It’s Spring
Excitement and enthusiasm abounds, spring is blooming all around us and
we want to get started on our outdoor improvement projects. Landscape
material producers have endured the long winter and are chomping at the
bit to get started. I am in the same predicament, it’s hard to
wait.
Waiting, however, may be the prudent path as any good farmer knows, you
cannot build a good seed bed until the dirt is ready. Dirt has a way of
fighting back, work it too wet and it will bake in the sun. Sun
baked clods do not foster good seed germination rates. Likewise,
wet dirt does not screen or lay down well, so extra hours are needed to
produce select materials and use them on a job site. Patience is king,
until the soil is ready.
There are ways to help get some production to fill those special early
projects. Material management is the best way to start. Good material
management efforts can payoff in a big way. For early spring
deliveries, try to stock pile in the fall either under roof or covered
with a plastic sheet. It’s the moisture content that needs to be
addressed. Keep the soil dry and it will screen well.
If your stock pile is outside and uncovered, try to keep it high with
steep sides to help shed water. As nature provides, the wet material is
always on the bottom. When loading your loader bucket, leave the bottom
16 to 20 inches on the ground as it will be the wettest, problem dirt.
At the end of the day, lift the wet layer up and scatter it on the side
of your pile. It will air out, dry a bit and probably be ready to
screen in a day or two.
The second big help is to open up to a larger screen opening as wet
materials will pass through better. If the screen blinds over
from sticky dirt, screening becomes
difficult. A brush option will help but it is not a fix all.
I have prepared some performance
charts to help schedule your screening
time and delivery promises. I offer them now and will expand on their
use in my next Blog.
Happy screening, Brad
Brads Blog, “The Finer Cut”, is another of
many
planned. Each issue will cover a topic of interest about our machines,
our industry, our customers and more. I look forward to this task and
am excited about the opportunity to broaden our communications with our
customers and industry. I invite you to return and visit from time to
time, cruising back through issues to see what I may have been thinking
of at another time.
I also invite you, our reader to contribute by offering your comments.
Please send your thoughts to Brad@orbitscreens.com
, by letter or fax, 563-922 9060.
Happy screening
Brad Schnittjer
Blog # 41
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