re always running hard, and those trucks are in use all year.”

Kevin, who trained at the Mercer County Technical School district and did a welding apprenticeship, has been working hard learning every aspect of our equipment program. He’s been out working on repairs to the suction lines, working on improvements to the harvesting machines, and working on all the trucks. “I’m not just working on the underbody of the trucks, though,” Kevin says. “Ernie and I spent some time this summer designing new latches for the tailgates, and I think it’s really going to make things a lot easier for everybody.”

“I really enjoy seeing a new project come together,” Kevin says. “Once you see it work, it’s a real feeling of accomplishment.” At Pine Island Cranberry, we’re glad to provide opportunity to team members like Coco and Kevin who are genuinely willing to do whatever it takes to help make us better.

Preparing for the 2013 harvest

Posted on by

The 2013 harvest is less than a month away, and our team has been working hard to get ready. While our goal is always to have all facilities and equipment ready when needed, it becomes even more essential as harvest time gets closer. Facilities and Equipment Manager Louis Cantafio and his team have been going nonstop all summer to prepare the harvest equipment.

“Right now we’re going over all of the trucks,” Louis says. “A lot of minor repairs, a few major repairs. Most of it, though is preventative. We’re doing a lot of welding on the tailgates and the dump bodies. They come off for harvest, but when they go back on after the season it’s better to have them in good shape. During the season we’re always running hard, and those trucks are in use all year.”

The team also finished work on the harvesters earlier this summer. “Those all got oil changes, new plugs, and anything else they needed for a standard tune-up. We already did a lot of work last year in terms of replacing parts, though we’re ordering parts in because things are going to break and we need to have them back up and running right away.”

The equipment team helps with all the various harvest machinery, making modifications such as additional hooks for storage or an expanded hopper on the elevators. The boom is sent out for repair, and once it is all back, Kelvin Colon will be installing them on the boom reels.

In addition, all the equipment that we rent is on its way. Mike Guest, our Facilities Supervisor, is also in charge of the packing house. His main task this week has been ordering the trailers we use for hauling to the Ocean Spray receiving station. “I modify those myself,” Mike says. “So I need to make sure that what we get works with my modifications. If I make sure what they have for us is compatible with what we need, it saves everyone time and effort.” Once the trailers are in, he’ll get them ready.

The biggest part of Mike’s job, and the one he takes the most pride in, is prepping the processing equipment. “The main thing is getting the blowers ready,” he says. “The belts come off after harvest in order to prevent wear. It makes them easier to clean, for one thing, and that way the sun doesn’t damage them. The black ones can take it, the white ones can’t, so it’s just easier to take them off.” As far as the permanent machinery, is concerned, he says, he checks every single screw. “That’s not an exaggeration: every single screw. All the nuts and bolts: no exceptions. If you want a comparison, this place is a big funnel, and the packing house is the hole in the bottom. If it gets plugged, everything else shuts down. If something holds up a crew, we still have two more running until the first gets back up again. But if something happens at the packing house, the whole thing gets backed up. I always say it, but it’s easier to maintain things than it is to fix them.” Along those lines, he also makes sure he has parts so if something does break, he has what he needs to get back online.

Mike also welcomes any ideas from his crew to improve the process. “They’re the ones who are on it every day; if they come to me and ask if we can try something like adding an extra walkway, I’ll always see if it’s doable.” He is also very pleased with the assistance of Emmanuel Colon. “If I have to go anywhere, I know the place is in good hands.”

Last but not least, our PIICM program is also getting ready for harvest, calculating our crop estimate! Every year around the last week of August or first week of September, our team takes a random sampling of each variety that we have on the bogs. In each bed, they pick twenty square feet. The samples are brought to the Rutgers Marucci experiment station, where the staff generously allow our team space to sort the berries into categories: healthy, scald, rot, and other. Once it’s weighed and recorded, our team uses that info in conjunction with how many acres we have of each variety to calculate our estimated harvest for the year!

Harvest prep 2012

Posted on by

Well maintained, consistently available equipment and facilities that are fully operational are instrumental to the daily efficiency and success of our operation here at Pine Island Cranberry Company. Our goal is to have all facilities and equipment ready when needed. While this is a top priority throughout the year, it becomes even more essential as harvest time gets closer.

It is important to make sure all of the equipment has been properly maintained well in advance of the harvest: the boom, boom reels, harvesters, et cetera. The boom is taken out and checked for any repairs that need to be made, and so is the reel.

The harvesters are brought in and serviced at our shop. We also look over and repair as needed the blowers, elevators, trucks and tractors for each harvesting crew and ensure we have all the tools and safety supplies necessary to get us through harvest.

At the packing house, we do a test run on our blowers and elevators:

At the same time, we also look beyond the harvest. Getting a head start on bog renovations for 2013, Joan Dominguez and Emmanuel Colon are working on building replacement pipe gates for flooding for our Oswego renovation project.

As we’ve mentioned in a previous entry on bog renovation, we’ve been replacing our wooden floodgates with a newer PVC design for greater longevity. They are also easier to install and repair.

Doing whatever it takes to efficiently prep for our busiest time of year helps us realize our mission and our vision and exceed even our own expectations.