Equipment innovations save labor, headaches

Growers shared their favorite mechanical helpers at the ANLA/WNGA’s New Ideas program on the trade show circuit this year. These innovations were presented at the Mid-America Horticultural Trade Show in Chicago in January and at the ANLA Management Clinic in Louisville, Ky., in February.

Water wagon

Bergman Nurseries, in Quincy, Ill., had trouble getting water at one of its new farms. The short-term solution was a two-person water wagon. Travis Friye, a Bergman vice president, took some inspiration from a water wagon at Dwight Hughes Nursery in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Armed with an 1,100-gallon water tank, the water wagon is pulled by a tractor with a creeper gear. The tank sets on a trailer with flotation tires.

The tank is equipped with spray bars made of 1 1/2-inch PVC. The bars extend a few inches past the tractor tires. Small holes are drilled into the bars about 6 inches apart.

The wagon uses a PTO pump to pressurize the PVC pipe. An in-line filter helps to reduce clogging.

The tractor drives 5 mph and makes two passes, resulting in 6-8 inches of water penetration for its shade and evergreen trees. Two workers can apply 7,000 gallons per day with this system. During two years of drought, the nursery has experienced less than 5 percent loss due to lack of water.

For more: Bergman Nurseries, (217) 222-1424; www.bergmannurseries.com.

Cinch tying machine

L.E. Cooke Co., a bare-root tree nursery in Visalia, Calif., was able to decrease its tying crew by at least 10 people with the Cinch XE tying machine from Alliance Packaging Systems.

“Before, when we had cinch-strapping machines, our peak employment was around 350 people and we had 14-18 people per tying crew,” said Phillip Cox, operations and sales at L.E. Cooke. “Our new tying machines require only four to six people per crew.”

The machine’s cycle time is 3 seconds per tie. In the field it operates with a 10-amp generator. It has an adjustable tension range from 6 to 120 pounds.

For more: L.E. Cooke Co., (559) 732-9146; www.lecooke.com. Alliance Packaging, (800) 998-8996; www.alliancepkg.com.

Selective Inverted Sink

Shur Farms in Colton, Calif., offers a frost protection system that sucks the coldest air from under the trees and propels it above them, allowing trees to retain heat. The Selective Inverted Sink (SIS) can raise the temperature of the lower air from 2 to 10 degrees in a 2- to 25-acre plot. Shur Farms needed a way to deal with ground frost and cold air that worked more efficiently than conventional wind machines, said Steve Hammersmith, president of Shur Farms. The SIS is portable, unlike wind machines.

The medium-sized unit comes with a 15-horsepower engine. The SIS works best with trees that have at least 12 inches of trunk below the branches. It’s designed to alleviate radiation frost.

For more: Shur Farms, (877) 842-9688; www.shurfarms.com.

Fanntum Grabber

Worthington Farms in Greenville, N.C., needed help transporting 25- to 45-gallon trees safely from the growing blocks to the shipping trailers, said Mike Worthington, nursery president. Worthington filled that need with the Fanntum Grabber.

The Fanntum Grabber is an attachment to a tractor or loader. The grabber arm hydraulically swings out on a hinge, pivoting so the tractor or loader doesn’t move, he said.

“The arms are actuated to squeeze the container, it is then lifted and rotated back in front of the machine, driven to the road and placed on a trailer,” he said.

The arms can be changed to lift even bigger containers by pulling hitch pins and replacing each of the two half-moon frames with larger ones.

For more: Worthington Farms, (252)756-3827; www.worthingtonfarms.com. Fanntum Products, (704) 876-6000; www.fanntum.com.

Speed Lacer

Harry Bitel, owner of Bitel Innovations in Emmett, Mich., has been a nurseryman for 40 years. He’s recently added inventor to his resume. He designed the Speed Lacer, which balls a tree and places it on the ground, ready for transport. This one-operator machine is available as an attachment for skid-mount loaders and category 1 or 2 tractors with at least 40 horsepower and a three-point hitch. It’s also available bolted to an ASV Scout utility vehicle.

The Speed Lacer is adjustable for ball diameter, height or degree of taper.

It mechanically secures the twine around the trunk of the tree by using hook-style baskets that are exclusive to Bitel Innovations. The machine power crimps the basket in a pigtail style to tighten the ball into a uniform shape.

For more: Bitel Innovations, (810) 395-4101; www.movethattree.com.

Tree cart

Imperial Nurseries wanted to reduce costs associated with shipping and handling No. 15 and No. 25 containers; reduce lifting-related injuries; and increase loading efficiencies. Greg Elwell, Chuck Golden and Mike Clark developed a tree cart that reduced labor, handling damages and cost per unit. The two-wheeled cart has two handles and one main support bar. The container is supported by a platform along with two side panels. The $400 tree cart was fabricated to design specifics by vocational students.

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For more: Imperial Nurseries, (800) 950-6051; www.imperialnurseries.com.

July 2008