Flex tubing on all PERC’s.

Some of the most valuable information I get comes from the field. Probably the most perplexing has been units several months old that seemed to decrease in their toxicity to kill gophers. The answer had to be air contamination of the exhaust gasses, but everything was tight with no visible air leak. When the unit was new, it worked great. After several months, there seemed to be more and more gopher mounds showing up in the area treated.

I figured it out, but it took some serous head scratching!!

The contamination problem was (and is) coming from the SS flex tubing from the motor to the cooling coils and from the cooling coils to the compressor. Vibration has always been a serous consideration and it reared its ugly head once more.

The flex tubing is really a long strip of light weight stainless steel that is formed to hook together in a spiral. Tolerances are tight and when new, it is close to air tight. But with use, the units vibration causes continue flexing of the tubing and causes the joints to create very small cracks that will leak.

There is positive pressure inside the tube from the motors exhaust and it has been assumed that this positive pressure would overcome any cracks that developed from use. But we missed one very important fact. The positive pressure works great when it is blowing towards the hooked joint. When it is blowing away from the hooked joint, it causes a vortex in the V formed by the joints which in turn creates a venturi effect. This vortex will actually cause a vacuum that will draw outside air into the exhaust stream in the flex tube. This creates a venturi effect and introduces air contamination to the exhaust reducing its ability to kill rodents.

On the 620 and the 412, this is very easy to fix. If the unit is within a year old, the flex tube can be inspected and if the folded portion of the joints point away from the motor or exhaust flow, it will not suck air. If it is pointed towards the motor, it will suck air.

If the fold is pointed towards the motor, take the clamps loose and reverse the direction of the flex tube and re-clamp it. If the unit is over a year old with heavy use, the tubes should be replaced. Either we can furnish the tubes or they can be bought from most auto supply stores.

The flex tubes on the 206 pose a bit of a complication. I have not found exhaust pipe clamps that will fit on the one inch tubing we use. While we can furnish the rings, the tool needed to tighten them up is the band-it junior and is a special tool. Heavy duty screw type clamps can be used in combination with a high temperature gasket sealant. Any exhaust gas that leaks will be minor and in this situation, air will not be sucked into the exhaust stream contaminating it.

I am drawing up an illustration that will have both graphic form and written instruction that we will mail to PERC owners. I appreciate your patience and want you to know that we are dedicated to keeping all our units in the field working.

Allen

Alfalfa Conference a big success.

We are home, a bit road soar, but had a great conference in Kenniwick, WA. No sales, but several that are putting the PERC units in their spring budgets as well as a couple of custom operators that are starting gopher control businesses in Washington.
Very interesting comment by a custom operator in Eastern Oregon. “The custom gopher business is what is paying the bills!” Like many businesses as well as farming, he was severely stretched to pay his bills. The gopher control business he set up last fall has brought in the cash that keep their operation afloat.

Washington’s Alfalfa Conference

We leave Tulelake January 11 for Kennewick, WA for the Washington Alfalfa Conference Jan. 13 & 14. We are taking more equipment, and have a larger show area in the big machinery section of the auditorium. We will have a 620, a 412 and a 206 skid on display. I am holding the units we will show at the conference open and to be sold at the conference or thereafter. While I will take orders prior to the conference, units on display will be available, first come first serve. We are also going full tilt in the shop making new units so delivery time on orders will be fairly short.
Hope to see you there,

Allen

2009 is history, with all its warts and heartaches.

In retrospect, 2009 was a good year, we added the 620 to our line, fine tuned the designs of the complete line. Sales wise and profit wise the year past had quite a bit to be desired. We have no regrets, but do feel bullish in the prospects that 2010 hold.

Personal observation as well as reports from across the country indicate that gophers have had a banner year and their numbers have increased several times. Possibly good for our business but difficult in advising the best approach to control and eradicate the pests.

There are several field applications of the PERC systems that we have gained from farmer input.
First, size matters when treating ground squirrels and prairie dogs. The more carbon monoxide we can put in a burrow system at any given time results in better kill percentages.
By the same token, gopher control is more dependent on the operators attention and diligence in the field than the size of the machine. Granted, the bigger units will cover more acres in any given time and in the end will produce more dependable results. But the 206’s are doing a great job and many farmers love the machine.

