Rain Guard ?

[Pond Life]

My TGF's family has about 500 Rai of rubber.

I'm trying to find a source for rain guards.

here's a picture

They allow rubber to be tapped during rain without contaminating the rubber with water.

This would allow them to increase the number of days they tap rubber by about 30%.

I've found references to them in India but can't find anything about them in Thailand.

Can anyone help me with where to find them or some links to good web sites in Thailand dealing with rubber production.

Royal projects in the south maybe ?

Thanks

[jamescollister]

My TGF's family has about 500 Rai of rubber.

I'm trying to find a source for rain guards.

here's a picture

They allow rubber to be tapped during rain without contaminating the rubber with water.

This would allow them to increase the number of days they tap rubber by about 30%.

I've found references to them in India but can't find anything about them in Thailand.

Can anyone help me with where to find them or some links to good web sites in Thailand dealing with rubber production.

Royal projects in the south maybe ?

Thanks

Rain guards are available in most hardware stores where there is rubber production, thay cost 9 Baht each, but if you buy in bulk you can get a discount. The trouble is that most Thais will not ask for things if they don't see them , if a store does not stock an item they will say they don't have in Thailand. JIM

[Pond Life]

Thanks Jim

sounds like its worth a try to send the TGF off with a photo to the hardware store.

Do the ones you've seen look like the one in the photo ?

My TGF's family has about 500 Rai of rubber.

I'm trying to find a source for rain guards.

here's a picture

They allow rubber to be tapped during rain without contaminating the rubber with water.

This would allow them to increase the number of days they tap rubber by about 30%.

I've found references to them in India but can't find anything about them in Thailand.

Can anyone help me with where to find them or some links to good web sites in Thailand dealing with rubber production.

Royal projects in the south maybe ?

Thanks

Rain guards are available in most hardware stores where there is rubber production, thay cost 9 Baht each, but if you buy in bulk you can get a discount. The trouble is that most Thais will not ask for things if they don't see them , if a store does not stock an item they will say they don't have in Thailand. JIM

[chang35baht]

Good question Pond life. I will have use for them in the future too. Although I understand that the function of these guards is to stop the rain washing away the latex before it reaches the collection vessel. Not so much contamination of the latex.

[jamescollister]

Good question Pond life. I will have use for them in the future too. Although I understand that the function of these guards is to stop the rain washing away the latex before it reaches the collection vessel. Not so much contamination of the latex.

No I have not seen that type of rain guard before, but I imagine there are 100s of different makes and adaptions. As for the effectiveness of them I have my doubts, they may be of some use for light rain, but when its tipping it down {which it usually does} I think they would be next to useless.

I think that this loss of tapping days is more to bad planning than rain. As trees in Issan are tapped every 3 rd. day If you miss some trees because of rain just tap on the 4th 0r 5th day. There will be times that rain will stop you for longer periods, but the average over a month is what you want not the daily total. The Government agro man tells me the average in my area is 1 kilo per month, the trees are supposed to give 1.5 kilos , though must of the trees are fairly young and may pick up as the cutters get better and the trees grow bigger. I will know more next year when the first of my trees will be big enough to start tapping.

JIM

[Issangeorge]

Jim, how many trees did you plant per rai and at what spacing? Issangeorge

[Gary A]

The best solution I have seen is the Elizabethan dog collars. Those are the ones that the vet puts around the dog's head to keep him from licking his wounds. Easily adjustable and cheap.

Go see a vet and have him order a box of them for you. They have loops that you can thread a rope through.

[jamescollister]

Jim, how many trees did you plant per rai and at what spacing? Issangeorge

Hi George

I cann't remember the spacing,but I think it was 3 metres tree to tree in the row and 7 metres between rows. Needless to say I never actually ever planted a tree myself, just let the Government Adviser tell the boys how to do it. That said it is 80 trees to a rai if the land is flat and has no steams etc. Some of the locals have planted closer, which is ok, but I can not find any info on the difference in production only average per rai, So I guess it is just a choice of more trees less rubber per tree or less trees more rubber per tree. Only time will tell. I may have said, rubber only started here in the last 6 years or so and very few people are actually cutting yet. I think it will be a few years yet before all the facts are in and best practice is settled, at least for this area.

JIM

[Issangeorge]

Thanks Jim, from what I have read 80 trees per rai is the recomended amount, although they usually plant then 4metres apart between rows and trees. In my area rubber is also new, but from what I can see they are planting 4 metres between rows, but only 3 metres between trees, which would give 108 trees per rai. George

[Pond Life]

Good idea Gary, but do you think they are cheaper than 10 B a piece ?

[Gary A]

Good idea Gary, but do you think they are cheaper than 10 B a piece ?

They can't be too expensive or the vet would have certainly added it to my bill. It looked like maybe there were 100 per box. Since they don't need to go all the way around the tree it looks like they could be cut in half or maybe even three pieces. I think there were three loops around the collar. The plastic is pretty stiff.

[seonai]

Pond, I had a chat with Bambi and the dog collars are about 150 baht so she wants you to know that it would be a very expensive option. Can't you guys come up with something yourselves? I must say that in all my time living in rubber plantations I have never seen a rain guard. I will ask around though and let you know if I come up with anything

[Pond Life]

Thanks Seonai

I've PM'd Bambina to, she did say tho that if you got them in bulk from the factory she thought they would be down to about 20 B, but I think thats more than the cost of the purpose made things.

The problem with making something yourself to do the job is the huge numbers involved.

The TGF's family have about 500 rai of rubber @ 100 tree per rai thats 50,000 thingies you've got to make.

I think in this case its better to buy.

At the moment I'd just like to get hold of 100 to try them out, see if they like them and or can they be bothered to use them.

[Gary A]

Thanks Seonai

I've PM'd Bambina to, she did say tho that if you got them in bulk from the factory she thought they would be down to about 20 B, but I think thats more than the cost of the purpose made things.

The problem with making something yourself to do the job is the huge numbers involved.

The TGF's family have about 500 rai of rubber @ 100 tree per rai thats 50,000 thingies you've got to make.

I think in this case its better to buy.

At the moment I'd just like to get hold of 100 to try them out, see if they like them and or can they be bothered to use them.

I had a look at the dog collar and it has four loops. A paper guillotine could cut them into four pieces if you can't find anything else to use.