Manure Spreader
8 December 2008
For every five pounds of coffee cherry that is picked off the trees, four
of those pounds are lost in the pulping process. Only the seeds are
saved (yes Ryan, coffee beans and coffee seeds are the same thing.)
The pulpy outer fruit is discarded. That adds up to a lot of material
and getting rid of all that slimy mess can be a problem.
In a previous post I discussed coffee pulp
and how to get rid of it. I mentioned another Kona coffee farmer that
uses an old manure spreader. I was jealous of the spreader but the
farmer hated it. He complained that the thing never worked right and
was always breaking. Well, maybe the guy is a really good salesman or
maybe I'm just a sucker but I decided to buy that old manure spreader.
Sure enough, the thing is as clunky as can be. The drive mechanisms
are all rusty and bent. Backing up will jam the belts if not
disengaged first. I've already had to replace a couple bolts to keep
the trailer tongue from falling off. I haven't broken the axle yet but
I know I could if I'm not careful.
The manure spreader gets filled with slimy, stinky mess so as far as I'm
concerned, it's supposed to be rusty, dirty, bent and ugly. It has
large balloon tires so it's easy to pull around the fields and the spreader
mechanism still does a good job of flinging pulp everywhere. Flinging
is good because I don't want piles of mess, I want the mess spread evenly
all over the field. I can't drive too fast though or else the mess
gets flung all over my truck.
I try to empty the spreader as soon as I can after pulping. It's
sometimes tempting to leave the mess sitting in the trailer for a day or two
but that's not a good idea. Flinging coffee pulp is bad enough, flinging
half rotten coffee pulp is worse. I don't recommend it. Unless
Mike Rowe
comes for a visit, then the messy stuff would be perfect.
It's a bit difficult to maneuver the truck and spreader up and down all the
rows. I've already managed to get stuck once. Luckily the
spreader was almost empty at the time so I could disconnect it without
having to shovel it out first.
Compared to the tiny trailer I used to use, this "new" spreader holds a
lot more. Now I can pulp an entire batch of coffee without having to
stop two or three times to empty the trailer. That has already made
the spreader a good purchase. I know most people wouldn't get
too excited about a manure spreader but I don't care, as a Kona coffee
farmer I'm quite please with my latest toy.
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