We wish our customers and readers a great 2010. We have good times in store for all involved in agriculture, I feel it in my bones.

Allen

HayTalk commentary

My first Haytalk commentary was posted this last week and it felt good. (www.haytalk.com) I look forward to writing a submission Sundays when the day is available to me. With the laptop, I have internet almost everywhere, but family, etc will take president.
If there are subjects you would like to see addressed, let me know. Adversarial or supportive, makes no difference. The only requirement is no character bashing and we take the high road, ie state our minds but without rancor.

Heading into the holidays, like it or not.

The ground is frozen, custom operators are headed to warmer climes. We are building inventory for the New Year markets.

Had a great time at Reno at the Alfalfa Conference hosted by California Extension and chaired by Steve Orloff. Great job Steve, very insightful seminars. 700 growers there and fantastic interest in upgrading their operations. Definitely a bit of electricity in the air from the anticipation of better times.

Hay prices have bottomed out and are heading up.

Just got back from the Reno Alfalfa Conference. Over 700 registered and the interest is very high in planning for 2010 crop year. A lot of red ink was on growers books from this last year and it will have a heavy influence on the expenditures and plantings for next year. The facts that milk prices are on the rise and the recession is releasing its grip is very welcome news.

620 update and latest news.

My friends!!
The latest field updates on the 620 is unreal. Best machine on the ranch, Annie, New Mexico.
Great results looking to add a third 620 to our lineup, Tri States Power, Colorado. Guess you can see me grinning ear to ear.

On a more sober note, I get a lot of questions as to cost of the units, cost per acre, per hour. All reasonable and I will attempt to address them here.

When analyzing the cost of equipment, our burrowing rodent control machines are no different than any production oriented equipment. Total cost of the equipment to be used divided by the acres it will be used on. This will include the cost of the ATV, its trailer and of course the unit itself. Included must be calculated the acres per hour that can be covered as well as the efficiency of the kill by the carbon monoxide. I will emphasize here that the efficiency of one unit compared to another of our equipment is different. The bigger the unit, the more efficient it will be in rodents killed. More cfm gas delivery, higher kill rate.

All of this is totally dependent on the actual infestation of the acreage involved. More gophers, less acres per hour. The real time figure is comparing the actual acres per hour, or acres per machine to the cost of the mounds in machinery repair, stand loss and hay value loss because of dirt in the hay.

In truth, it is impossible to estimate the actual time per acre and cost per acre untill the field involved is treated. Usually around 15 to 25 dollars per acre, labor plus equipment cost is ballpark. Custom treatment will be a bit more.

Prospective customers look at the cost of our rodent control machines and have a first reaction that the investment is way out of their budget. Reality is that the burrowing rodent is costing them much more than the control costs will be. Per acre cost is reasonable, per ton cost is eye opening.

Engines

We are in the hot pursuit of a new line of motors for the PERC units. We sent Honda all the information on what we do, how it works and they told us that it was acceptable for us to put Honda motors on our equipment if we bought them retail. I cannot do that it would force us to either mark up prices from Honda’s retail or not make anything for our mounting Honda motors on our units. This is not acceptable and in our opinion, very arrogant on Honda’s part.
My goal is to move to a main stream motor manufacturer that is available in the numbers we require, has both the parts supply and the technical support we need and will price their motors at a level that is both acceptable to us and our customers.
These are rather demanding requirements, but as of today, we are negotiating with both Briggs and Stratton and Kohler.

620 trial and pictures.

Did a 2.8 acre trial with a new 620 Monday. 230 mounds treated. 8 mounds after 48 hours, about 12 to 15 new mounds after 5 days. Great percentage, but with the untreated field next to what we treated, it is suspect in that the gophers will move quickly into old burrows, even with dead gophers in the burrows.
No question, the huge increase of carbon monoxide delivered with the 620 makes a difference in the kill rate. 7.5 cfm per probe with a 412 compared to about 11.5 plus with the 620.