Rubber Trees, Parcel 1

Great news, some of our rubber trees in Parcel 1 are starting to flower. This is a good sign as it shows the trees are starting to mature. Had not check how many trees are starting to bear flowers, but am sure the rest shall follow sooner or later. Shall keep track on how long before the seeds starts to develop and drop.

This shall be a source of income as I had already found market to supply seeds to rubber tree nursery.

Visited our biggest tree in Parcel 1, this is one of the tree planted by our partner. It measures 680 mm diameter at 300 mm above ground. Wishing that all our trees reach this measurement. This tree had not show signs of flowering yet, as these were planted from seeds.

Our phase 1 trees have reached up to 280 mm diameter. Our target is to have the trunk reaching 400 ~ 450 mm before we start to tap. Still holding to our targeted tapping date end of year 2013.

We are maintaining the Parcel 1 with care. Keeping it clean from weeds and fertilizing regularly with compound and organic fertilizer. We are also making plan to phase out the banana trees. Shall be using EM to boost up the growth.



We are replacing the banana trees with papaya as there are smaller and shorter compared to banana. Hence not competing for sunlight.

We still have some small area of land in Parcel 1, mostly fringe and high gradient slope, that had not been planted. Started to clear these area, hopeful we can get it ready before the rainy season. Planning to diversify from rubber trees for these small areas as the market price for rubber is rather low at the moment.
A check on today on Lembaga Getah Sabah
Latex : RM 6.75
Sheet Grade I: RM 3.75
Sheet Grade II:RM 3.35 
Cuplump Grade I: RM 3.30 
Cuplump Grade II: RM 2.90 
Scrap : RM 1.35
For: 23 August 2012
With such low price, profitability shall definitely be affected. World economy slow down contributed to the decline of rubber prices. Outlook is still good on the long term. Anticipating market to pickup in year 2013.

We are looking at fruit trees like Avocado, Jackfruits, Lime, Papaya and others. Also researching on Agarwood for the high gradient slope. We had also initiated our Project Free Range Village Chicken. Shall also be looking at Bees keeping once flowering of the rubber had been fully established. Hopefully with these diversification, we should be more profitable.

Short Break At Hanoi, Vietnam.

 Had been to Ho Chi Minh many times, but not Hanoi. Took a 7 days trip. Stayed at the The Church Boutique Hotel, Hang Gai. Their location was superb, locate at the Old Quarters, Silk Street. When we arrived, they upgraded us to a bigger room as the room that we booked was not available. They also let us check in early as we arrive at Noi Bai Airport in the morning. Getting to the Hotel was already an adventure as we tried using the Minivans.

There were so much happening in the Old Quarters. We spent most of our time here, waling around, enjoying their culture and food hunting. Manage to find lots of good food. Places like Quan An Non, Essences Cafe, Little Hanoi, Gecko Restaurant. Plenty of road side stalls as well, we patronize those that looks hygiene.
Went for a spa session as it was raining since morning. We choose  SF Spa as it was highly recommended. It was a short walk from our hotel.
Come Friday, Saturday and Sunday, there is this Night Market. It's the longest night Market that I've been to. I think it could be more than 1.5 kilometers.

Took 2 side trips. Halong bay cruise. We went with the Marguerite Junk as it was recommended by two Aussies. We took a 2 days 1 night cruise. Cruising in Halong Bay, with a short visit to Surprise Cave, Floating Village, Kayaking and swimming.
Being an international destination, there are visitors from many different counties.





Another trip was to Perfume Pagoda. A drive out of the city, a boat ride up the canal, then a cable car up the hills. Time does flies by and it's time to go home. Left Hanoi with a great memory of good food
and good company.

Hilux LN106 1992

Our Hilux was acquired back in September 2010. The previous owner were operating some tractors and this Hilux was used as a maintenance vehicle. The engine had been changed to a 2-LT, 2,400 cc turbo engine from the original 2,800 cc NA diesel engine.

 When we took delivery, the body work were done up to cover all the flaws. Most of the parts had been modified to non standard and it was just functional.

Our first major problem came and it was the steering rod that break if the steering is turned to the maximum while reversing. We found this out after breaking the steering rod 4 times. The first 3 times, we replaced the rod with the original standard item. The fourth time we used the broke off rod, welded it back with reinforcement. By not putting the steering to maximum, it had not broke since.

 The next major problem were the front axle, the drive shaft broke. The rear axle was even worse, we had a broken final drive gear.
The spring, we had it replaced back to the original, but the front right had shag off. I am contemplating to replace it with a heavy duty type. The engine mounting had been replaced 3 times, but only once for the gearbox mounting. There was an incident when we could not engaged the gear, due to the broken engine mounting which made the engine misaligned.

We had lots of minor problems such as leaking clutch activator, leaking break piston housing, leaking break pump, leaking clutch pump, worn off drive shaft, front & rear and many others.

The most recent breakdown is the turbo charger (again). It was repaired late last year, refurbished, with the bearing and oil seal replaced. It seems that the oil seal had broke and caused engine oil leaking into the compress air intake. This time I manage to order a new turbo center housing, whereby we just use back the outside housing. It had been fitted and shall test it out after I go back to the farm (away at the moment).

This truck has served us so well, most of the time we manage to "sense" the about to break down. There were only a couple of time when our truck had let us down. I guess that due to our daily usage we are very 'in-tune' with the truck.
Overall we are very satisfied with our truck, as it had taken us through very bad weather, rough and tough roads. It had also help us to haul more than 1 ton at a go. Guess it does live up to the 'bullet proof' image.

Parcel 1, 2 & 3 Weed Management

May, June and July were very hectic. We had finally finished off the weed management for Parcel 1, 2 & 3. Thanks to our new high pressure pump, we manage to do it at a shorter time. It was a very challenging run as we missed the previous weed management back in March. The weeds had grown too long and access were difficult. We started off with Parcel 3, smallest, then Parcel 2 and lastly the biggest Parcel 3. Am really glad that we have cleared this. We still need to finish off the fertilization program.

What we had done is that we used the high pressure pump to do a initial run, then followed by a manual run with knack pack  sprayer. This is to do up the missed and out of reached area (due to limited length of hose). We had also switch to another brand of herbicide and hope that it shall have better results. We had added a used tire to absorb the vibration of the pump, a very helpful suggestion made by our partner. We are more familiar with the pump operation now.

 

Testing this now.

The pump being higher pressure (adjustable), it can penetrate the long grass batter. 

Looking forward to the next weed management run, which starts in September.

Were using these.