Easy access to hanging baskets with MTZ Basket System

If you have ever visited a large hanging basket nursery, you must have been impressed by the sea of colors in the top of the greenhouse; in order to use the greenhouse space efficiently, the growers hang the baskets in the top of the greenhouse, so they can place other plants below them. But having all these plants up above also requires a lot of labor; plants must be hung on to the wire, and when they are ready to ship, they must also be taken down, a very labor intensive task. Metazet made this task easier with the introduction of the MTZ Hanging Basket Chain System. We visited Linwell Gardens in Beamsville to see how this grower improved his production with this system.

Linwell Gardens grows a large number of different plants and varieties. In almost all greenhouses, production, seeding, and shipping areas, the hanging baskets are stored in the top of the structure with the help of an automated basket system.

A traditional basket system is based on a long cable system. The cable is tensioned over a drum on each end of the structure. One of these drums is equipped with a drive motor, so the grower can rotate the cable and bring the hanging baskets to a central point to collect or water the baskets.

The traditional basket system still requires much labor to hang the baskets on the cable, or to collect the baskets for shipping. This needs to be done by a worker with a special rod, a very heavy task as you can see.

Metazet/FormFlex's Albert Pinto demonstrating the MTZ Basket System. The intensive labor that is required with the traditional system was the reason for Metazet to develop an improved automated basket system. Their MTZ Basket System is based on a chain system, which makes the installation and track much more flexible.

"With the use of a crank and pulley system the grower can bring a section of the track down to working height, this is far more efficient and easier for the worker to hang the baskets or to collect them for shipping," said Metazet/Formflex Project Manager Albert Pinto.

The baskets can be collected from the concrete path in the greenhouse. The grower can place them directly onto the transport carts, which makes the entire process smooth. As well as this, the workers are less susceptible to physical strains, because the work is done at a better height.

The control computer of the MTZ Basket Line is programmable to optimize the irrigation strategy as well. When the plants need water, every basket passes the irrigation hose / nozzle. A special sensor detects the basket and gives a signal to water the basket.

This is the drive motor for the basket system. Pinto; "By using a chain system with a gear drive, a lot of tension on the structure is avoided. The chain runs through a steel guide profile, so there are no extra forces placed on the structure. Another benefit of this system is that it can run in any desired track configuration, we are no longer limited to just one direction."

Linwell Gardens improved the efficiency of their hanging baskets significantly with the MTZ Basket System. A lot of labor is now saved thanks to easy access of the plants, and shipments can be made in less time.

For more information:

FormFlex/Metazet.
Albert Pinto
4640 Falletta Court
Beamsville, ON L0R 1B4
Phone: +1 (905) 563-0031
Email: apinto@formflex.ca
Website: www.FormFlex.ca