Jan and Nellie de Jong, together with their son Sjoerd, grow pumpkins and ornamental fruit on a large scale in Ouddorp, South Holland. They now wash the produce with two pumpkin washing lines from MCR Machinery. Jan de Jong explains: ‘We have been growing pumpkins and ornamental fruit for about thirty years. When we started, we grew four acres and washed the pumpkins manually. That is intensive and time-consuming. Later we built our own machine, but that still involved a lot of manual labor, especially lifting. We wanted to reduce the labor factor. Also, the products were not 100% clean. We wanted to change that.

Company visit to pumpkin grower

Maatschap De Jong sells the pumpkins and ornamental fruit directly to garden centers, which can order from the company via the webshop. The grower delivers within 24 hours and therefore has to be able to switch quickly, even with the washing line. ‘We sometimes went to fellow growers to see what machines they used, but we never came across what we were looking for.’ When son Sjoerd saw an MCR Machinery pumpkin washing line at a pumpkin grower during a school farm visit, he was immediately excited. ‘The washing line washed the pumpkins gently and a lot of labor was automated. This is what we had in mind as well.’

Second pumpkin wax line

‘We talked to MCR Machinery about our needs, and the machine builder developed the clothesline we were looking for. It became one with a sponge dryer. Unfortunately, after three years, the sponges needed replacing. When we complained to MCR, we were able to exchange it for a cloth dryer. That one works just fine. To wash even more pumpkins and ornamental fruit, we ordered a second clothesline. In it we had some improvements made. We wanted the brush rollers closer together so we could wash very large and very small pumpkins as well. Furthermore, the second pumpkin washing line became a lot more compact, allowing us to change pumpkin varieties faster. With the first washing line we wash about four varieties a day and with the new one we wash as many as fifteen.’

Replacing bearings yourself

Jan de Jong is glad his son came across MCR Machinery. ‘MCR Machinery is a small company that can change gears quite easily and builds maintenance-friendly machines. For example, we can easily replace the bearings ourselves. Until now, when we have had a breakdown or a problem, we have always been able to solve it ourselves, sometimes after telephone contact. MCR’s mechanics have never had to travel to South Holland to repair anything, so we are very satisfied with the quality. Meanwhile, in addition to our own 25 acres of ornamental fruit and pumpkins, we also wash 15 acres for fellow growers. In this way the washing lines are well profitable. Growers from the region now come to us to look at our pumpkin washing lines. The tables have turned.