Mechanization improves nursery's productivity

by Sally Blanton, Nursery News staff

Imagine what the ancient Egyptian pyramid-builders could have accomplished with a modern-day crane.  Of course there are many jobs we're doing today manually that will probably do a better job than the humans did.  Using machines to do your work just makes good sense on several basic levels.

Not to knock the advantages of the good old-fashioned human touch, but good employees are hard to come by and often constitute the bulk of management's expenditure of time and costs.  Especially in the nursery business, employees are vulnerable to the physical demands of manual labor an exposure to varying weather conditions that come with working outside.

Machines do many jobs faster and more consistently than people.  This translates into increased productivity and quality because the job is done in less time and in the same manner time after time.  Increasingly, nurseries are turning these principles into boosted profits.  One in particular, the Dwight Hughes Nursery in Cedar Rapids, IA,  has been "breaking new ground" in this arena for years.

The 30-acre nursery in the east-central part of Iowa installs landscapes on residential and small commercial properties.  They also grow the balled and burlapped plants used in new and renovated landscape projects.  Although the business itself remains localized, the word of their techniques and advancements in mechanization has spread nationally.

Owner Dwight Hughes is  third-generation nurseryman and has operated his own nursery since 1978.  For years, hea has been developing ways to maximize the use of machinery to improve the company's productivity.  In his words, "Tools that help them do excellent work as efficiently as possible."

While Hughes has been the brain behind the brawn of a number of mechanical devices, many of which he has created from scratch or added modifications to, one piece of equipment is grabbing the limelight in his line-up of well-utilized workhorses.  The Power Trac, a small, articulated tractor, has been in his fleet since 1996.  It was originally purchased to fill their need for a power wheelbarrow with lift capacity,  but they have found many applications for this versatile piece of machinery. 

Just like in our backyard workshop, using the right tool for the job increases efficiency, cuts down on the time it takes to complete the task and minimizes frustration.

Many organizations in the nursery industry (and other completely unrelated fields) are finding the Power Trac to be their "anti-frustration device."  Power Trac, inc. builds and sells utility tractors, attachments and trailer packages factory-direct.

The folks at Dwight Hughes Nursery have become fans of the 1400 line in particular for many applications around the nursery and at landscape jobs.   What makes the Power Trac distinctive from the many other available tractors?

The Power Trac has a flexible center section that moves left or right 45 degrees.  This articulation feature is controlled by steering cylinders that, when the operator turns the wheel, move the tires inward on one side and outward on the other.  (see Articulation)  This enables the tractor to turn smoothly on turf without the resulting tire track damage.

Oscillation, or horizontal twisting, keeps all four wheels in contact with the ground, even if you are going across uneven terrain.  The benefit is a more even mowing job and better control over front attachments that might be in use.

Hughes said, "Most of the equipment that's getting all the advertising thrust in America today are the skidsteers.  (The Power Trac) bends in the middle so you can take it on turf  and not tear every thing up.  It also has a lot of attachments."

The Power Trac has more than 30 attachments.  The variety of front-end attachments and the ease with which they can be changed out really set this unit apart.  When attachments are laid out on a 14-foot, custom-built trailer (available for connecting hydraulic hoses when necessary).  Once the "Quick Attach" plate is secure and attached to the receiver plate, a conveniently located lever activates the cylinders, which lock the attachment in place.  This feature is standard on all machines except the 1800 series.

The extensive list of optional attachments includes mowers, augers, various capacity buckets, a cement mixer, tiller, winch, trencher, fertilizer and salt spreader and even an air-craft towing device that takes advantage of the articulated motion to precisely place an airplane into the hangar.  The Hughes Nursery uses its Power Trac as a stump grinder, tiller and power broom.

Hughes added, "The biggest application (for our nursery) is using it as a power wheel barrow with lift capacity for hauling soil away with the oversized bucket, which works for mulch as well... The Power Trac trailer package puts the implements and accessories... easily attachable to the machine from the outside of the trailer so that one person can easily use several different implements in a very short period of time."

"We find our crew works at almost double the speed and double the volume of any other crew simply because of all the mechanization that we employ on our landscape projects.  One of the nice things about the package is that it makes the opportunity for an average crew to become much more efficient and more profitable because of the time saving they have with the equipment."

The concept of a small tractor with a range of attachments grew out of Power Trac Inc.'s need for a piece of equipment for their own use.  Kristie Asbury, vice president of sales and marketing, said, "We come from the mining industry manufacturing... and had been in business 15 years building mining equipment.  The president and main engineer of these products needed a tractor to haul equipment around his plant.  He decided he could make something cheaper than he could buy it."

The Tazewell, VA, firm originated the idea of having several different attachments to run off the front.  Asbury adds, "The Power Trac is almost a one-of-a-kind.  These machines won't tear up the turf because the wheels always roll.  With some other tractors, (operators) have to go back and do four to five thousand dollars worth of repair after having a skidsteer on the lawn.  With a Power Trac, you don't have to do that."

Still not convinced that automation is the way to go?  Too many obstacles to overcome?  In addition to initiating some good ideas on mechanization, Dwight Hughes also has some time-tested advice on basic business principles and putting the concepts to work for your company.

If there doesn't seem to be enough time in the day to spend on a plan, start with small steps- on e particular task that you would like to mechanize, for example.  There may no be many discretionary funds to put toward these goals.  Part of the planning is to realize the money you spend on machinery now will decrease costs many times over in the long run.  A piece of equipment you currently own can perhaps be modified to perform an additional task without much financial investment.

Sometimes a little inspiration is what's in order.  Take advantage of support entities, like the horticultural Research Institute in Washington, DC, and industry peers at trade shows and association meetings.

When it comes time to make the shift to mechanizing one or more processes in your company, use the five-step quality control process to approach it systematically.

Make adjustments and continue to analyze your existing methods with all of your company's tasks, at least on an annual basis.

These guidelines are the common-sense steps that have helped the Dwight Hughes Nursery and others like it to succeed through doing what they do best in the most efficient way possible.  In Hughes' book, Systems for Success, a very readable, how-to on maximizing productivity in landscape installation and nursery production, he offers these final words of encouragement: "No matter what your roots are, you can succeed in the green industry, too.  If your dreams involve equipment and you are not an equipment designer by heart, find someone who is.  The world is full of capable people who can help you refine your dreams into reality."

For more information, contact Dwight Hughes Nursery, 5205 Nursery Road, Cedar Rapids, IA 52404, (319) 396-7038.