Most states provide a narrow exemption to their One-Call law for “normal” farm or ranch activities. One of the keys to safe digging is understanding the difference between farming and excavating. The examples on this list may seem like everyday farm or ranch work, but they are classified as excavation and according to state laws, require contacting 811 prior to beginning work:

• Fence installation or post replacement
• Augering
• Drain tiling
• Terracing
• Grading
• Contouring
• Ripping
• Deep tilling
• Deep soil sampling
• Tree and stump removal
• Clearing, grubbing or stripping topsoil
• Ditch cleaning
• Installing cattle guards, dams, or dugouts
• Trenching water lines from a well to a stock tank
• Burying livestock
• Maintaining, building, or repairing roads

Even farm activities such as discing, leveling, plowing, planting, cultivating, or harvesting can impact buried utilities. Many of these activities are considered excavations in most states. However, if they occur at depths no greater than 12 inches, they may be considered farming or ranching (state laws vary – visit the directory beginning on page 27 for information on your state’s dig law requirements).

Terrain modifications at any depth should be preceded by contacting 811 as the depth of a pipe or cable can change over time. Pipeline operators may come out and verify the depth of the utility before and after the work to ensure your safety. If there is ever a question, contact 811 to be safe. The request is free, and the utility companies will be glad you did. Representatives are always happy to talk about how you can operate safely around pipelines and cables. Utility operators are committed to working with farmers, ranchers, and local extension agents to help keep our nation’s communities, infrastructure, and land safe and productive.

Our nation’s farmlands have miles of pipeline and cable running beneath them, making it vital to practice safe digging. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline; Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), there are 2.6 million miles of natural gas and hazardous liquid transportation pipelines in America. Now combine that number with the millions of producers working in fields across the country, and it leads to a lot of digging over millions of miles of infrastructure.

To help protect our infrastructure, every state has One Call laws to keep these buried utilities safe. These laws require contractors, farmers, ranchers, homeowners, and anyone preparing to create a ground disturbance to contact 811 at least 2-3 days before starting their project (state laws vary – visit the directory beginning on page 27 for information on your state’s legal wait time). 811 is a free, national 3-digit number you can call from anywhere in the United States to request the approximate location of buried utilities be marked. Most notification centers also offer the ability to submit a digital request online through their website.

After receiving your locate request, the One-Call center will notify any facility owner who may have buried utilities within the dig area. They will send a locate technician out to place paint and/or flags on the ground to mark the approximate location of their facilities in the dig area. Each facility owner may send their own technician so be sure all facility owners have responded before beginning your dig project. Farms and ranches often have buried private utilities, like propane lines or outbuilding lights, that are not marked by contacting 811. For your safety, and the safety of these utilities, a private utility locator should be contracted to mark these lines.

Once marked, the paint and/or flags should be respected. Use care when working near a utility. Do not use mechanical equipment within 18-24” from the outer edge of a pipeline in all directions (state laws vary – visit the directory beginning on page 27 for information on your state’s tolerance zone). Hand digging is required when excavating within this area. If your digging project is on or near a pipeline right-of-way or easement, a company representative will likely be onsite during the project. If you expose a utility, a company representative may request to inspect the pipeline or cable before you backfill.

The article was published on Excavation Safety, 6, p. 15. A special thanks to Whitney Price, Pipeline AG Safety Alliance

The post Am I Farming or Excavating: What’s the Difference? appeared first on North America FarmQuip Magazine.

ECA’s President/CEO Roy Kern is especially excited to announce the hiring of his son Rod who represents the fourth generation of the Kern family.

“Rod will follow a similar path to my own by joining ECA at the ground level and learning all aspects of our operation from the ground up,”

he says.

“That experience will prepare him to eventually guide ECA in its second century of business.”

Rod Kern joins the ECA BAUER Service Team as an Applications Engineering Manager. While completing his Civil Engineering Degree from Penn State, he worked at ECA as a Mechanic’s Assistant and then took on several internships. After graduation, Rod went on to earn a Master’s Degree in Business Administration and Geotechnical Engineering from Cornell University. Once he completed those degrees, Rod began working for Moretrench (Keller North America) as a Staff Engineer. During his four years at Moretrench, Rod worked on a variety of large construction projects and was eventually promoted to Assistant Project Manager. His field and customer experience, combined with his education, allow him to find effective solutions to geotechnical problems for ECA’s customers.

