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Leverhead's Flue Cure experiment 2013

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leverhead

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The saga continues....

What a difference a year makes! Better weather and allot less fertilizer.

Leaf.jpg

I made a decent tote for the leaf.

Leaf Tote b.JPG

Racking and loading is much better, but still has room for improvement.

Sticks.jpgLayer 1.jpgLoaded.jpg

The doors seal pretty good now and I'm still running on the RANCO thermostat.
 

deluxestogie

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I'm impressed. That looks like the open door of a commercial flue-cure barn. How did you insert all the nails into the hanging sticks?

Bob
 

DGBAMA

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Still can't believe you are harvesting and I have barely got mine in the ground. Looks great.
 

holyRYO

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leverhead, most impressive... hardly wait a week for the results
 

AmaxB

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Looking better than great leverhead (the chamber) the leaf looks real good too :D
Would you mind sharing the racking system?
How are the slats staying up right?
Are the support pieces notched to hold the slats up right?
What is the spacing between leaf on the slat?
What are the dimensions of the interior of the chamber?
How long is your leaf on average?
What is the Air CFM when you are curing?
 

leverhead

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To hell with the quotes! It was a long day yesterday, some things missed and others had changes made on the fly. There are 3 different stick sizes to accommodate the shape of the interior of the fridge. The first six rows of sticks (in the back) are short enough to fit between the side walls and pipe that brings air from the blower to the bottom of the fridge. The next 32 rows are half the width of the inside of the fridge and the last three rows are to fit the door openings. The majority of sticks have 8 leaves per stick, to make 16 leaves across the full width of the interior.

Hook.jpgSticks and Hooks.jpg

The sticks are re-sawn from 2 X 4's with a band saw to 1/4" X 1 1/2" section, with the leaves hanging on the stick they stand up well when put in the fridge. The leaves were hung top side (flat side of the stem) to the stick, on a 3 3/4" spacing. They were hung on both sides of the stick, kind of like a staggered row. So the spacing on each side of the stick is double that, 7 1/2" stem to stem. Row to row spacing (stick to stick) is 3/4", to make 41 rows. There wasn't much pushing and shoving to get the door's closed, so I would say that I could increase the leaf number per layer without much trouble. I have 632 leaves in the bottom layer, the total count will have to wait for a few days. Just a rough guess, about 150 Lbs total weight. The average leaf is about 30" long. The interior of the fridge is 62 1/2 W X 31 1/4 D X 68 3/4" H.
 

leverhead

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Details of operation;

After loading and closing it up last night, it was getting late. I turned the blower on and left the heat off. At 6:30 this morning both the dry and wet bulb were showing 75 F. I turned on the heat, going for 5 degrees F per hour. The vents are still closed and at 8:30, the dry bulb shows 84 F and the wet bulb shows 82 F. My reasoning for the slow rate of advance is that I don't want to over dry the tips or the butts of the leaf. As the temperature increases, the air can hold more moisture for a given RH and the dry bulb leads the wet bulb. I'm going for 95 F on the dry bulb and 93 F on the wet bulb. If all goes well, my day will be spent getting the vents adjusted to get the split in temperatures I want.
 

leverhead

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Still can't believe you are harvesting and I have barely got mine in the ground. Looks great.

It sneaks up on you! I can't believe it's that time again, but it is.

G green weight versus cured weight would be useful info. I agree.

The rule of thumb is, green wt = 20% dry matter + 80% water. So finished and ordered, from green weight going in would figure, 100 Lbs in = about 23 Lbs coming out.

leverhead, most impressive... hardly wait a week for the results

As with most things in life, rushing don't get it done right. Screwing up doesn't make me happy either.
 

leverhead

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Looking better than great leverhead (the chamber) the leaf looks real good too :D
Would you mind sharing the racking system?
How are the slats staying up right?
Are the support pieces notched to hold the slats up right?
What is the spacing between leaf on the slat?
What are the dimensions of the interior of the chamber?
How long is your leaf on average?
What is the Air CFM when you are curing?

I haven't measured the CFM, from the spec sheet it should be more than adequate. The shelving supports are 6 Pcs. of this stuff, http://www.homedepot.com/p/Rubbermaid-72-in-Brass-E5-Upright-FG4B9200BRASS/100190650#.UcHIQdjL7TA.
 

Chicken

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it looks very well built,

it gives, me ideas, but i wanna go on a bigger scale,
 

holyRYO

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leverhead, I wish your chamber had a cure cam on the internet... wholesome viewing for a change... I'd be watching 24/7.
 
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