Blueberry Harvester Brushes
This is a Blueberry harvester for “Low Bush” blueberry harvesting.
Raw Materials - Bristles
1. Highest quality
Highest quality FDA and CSA approved bristle material is used (Toothbrush filament). This material is very expensive, but results in long life of brush, and 50% less moisture retention, allowing brush to perform optimally in both wet and dry environments. Our bristle is specially shaped and configured to have the right touch of suppleness and stiffness to outlast our competitors.
2. Manufacturing Technology
Felton Brushes in Canada operates the finest precision brush making machinery in the World (Wohler link.). We run this machine exclusively in Canada, and only a few other companies in the USA have them. Our brushes are manufactured quickly and with great precision than other brushes in the industry, ensuring you will be able to operate wothout inturruption during harvesting season.
3. R&D
Felton Brushes has been making brushes since 1933 in Canada, and continually invests in improvement. Blueberry Brush technology has evolved with the advent of different harvester manufacturers in recent years. We have responded and created different models of brushes to suit these units. Many variables such as bristle diameter and shape, precise size of backing, and spacing in winding the brush were taking into account to optimise performance.
4. Field Trials
Felton personnel in the field measuring blueberry picking yeilds with different brush variables. Input from farmers in 2008 resulted in alterations to design and filament details for 2009 testing, resulting in better performance in 2010!
As the season is short, it takes time to test and bring innovations to market. Please write to us with any feedback on our brushes, or ideas that you may have to improve performance further.
This is a Felton Blueberry Brush in action, cleaning the teeth that pick the blueberry bushes.
Why choose Felton Brushes blueberry brushes?
1. Experience: Technically
(Ask any experienced brush maker) this is a difficult brush to make, as it pushes the boundry of filament diameter and profile size past the limits of convential brush making. Many brush makers, especially in th USA can technically make a sprial wound brush, but the learning curve is very long on this one. The seasonality causes a short window to get the formula right, to test, and go to market successfully. In addition the high cost of the high performance material means that most brush makers will substitute cheaper filament thinking the farmer will not notice, and enjoy a less expensive brush! Be careful. Is the cost to have to replace a brush in the field worth thge risk?
2. Guarantee.
Felton Brushes has two conveniently located Depots in Eastern Canada that will replace any brush that does not exceed your expectations, or are there for your convenience on an emergency basis 24/7 during harvesting season. You can call Felton's owner @ 905 520 3400 personally if you run into trouble.
3. Early Bird Specials.
Every season we offer a brief sale if you pre-order for the season. We have to invest in expensive filament and want to order the appropriate amount for the season to keep our costs ow and pass the savings on to you.
This is a photo of Mr. Tony Ponikvar (Owner – Felton Brushes) making an end user visit in an effort to study longevity of our brushes.
Every year Felton Brushes introduces new innovations and changes to test against current product.
For the 2011 Season a variation to the bristle chemistry was introduced and yielded a formula that guarantees a full season life out of one of our brushes. |
