MUSHROOM Lifting blocks BUSINESS
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Nearly everywhere in the world, modern farms built based on the Dutch shelving system are filled using often highly advanced, but expensive, head filling machines. But there are still many other places in the world where growers produce mushrooms or exotics on blocks or in bags. Blocks or bags are still a regular feature on smaller farms - abroad- where the invest- ment in an expensive head filler is financially unfeasible. These blocks or bags have to be placed by hand in the shelves, which is time consuming and very hard manual labour.
The farm owned by They and Miets Willems on Heldenseweg in Kessel, Limburg (NL), has been rented for some time now by Jan Koopmans Sub- straatbedrijf in Horst. He uses the building to incubate substrate for oyster mushroom in blocks. They now works as the manager of the company he rents to Koopmans.
They had a real aversion to lifting the blocks. Workers standing on top of pallets have to grasp each 17 kg block and place it on the shelves. “I really feel sorry for them, working hour after hour!”, says They. A solution had to be found for the future. A machine is being developed which transports the blocks up to the shelves on an adapted conveyor belt that was formerly used to empty the rooms. This machine presses the blocks firmly onto the filling nets after they have been positioned at the right height. A standard pulling winch then pulls them onto the shelves. A retrofitted frequency controller, installed on the modified belt, can be used to adjust the speed of the transport belt to suit the speed of the winch. The plan is to use this machine in the near future to not only place, but also to remove the blocks from the shelves – after incubation – simply by reversing the operating direction of the belt.
Another advantage of this machine, apart from literally lightening the phys- ical workload, is that it only occupies a few metres of space at the back of the farm where the room is filled. This means the machine can be used on almost every farm. And an added benefit is the relatively low investment!
By Thei Staaks, Mushroom Advice Network
info@mushroomadvicenetwork.nl
46 MUSHROOM BUSINESS
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