As BAUER and KLEMM Service Engineer, Gus Delfarno expands ECA’s BAUER Service Team capabilities. The “Swiss Army Knife” of technicians, Gus began his career 10 years ago as a shop mechanic at Hayward Baker (Keller North America). From the shop, he moved on to become a field mechanic learning how to service, assemble, repair, troubleshoot, and operate all equipment owned by Hayward Baker. His curiosity and passion for learning how to work on and operate various types of equipment make him a versatile and highly useful addition to ECA’s BAUER Service Team.

Greg Barta joins ECA as Mid-Atlantic Account Manager. Greg started out in the United States Coast Guard and has since spent his time in various sales roles for Caterpillar equipment dealerships around the country. He enjoys staying up to date with the latest technological advances in the field and behind the scenes so he can offer the most accurate and productive support.

Matt Nastala has been named Philadelphia Service Manager. While Matt excels at customer communication, he really shines when it comes to system improvement and safety implementation. Matt previously worked for a Caterpillar dealer so his experience with heavy equipment makes him adept at recognizing issues, gathering data, and recommending a course of action.

Stephen Funaiock has been named Pittsburgh Service Manager. He started out in paving materials and quickly moved on to the service supervisor before being promoted to Shop Manager for Cleveland Brothers. He later worked at American Contractors Equipment Company as manager of both the parts and service departments. Stephen’s reputation as an organized, dedicated, and detail-oriented team player will serve him well in this role.

Rex Christensen joins ECA as Midwest Account Manager. He is a seasoned professional known for developing and maintaining strong client relationships. Rex’s vast knowledge of equipment, especially in the mining industry, allows him to offer unmatched field service and technical support. Experience with training, safety, and project coordination made him an obvious choice for this new position.

“While there is no question the Coronavirus Pandemic has presented new challenges in the short term, ECA has always operated with a long-term outlook,”

says Vice President – Sales and Marketing Jeff Harmston.

“The hiring of talented employees represents our view that it’s important to constantly invest in our ability to serve the industry regardless of economic conditions.”

ECA has been a leading supplier of foundation construction equipment in the Eastern United States and Eastern Canada for more than a century. We are the exclusive distributor for BAUER Drilling Rigs, KLEMM Anchor and Micropile Drilling Rigs, RTG Piling Rigs, and BAUER MAT Slurry Handling Systems. We also distribute HPSI Vibratory Pile Hammers, WORD International Drill Attachments, Dawson Construction Products, ALLU Ground Improvement Equipment, Pile Master Air Hammers, DIGGA Dangle Drills, Olin Concrete Pumps, and KB International synthetic polymer slurry. ECA offers sales, rentals, service, and parts from nine facilities throughout the Eastern U.S. and Eastern Canadian Provinces. Visit ecanet.com for the latest information on our ever-improving specialty foundation equipment solutions.

The post ECA expands team to support long-term growth vision appeared first on North America FarmQuip Magazine.

When designing a belt, each raw material is chosen to achieve a specific level of performance. The cost drivers are the design and quality of these materials in relation to their physical weight. As a result, our team used our value innovation engineering strategy to investigate the application’s requirements.

We found the belt required improved properties, top cover protection (falling logs), carcass protection (cuts/gouges), impact protection, and improved slider back properties. The operating requirements were less downtime, improved operational efficiency, and energy consumption, and reduced total cost of ownership of the equipment. This information combined with our industry expertise lead to the formalization of both the raw materials and belt construction to increase the integrity of the carcass for longevity.

Redefining belt life in infeed/outfeed conveyor systems

A “line of defense” is defined as a way of defending oneself against risk. Our team used the same strategy when designing our log belt solution, building reinforcement throughout layers of rubber and fabric, for infeed/outfeed conveyor systems in sawmills.  Tailoring the materials – as in increasing the value where the strength is needed and reducing properties not imperative to the application requirements – resulting in a product that drives uptime and efficiency throughout the whole operation.

Related to lines of defense, the cover of a conveyor belt is at the highest risk for abrasion in the movement of uncut logs. We augmented the abrasion and tear resistance properties of the top cover rubber compound to withstand wear, cuts, and gouges, and prevent premature belt failure by better protecting the carcass.

If a cut or gouge does occur and exposes the carcass, the design of the fabric and its puncture resistance is a critical second line of defense. WCCO’s log belt solution uses a custom-engineered fabric designed specifically to sawmill applications to increase puncture resistance and help the belt endure more abuse without buckling.

The rip/tear resistance of the fabric supports the third line of defense. It prevents the tear from quickly propagating, which risks expedited failure and increased service and replacement costs. Additionally, the log belt is further prepared to handle heavy load requirements by bringing the design together with increased tensile strength properties.

