Truck Loading Containment Pad

Posted on June 17, 2009 by Tracy Gath

Back in February, we talked in this blog about updating a chemical plant within their budget. Now, all systems are go for August when the plant shuts down for maintenance.

One of the jobs Maple Grove Enterprises will be performing for them is to update their truck loading containment pad. The 1280-square-feet pad not only has to stand up to the acids and other chemicals produced by the plant, but also to heavy tractor-trailer traffic.

Our crew will first remove the failed polyurea liner on the pad and then repair the concrete with an epoxy mortar. Finally, we will apply 80 mils of Premium Liquid Rubber cold-sprayed applied instant-set membrane system that creates a monolithic seamless membrane. We will seed the rubber with roofing granules, which will enable it to hold up to the intense truck traffic.

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Keep Your Grain from Blowin’ in the Wind

Posted on May 6, 2009 by Tracy Gath

When you have to feed over 6,000 dairy cows every day, you do not want to see a fifth of your grain blowing away in the wind. That’s the problem faced by one such farm in a windy area of central New York State. They currently store their grain in lean-tos and manually load the grain into trucks, resulting in shrink of up to 20%. Ouch! With the high price of feed, they can no longer sustain such high losses. They called Maple Grove Enterprises for a solution, and we called Barney Leach from the LeManco division of Chief Industries.

Barney flew to our shop in Arcade a few weeks ago to give us the benefit of his 30 years in the business of grain storage and handling. With his help, we supplied the farmer with a quote for a grain storage and batching feed system that will provide better feed and nutrition control. Chief/LeManco bins contain more steel, are stronger, last longer, function better, and retain their value compared to other bins. (See the Chief website for more information.) The system is expandable, so if one day the farm decides to become a feed mill they can do so with minimal cost.

The millwrights at Maple Grove Enterprises have decades of experience and dedicated service to farms and feed mills throughout the Northeast. We do our very best to help your farm or mill increase productivity, efficiency, and sustainability. We are with you every step of the way, helping you plan for your current and future needs. Our services range from such maintenance work as welding, pipefitting and machine overhaul all the way to engineering, fabricating and installing complete feed mills to your exact specifications.

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Increasing Pump Efficiency

Posted on March 24, 2009 by Tracy Gath

We are fortunate in the United States that we can rely on having clean and safe municipal water pumped directly to our homes and businesses.

Much of the infrastructure for this water delivery system, however, is getting old. Unlined iron pumps and pump casings become corroded over time, often developing extensive tuberculation (knob-like mound byproducts of corrosion) on the interior casings of the pumps. While cement linings have been applied to the inside of iron pipes for the past 50 years to prevent corrosion, older systems suffer from decreased efficiency due to hydraulic drag.

The Monroe County Water Authority (MCWA) and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) are running a 5-year study on the effects of refurbishing their pumps. The surprising results are that by sandblasting and applying ceramic-filled epoxy coatings to the pump casings, the overall performance of the pumps was more or less restored to original manufacturer’s pump curve specifications.

This is an excellent way for municipalities to deal with their aging water systems. Instead of incurring the cost of replacing entire systems, they could simply have their pumps sandblasted and coated.

Maple Grove Enterprises has worked on a number of similar projects. Our customers noticed a drastic improvement in the efficiency of their pumps that resulted in reduced energy costs and substantial savings.

Pump Housing with ceramic-filled epoxy coating

Pump Housing with ceramic-filled epoxy coating

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Posted in Fluid enhancement, Pump Rebuilding, Sandblasting and Coating | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

NY Farm Show 2009

Posted on March 2, 2009 by Tracy Gath

Maple Grove Enterprises just returned from the NY Farm Show held in Syracuse last weekend. Our thanks to Scott Grigor and the rest of the Farm Show crew. They did a fantastic job of organizing and promoting the show, and they kept all the exhibitors happy with the endless hot coffee and fresh doughnuts!

We met farmers from all over New York State, as well as others from New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, and Pennsylvania. In today’s tough economic climate, they remain as resilient as ever. In fact, according to the USDA Census of Agriculture, the number of farms in the U.S. has actually increased in the last five years.

While Maple Grove Enterprises offers a wide array of services, the visitors to our booth were most interested in farm bins, custom conveyors, floor repair and coating, and millwright services. Also, because farms will have to be in compliance by August 2009 with the USEPA Pesticide Container and Containment Rule requiring secondary containment around pesticide tanks, information about our secondary containment services was in demand.

Our unique custom booth, designed by owner Ted Hobin, Jr., and Aaron “Reggie” Mayer and fabricated in our shop, was also quite a hit!

Maple Grove Enterprises display at the NY Farm Show

Maple Grove Enterprises display at the NY Farm Show

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Posted in Containment, Farming, Floor Coatings, Metal Fabrication, Millwrighting, Secondary Containment | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Scheduling Maintenance Within Your Budget

Posted on February 10, 2009 by Tracy Gath

Maple Grove Enterprises Industrial Specialist Bruce Bymaster and I visited a chemical plant in New York State in January. While they have quite a number of industrial maintenance needs, they are working within a limited budget (as are most businesses these days). They were also concerned about safety issues. Employees from another company they’d hired in the past ignored many of their safety regulations.

We sat down with them, and Bruce worked out a plan to phase the work throughout the year. A tank removal job is first, since it’s the most critical and can be done indoors. After that job is completed, we’ll concentrate on repairing a secondary containment system. Once the repairs are made, we’ll coat the containment with a cost-effective flexible water-based emulsion that will withstand the very aggressive acids used in the plant.  When warmer weather finally comes, we will repair the outdoor secondary containment system.

Bruce assured them that we will not only work within their budget constraints, but also their safety guidelines. We have experience working for companies such as Lockheed Martin and Morgan Stanley, who have strict safety regulations. The safety of our customers and employees (all employees are OSHA 10-hour safety certified) are always at the heart of our practices. It’s how we do business.

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