Got a few things done today. Dug out a tree stump and cut it below the ground line with a chainsaw. Backfilled the hole with the dirt I dug out. You would not know there was a tree there a few days ago.
Update on my
SOLIGT soil block maker.... Spent some more time today with my soil block maker. Yesterday, about half the soil blocks were malformed and no good for use. Not a big deal as far as the soil blocks themselves because you can just throw them back into the tub, mix them up, and make some new ones.
The problem is that having to redo half the blocks takes extra time. There is a learning curve to getting the right soil blocker mix and water content. Today, I experimented more with a dry, moist, and wet mix. I ended up having the same issue with malformed soil blocks as the top portion of the soil blocks were stuck inside the mold and ripped apart when I pushed them out on the tray.
I was pretty frustrated at that point, so I decided to take a really close look at how the soil blocker was made. When I push the plunger all the way down, I noticed that the metal inside the soil blocker stopped about 3/8 inch from flush with the bottom. Thinking this is why the tops of the soil blocks were being ripped off, I looked at how to make the metal inside the mold go all the way flush to the bottom of the mold.
I discovered that the spring on the plunger was preventing the metal inside the mold from going all the way down flush with the bottom. I then discovered that the plunger could be adjusted by turning it/out. So I completed unscrewed the plunger and removed the spring. Now the soil blocker was making decent soil blocks, but without the spring, the plunger was not springing back up to the refill position and I had to manually pull the plunger back and hold it there while refilling the mold. That was not going to work as a permanent fix, but the soil blocks where now coming out almost perfect every time.
So I unscrewed the plunger again, put the spring back on, and then just barely screwed the plunger back into the nut on the mold. That gave me about an extra 1/4 inch and the metal in the mold was almost flush with the bottom when the plunger was depressed. But not quite there yet.
Next thing I tried was to bend down the metal tabs in the mold to be flush with the bottom when the plunger was depressed. That improved the situation as I noticed that the metal was overbent in such a way that there was a difference between the flush level from the front to the back. Using a screwdriver, I was able to remedy that situation. Now, when I depress the plunger, the metal in the mold goes all the way down flush with the bottom, and the soil blocks are coming out perfect almost every time.
So, out of the box, big disappointment with this product. After "fixing" the problems, it is working great now. I think if I keep this soil block maker, I will either have to get a spring half the length, or cut this spring in half, because that would allow me to screw in the plunger better into the nut on the mold. Right now, it is barely screwed in, but it works.
Honestly, I am not too impressed with this unit because it did not work out of the box. I was able to "fix" it by taking it apart and putting it back together again. But I am concerned that having to bend the metal inside the form will work for now but I fear that the metal will just bend back where it was before because the metal is just not very strong. I am thinking about trying out some other brand soil block makers to see if they have better quality. I do not recommend this unit unless you are prepared to reengineer the device to work properly.
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That was a demoralizing experience for him. I felt so SO bad.
But the low quality build is an issue for me and I believe that things should work out of the box. I wrote the company and told them the problems I was having with their product, and offered to let them send me either another soil block maker that works out of the box to replace the defective unit I got, or if they don't want to send a good quality unit, then I would return the unit I received, leave a negative review of their product, and then get my refund from Amazon.
