Chipper or Shredder for Grapevine Prunings

[rgr33]

I have a wine grape vineyard in Oregon. I can't imagine how difficult it would be to have to transport all the clippings out of the rows to a chipper, not to mention trying to get the tangled cluster of vines to go into the hopper. I think it would take a much larger machine to grind the cuttings,I have seen construction companies use huge trailer mounted bowl type grinders that can do a loader full of wood mass easily. Maybe hire one of them for a trial run.
I prefer to flail mine into the cover crop between rows, fast,cheap, and eventually improves the soil on the vy floor.

 

[sixdogs]

My cousin grows 140 acres of grapes and this is how he said he does it.

We did vine prunings for years with a 6 foot Bush Hog, but it didn't do the big trunks that get lopped off- it would just throw them to the side or maybe break them in half. Now we use the (brand name) Perfect chopper, which is a flail mower. It does a beautiful job and pulverizes everything in its path. We also have a brush rake which rakes brush from under the trellis to the chopping zone between the rows.

Hope this helps.

 

[Riddler]

Well, I rented a Bearcat 8720 chipper and spent the better part of a day with help gathering prunings and feeding them to the chipper. While the chipper had no problem processing as much material as you could feed it, as rgr surmised, the main limitation was how bulky the material got when you gathered it together. The self-feed on the machine did a great job pulling in the tangled material, but accumulating and organizing it for feeding required quite a bit of effort.

Thanks to both rgr and sixdogs for input on the flail shredder approach. It certainly looked like the way to go, but I needed some reassurance that it does a good job. As luck would have it, I may have found a source that will rent me the right sized machine so I can test it out. If it pulverizes the material well, then I can go ahead a buy a machine with some confidence. The good machines aren't cheap, so I want to make sure.

I will still buy a chipper or chipper/shredder before too long. I have many uses for a machine like the Bearcat 8720, even if it's not to eliminate prunings.

 

[Riddler]

Sixdogs, I just left you a PM about connecting further with your cousin. Thanks, jr

 

[HarryN]

I have a Wallenstein BX42s chipper. I chip a lot of wild grape vines pulled from trees. The BX42s is fine for 3/4+" vines. Running a 30' section of 3" vine through, which self-feeds, is fun!

BX42s tends to plug with thinner cuttings, like green, flexible, annual pruning material, which does not have enough mass/inertia/resistance for the knives to cut and therefore wrap around the rotor trunnions and load the rotor chamber before plugging the chute. Chipper (only) is not the tool for you.

For processing annual pruning waste get a Wallenstein BXM42 CHIPPER/SHREDDER.


Pictures show the Wallenstein mounted on my Kubota B3300SU (25 PTO horsepower) which had enough power to run the BX42s chipper satisfactorily.


LINK TO WALLENSTEIN WEB SITE: Wallenstein BXM Series PTO Wood Chipper / Shredder Specs - Wallenstein Outdoor Power Equipment Made in Canada

Interesting "Dump Cart" you have there. Looks like it has built in seats too! What brand model is that?

 

[jeff9366]

Interesting "Dump Cart" you have there. Looks like it has built in seats too! What brand model is that?

It is an older, single axle MULTI USE TRAILER SYSTEM (MUTS) all terrain trailer from Canada. The 'seats' place the trailer load low, on the plane of the axle, so it will go anywhere your utility vehicle or tractor can go.

MUTS dumps with a mast and boat trailer winch, which is a real labor saver.

MUTS - Multi-Use Trailer System for your ATV, Quad and 4 Wheeler - Welcome

 

[Haoleguy]

Riddler - For our 5 acre vyd I use a flail(Ferri) with hammers to mulch cuttings. This is the most efficient method used by orchards and vineyards. The orchards use heavier duty choppers from Rears, Perfect W, and others make. Some vineyards take their cuttings out of the vineyard by trailer or I've seen an Ontario grower use a bailer to bind up their cuttings on each row. On occasion a small vineyard will use a pulled fire pit to burn cuttings as they prune.