PERC Updates
Washington’s Alfalfa Conference
January 7, 2010
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.
January 1, 2010
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
December 12, 2009
My first Haytalk commentary was posted this last week and it felt good. (www.haytalk.com) I look forward to writing a submission on Sundays when the day is available to me. With the laptop, I have internet almost everywhere, but family, etc will take precedents.
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, i.e. state our minds but without rancor.
Heading into the holidays, like it or not.
December 10, 2009
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.
December 6, 2009
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.
November 29, 2009
My friends!!
The latest field updates on the 620 are in.
"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 until 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 as 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.
October 15, 2009
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.
New single tube wand holders are sweet!!
Treated gophers and moles in the yard this morning and the new single tube wand holders are nice. Easy in, easy out, easy to keep hoses straight.
We are installing the single tube wand holders on both the 412 and the 620. I will also look at changing over on the next run of 206’s. this may or may not happen because the single tube on the 206 is accessed from each end which prevents hangups.
Older updates
