One of the most aggravating situations to have to deal with as an Independent Contractor is mother nature. It always seems that when you are breaking ground to grade a site to elevation, install electrical lines, irrigation, or any job that disturbs dirt, Mother Nature intervenes and it starts to rain. This will hurt your bottom line in a number of ways: financially, physically, and lost productivity.

Besides the inconvenience, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Natural Resources (DNR), and local agencies keep a close eye on new construction sites, remodels and sitework to making sure that everyone follows the guidelines. While it does sometimes seem these departments are here to disrupt a construction site, they are tasked with ensuring jobsites don’t have negative impacts on neighbors and local ecology. If one of these departments does a job site visit and discovers you have not done anything to prevent the silt from washing away, you could be hit with fines and extra cleanup costs. Typically, these are not cheap...

Because we know rain is a common disturbance, we can prepare our site to limit the effects of runoff. If the proper preparation is not done, the newly disturbed land is open to the elements and the dirt will start to wash out to the lowest point. This means creeks, streams, rivers, lakes, and even roads will be embodied in dirt called silt. The best way to help prevent this from happening is to lay down straw. This straw, once laid down, will help protect the dirt from being pummeled by the rain and prevent any washout areas being created by a freshly disturbed site. 

Of course, you can lay straw by hand, but on most job sites, the easiest way to lay down this wheat straw is to use a Finn B40 Straw Blower to help spread the straw. The Finn Strawblower can spread straw 360 degrees and up to 45 feet away from the unit, all while being operated and fed by one man. Although, a second man to prep the bales and pass them off to the blower. With two men working the unit, it can spread 2-3 bales of straw per minute! At that rate, the blower will allow you to quickly cover every inch of a site thoroughly and evenly, allowing a clean professional look on every site.

In addition to preventing runoff and erosion, covering your dirt with the straw will help promote grass growth after seeding. It does this by creating a barrier against wind, rain, and even birds. A little fresh grass makes everyone happy, especially your customer!

So the next time you are involved with any type of excavating, clearing, leveling, etc.. work, think of the Finn B40 Straw Blower and think of it as your safety net to help save you money, and help protect the surrounding environment.