Kona Coffee Pulper
7 September 2008
I'm excited because my new coffee pulper has
finally arrived! It was originally scheduled to arrive in April but didn't
actually make it here until the end of August. There were some delays
leaving Columbia and other delays getting through customs in L.A. and again
in Honolulu. The delays would be no big deal except now I'm up against
harvest season. That means I'm going to be a very busy coffee farmer
for awhile.
The pulper arrived fully assembled and ready to go but it will be awhile
before it is fully assembled and ready to go. The pulper itself is
ready, what needs more work is all the stuff that attaches to the
pulper. I have to finish the electricity, water, roof, auger support,
rock catcher, water separator, cherry bin, cherry pump, clean out lines...
and a million other things.
The lower deck and the roof are the first challenges. I couldn't build
them ahead of time because they would have been in the way of the crane I
needed to lift the pulper into place. The pulper is all stainless steel
so it's quite heavy, a crane is the only way I could lift it. Luckily
my neighbor Eli has a truck with a crane that was perfect for the job.
It's kind of scary seeing all that expensive equipment dangling high in
the air. It's even scarier when the straps slip and the pulper
nearly crashes to the ground, bending itself into unusable scrap.
Luckily the straps held and, after catching my breath, I managed to get
everything tipped back the correct direction and lifted safely into place.
Building the roof is next then electricity and water. I roughed in the
water and electricity several months ago. I thought I had everything ready
so all would have to do is plug it in once the pulper arrived. Nothing
ever goes quite as planned though. I went to roll out the electric cable,
the cable that's already sealed behind the wall on the far end, then discovered
that it's about two feet too short. Doh.
I think it will work out for the best though. I've decided to add an
extra emergency cut-off switch. That would have required a splice
anyways so now I can pretend that I meant to make the cable that short
in the first place. Good thing I was thinking ahead.
Once I get the water and electricity connected then I'll be able to
start pulping coffee. I have to hurry though because the coffee beans
are just about ripe and they won't wait. So no time to chat, I have to
get back to work.
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