During the last harvest, Pine Island was very pleased with the performance of our new Gates Harrow, which picks cleanly, quickly, and efficiently. The learning curve was a little steep at first, as you would expect. Our team had to learn how to move the ramps (used for entering and exiting the bog) quickly as well as set them up for the machine; it had to be right so the tractor can easily turn around with as little overlap as possible. However, as the season progressed, we found we would need to make some adjustments for the next season.

“With the natural water flow going through all the time, our ditches are wider and our dams are higher to accommodate the water flow and its fluctuations,” explains COO Bryan vonHahmann. “We identified several areas where the ditches are too wide for the ramps that we use to bring the Gates Harrow out.”

So this week, our team began filling in those ditches on the bog side. It has evolved into a slightly larger project (“…as such things tend to do,” says Bryan pragmatically) as it means also moving some valves closer to the dam as well as thoroughly removing grass, turf, and debris before narrowing the ditches. Other adjustments we are making for the next harvest include widening gates that are too narrow for the machine to pass through, as well as pushing back trees that are too close to some bogs, making it difficult for the Gates Harrow to maneuver.

“That Gates Harrow is eighteen feet wide,” Bryan says. “And we’re running a second new machine for the 2015 harvest, so we need to make sure everything is just right!”