Larry Gude
Strung Out
OK, we're spacing poinsettias in a new size this year onto our moveable containers. We have pot robots but it is a new pot size and it costs $3,000 for the forks and collector to do a new size. The old ones would take $3k in time to modify.
So, we space by hand for now. Each container is 6' by 19' and we're putting 9 rows of 5 pots, 9 rows of 4, 81 pots per table.
Last year, we made a frame for this, aluminium frame with string stretched to show rows and where each pot went. Set frame on table, space plants onto table, remove frame, roll away finished table, roll up new table, lather, rinse repeat. It worked decent but, there is the placing and removing of the frame each time, 400 times. Plus it wasn't ideal in terms of intuitively seeing where each pot went.
One of my guys said 'what about some sort of lights that point down to where each pot goes?" :lightbulb:
He's one of them country boys you wouldn't think has all of his DNA string yet always has something very intelligent to say when we're building stuff.
Imagine 80 of these;
DealExtreme: $1.91 Laser Pointer
...in a frame, which we have, where they are mounted up high, which we can do, and they point straight down to proper spot. We roll empty table under this, slap the pots down on the dots, wham, bam, thank you mam. Next.
If I thought they'd last 24 hours, (3 8 hour work days) I'd just get 80 of them and be done with it. Do they?????
Or, is there a 120v version, still cheap, or some other genius idea?
I need 80 points of light, visible in day light, easy to use, under $500.
Ready? Go!
PS: We thought of rolling out butcher paper with marked holes, a quick shot of spray paint, do to each table. This would be cheap and doable and is plan b but, the spot will likely have to be repainted each year. We think. And you gotta move the template 400 times.
Plan c is a pvc frame with weed mat suspeneded with positions cut out. This would be lightweight and basically an improvement on last years model.
Plan d?
So, we space by hand for now. Each container is 6' by 19' and we're putting 9 rows of 5 pots, 9 rows of 4, 81 pots per table.
Last year, we made a frame for this, aluminium frame with string stretched to show rows and where each pot went. Set frame on table, space plants onto table, remove frame, roll away finished table, roll up new table, lather, rinse repeat. It worked decent but, there is the placing and removing of the frame each time, 400 times. Plus it wasn't ideal in terms of intuitively seeing where each pot went.
One of my guys said 'what about some sort of lights that point down to where each pot goes?" :lightbulb:
He's one of them country boys you wouldn't think has all of his DNA string yet always has something very intelligent to say when we're building stuff.
Imagine 80 of these;
DealExtreme: $1.91 Laser Pointer
...in a frame, which we have, where they are mounted up high, which we can do, and they point straight down to proper spot. We roll empty table under this, slap the pots down on the dots, wham, bam, thank you mam. Next.
If I thought they'd last 24 hours, (3 8 hour work days) I'd just get 80 of them and be done with it. Do they?????
Or, is there a 120v version, still cheap, or some other genius idea?
I need 80 points of light, visible in day light, easy to use, under $500.
Ready? Go!
PS: We thought of rolling out butcher paper with marked holes, a quick shot of spray paint, do to each table. This would be cheap and doable and is plan b but, the spot will likely have to be repainted each year. We think. And you gotta move the template 400 times.
Plan c is a pvc frame with weed mat suspeneded with positions cut out. This would be lightweight and basically an improvement on last years model.
Plan d?
