Ron Petrosky Operations Manager

Pre-Inspection of Filtration Filters 

 Believe it or not the planting season is just around the corner and before you know it, it will be time to start setting up your filtration filter for your drip.  Here are a few things you can check for now while your filters are setting dormant.

 Screen Filters:

Remove the element and make sure it is not clogged.  It may look clean on the out side but the water flows thru the element from the inside out so it is best to inspect it in a well lit area.  If the element is clogged, the best way to clean it is to use a brush on the inside of the element to remove the debris.  In some cases this may not be enough to clean it so you may also need to use a pressure washer at the lowest setting.  Once this is done you should be able to see light coming thru the screen.  If you do not then the element should be replaced.  You should also check the screen for tears and if it has any it should be replaced.  Also check all the o-rings for signs of wear and or tears and if any replace.

Sand Media Filters:

Make sure all water has been drained so the sand can dry.  Once the sand is dry check it for cracking.  Cracking is a sign of old sand and the sand should be replaced.  Note: If your tank has stone in the bottom then you will need to replace that too.  If the sand looks fine then check the level of it in the tank.  The level of the sand should be right at the crest of the tank and if it is below that then add fresh sand.

Important: Before adding any sand or stone please call us and check the capacity of each tank as well as the specification of the sand and stone.

These same things should be done periodically throughout the operation period of the filters to maintain peak performance of the filters.

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Lee Fiocchi III President and Co-Owner

This past year we have put some of our efforts into looking at fertilizer along with our soil moisture management service.  We mostly were concentrating on looking at the movement.  We wanted to understand how fertilizer moves through the soil profiles to help capture a more efficient way and/or time to put fertilizer to the plants.

We have found tremendous information in doing this.  Did you know that fertilizer moves down in the soil profile even without water being the driving force?  Also we found in one instance that a non-irrigated crop leached more fertilizer than an irrigated crop.  Yes I know, I thought that is crazy too.  When we examined the data it made complete sense.  The irrigated crop made the plant more efficient in extracting fertilizer from the soil and through its roots, while the non-irrigated crop had know way for the plant to extract and consume the fertilizer efficiently.

If you want to know more about this information, please call or email Lee Rain and mention this blog and we will discuss this plus any other question you may have about our findings.

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The Raintowers lightweight folding tripod design allows it to be moved to any area. Even if your plants are tall, the Raintowers 41″ or 72″ height adjustment makes watering very easy. The fully adjustable sprinkler allows for any pattern that you may need.

Finally, The Raintowers galvanized construction will last a long, long time.

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Ron Petrosky Operations Manager

 PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE

  FOR GEARBOXES ON REELS

Asimple thing as changing the gear oil, (90 weight non-foaming gear oil), at the end or beginning of every season in the gearbox  of  your  Hard Hose Traveler  can possibly save you an estimated 4 to 6 hrs of down time. (This is the estimated time to remove repair and reinstall the gearbox.) .   By not  performing this  maintenance condensation can build up inside the gearbox causing the internal components to rust.  This possibly can cause  other things like , bearings and gears to wear out quicker over time potentially causing a failure of the gearbox which in return can cause hours of down time.

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As we start our new year, we would like to extend our sincere wishes to all of our farm, nursery and landscape customers for a great year. May it be prosperous and filled with many new opportunities to expand your horizons. We thank you for your continued patronage through the years and look forward to the many years ahead of us. Things change but usually for the better. This past year has been filled with many highs and lows but we all got through it. We are going through many changes in-house and through all of the bumps in the road – we seem to have built a stronger  and more unified direction for the company to progress towards. 2012 promises to be a new start- a new beginning – for all who  need it so let focus on the future and how we can improve the pathways to reach our ultimate goal – contentment in our accomplishments whether it be the best tasting tomatoes or the plumpest blueberries, or the greenest grass – we all have one thing in common – we are making a difference in this world.

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Lee Fiocchi III President and Co-Owner

“Intelligent Irrigation” or what we also call “Crop Controlled Irrigation” is methods of irrigating based on what the crop needs are instead of a routine time or Et based.  By having the crop determine when it wants to drink allows less stress days on the crop.

A stress day is an accumulation of time that the crop is not in optimum soil moisture levels.  We use Earthtec Solutions’ Adviroguard^TM software to measure what we call TX_SD (Stress Days).  Using Adviroguard^TM software to measure TX_SDnot only shows us Stress Days but it is a deeper analysis of Stress Days where the crop is either water stressed (where % soil moisture is to low for the plant roots to extract water from the soil) or oxygen stressed (where % soil moisture is to high and displacing oxygen from soil) which also limits the plants roots in extracting water from the soil.

By managing TX_SD (Stress Days) and using that information to make irrigation decisions increases your crops overall yield potential.

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RSD-BEx

Have you ever run into this problem? Your lawn sprinklers are running and it’s pouring rain outside. This problem is easily solved with a Rainbird Sensor. The Rainbird Sensor is a very simple device that will automatically put your watering program on hold when it rains.
The Rainbird Sensor is very easy to install and comes in a wired model (RSD) and a wireless model (WR2). The Rainbird Sensor can be set from 1/8″ – 3/4″ for RSD models and from 1/8″ to 1/2″ for WR2 models. The Rainbird Sensor is also compatible with most 24VAC controllers.

WR2

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PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE WILL EXTEND THE LIFE OF YOUR ENGINE

 The cold winter season is the perfect time to get your equipment into shape for the spring. We have a qualified service department and staff to help with all of your maintenance needs.
This week we will focus on Diesel engines -
We recommend doing a valve adjustment every 1000 hours because “out of adjustment valves” will lower cylinder compression causing hard starting. Adjusted valves make for easier starting in colder temperatures. The process take

Diesel Engine

approximately a half an hour of time and save a lot of downtime later.

“Remember an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”.

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This Thursday, December 1 at 1:30 Central Time, you are welcome to join us in an informative and fun Webinar. The topic is Irrigation Management of Corn and Beets. Click here to go to the registration site and we look forward to meeting you then.

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