Modern powered secateurs make light work of cutting out branches and with a sweeper at the front of the tractor and a flail at the back you can cover alot of ground in the minimum of time.
The cordless Zanon secateurs come with clip-in batteries are lightweight and have a nice feel to them. The trigger is progressive and the response is instant and controllable as you have with traditional hand powered secateurs. They come in different sizes to suit the hobbyist to the full time contractor. Over the last few seasons they have proven to be well liked and reliable, said David Sayell of Vitifruit equipment.
For bigger cuts such as re-shaping overgrown crowns the cordless chainsaws have been great, so easy to use and turning a difficult job into a quick zip and off.
Sweeping the prunings out from under the vines with a Boisselet sweeper is also simple – the prunings pass under the tractor and into the mouth of the flail mower and are mulched. Vitifruit Equipment supply a range of mowers from the German manufacturers Fehrenbach and Sauerburger according to what folk want regarding width, strength, work capacity and budget.
For vineyards with a lot of surface stones they also hire a mulcher with a pickup reel so that the stones don’t damage the rotor blades; this tool also holds the prunings in the rotor chamber until they are small enough to exit through a gauze onto the ground. These fine mulchings are then more easily broken down and absorbed back into the soil.
Zanon ZP 130
For more like this, sign up for the FREE Vineyard newsletter here and receive all the latest viticulture news, reviews and insight