The most unique technology of WCCO’s log belt solution is our impact absorption layer. Built inside the belt carcass, it deflects impacts of incoming/outgoing logs up to 20% of the belt thickness, dissipating the impact energy across the body of the belt and not into the cover or carcass. This is especially critical when the conveyor belt is running on a pan instead of rollers.

Improved properties using custom high-grade rubber and fabric, combined with a low-profile belt construction, reduces the weight of the belt by 27%. This results in a 30% improvement in energy savings from weight, drag, and rolling resistance. A lower profile design also put less stress on the splice leading to a longer belt life.

Source: WCCO Belting

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This is a text originally written by the AG Leader media center. Here is the full-text.

SureForce is a hydraulic downforce and uplift system that automatically adjusts the right amount of force on each row to achieve optimum and uniform seed depth in the field. While the optimum depth for corn is generally universal no matter where you are located, your ground and farming practices can make a big difference in what you need to do to achieve that depth – especially tillage practices.  

So we set out to answer – How does SureForce perform compared to springs in a no-till environment and a conventional tillage environment. While there are many factors at play- we found some trends in a recent trial conducted in Ohio.  

Trial 1: No-till field 

The soil conditions in this no-till field were hard and compact, requiring higher amounts of force to place seed at the proper depth. For this field the factory springs were set at their highest downforce setting, which provide about 300 lbs. of force to the row unit. In Figure 1, shown below, SureForce (blue) operated mostly around the 200-300 lb. range. This means that the white areas of the map that had conventional downforce springs set to their heaviest was right where they should be.  

However, SureForce still operated a significant portion of the time in the 100-200 lb. range, and even dipped into the 300-400 lb. range. While SureForce is able to react to changing ground conditions throughout this 11–acre field, the factory springs are often applying too much downforce, causing compaction. At other times the factory springs are applying too little downforce, causing shallow planted seeds. 

Preventing Uneven Emergence

Spring of 2020 provided exceptionally dry weather, which allowed planters to hit the fields in a timely fashion. While dry planting conditions are generally preferred over wet conditions, there are some pitfalls to be aware of. The most widespread issue this spring was planting too shallow. 

Incorrectly planting seeds too close to the soil surface exposes them to varying moisture levels compared to seeds planted deeper in the soil. This creates more issues when some seeds access more or less moisture than the others, eventually leading to uneven emergence. 

In Figure 2, the seeds were planted with the factory springs, applying about 300 lbs. of downforce, whereas the SureForce system was applying 350 lbs. on the adjacent rows. Uneven emergence was found on the half the planter equipped with springs.  

Here, uneven emergence is caused by a difference in moisture levels indicated around the seed. With less than a ½” depth variation, this is a painful example of how just a slight difference in seed placement can reduce yields and profits. 

Next, let’s take a look at other areas of the field that didn’t require as much force to achieve depth. In those areas, the factory spring system was still applying 300 lbs. downforce, while the SureForce system had automatically reduced the downforce to 100 lbs.  

What happens in these areas where the springs are applying 200 lbs. too much of downforce? This next picture (Fig.3) illustrates what happens. 

Roots that can’t penetrate the wall of a compacted seed trench are forced to grow along the trench, which is the path of least resistance. When roots can’t grow downward, they can’t access moisture and nutrients resulting in reduced yield and profit. 

Trial 2: Conventionally Tilled Field

Next, this planter moves to a conventionally tilled field (Fig. 4) to continue planting. The factory springs are left at a heavy setting. Since the SureForce system automatically adjusts itself to current ground conditions, we see a stark difference in applied downforce. Within this field, SureForce values range from 200 lbs. of uplift on the row-unit to 400 lbs. of downforce. That is a 600 lb. range across this field. 

We went to an area of the field where SureForce was providing uplift, thus reducing compaction. On the other hand, in the adjacent rows the factory spring settings are fixed and are not capable of adjusting automatically, which caused some compaction damage.  

SureForce Proves Advantageous to Plant Development

Visual plant health differences were observed at V3-V4 growth stages on June 10, 2020. Below in Figure 5, the rows to the right were equipped with SureForce. The rows to the left were equipped with factory downforce springs. 

To better understand the “root” cause of these health differences seen above ground, we took a look below ground.

In Figures 6 and 7 above, it is obvious the rows equipped with SureForce provided the best root development. In every case, SureForce provided: 

1. Deepest radical and seminal roots 
2. Widest branching of nodal roots 
3. Great root hair development 

On June 10th, it was clear the rows planted with SureForce were off to a much better start. From seed to soil contact these rows were positioned to provide increased yield and profit. 

A return trip on August 11th, 2020 continues to show not only greater root development as seen in Figure 8, but also larger ears are observed with less tip-back as seen in Figure 9. 

Source: AG Leader

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