Vineyard Tractors?

ganodave · Sep 6, 2011

Bri said:
Hello & WELCOME to TBN!

I moved your thread to the Buying/Pricing/Comparisons Forum.

Thanks Briana!

charleyfarmall · Sep 6, 2011

Brian,

What is a double curtain?

Charley

ganodave · Sep 6, 2011

Robert_in_NY said:
Also, the John Deere and New Holland tractors have factory loaders available to them. I have seen aftermarket loaders on Kubotas as well.

I have never seen anyone put a 3pt backhoe on a vineyard tractor but it has a standard 3pt hitch so if it will clear the cab (if it has a cab) then I don't see it being a problem.

Planning to dig a few holes for trees and walls Robert so I'm looking at detaching the backhoe when I'm don't need it.

Thanks!

Robert_in_NY · Sep 6, 2011

charleyfarmall said:
Brian,

What is a double curtain?

Charley

Double curtain is a spread trellis system that allows more room for growth as well as light to enter the canopy. You can go to this link http://viticulture.hort.iastate.edu/info/pdf/domototrellis.pdf and if you go down past the section about construction a vineyard they will get to the trellis design section and it will show a decent picture of single curtain compared to double curtain as well as other designs.

Robert_in_NY · Sep 6, 2011

ganodave said:
Planning to dig a few holes for trees and walls Robert so I'm looking at detaching the backhoe when I'm don't need it.

Thanks!

If you expect to only use it for a short period of time you may want to look into renting a mini excavator or such. They will work faster and better then a 3pt hoe and will be much more affordable compared to buying a 3pt hoe. Around here its around $700/week for a 4 ton mini excavator and I would imagine the 3pt hoe to work with a vineyard tractor would be in the $5-$6k range. Just an option to consider if money is an issue.

Where abouts are you located? What town more specifically as I am curious. I know they were trying to establish vineyards near montreal but were having to pull the vines off the trellis at the end of the year and bury them to protect them from winter kill as it freezes the vines badly there.

ganodave · Sep 7, 2011

I'm in Prince Edward County, Ontario's newest VQA region... we have to do the same thing here as they do in Montreal. Some varietals are much stronger and that's what we're looking at here, to plant a hardier and frost resistant vine. Don't plan to have a large vineyard, 3 or 4 acres at most. Thanks for the advice on the backhoes too, I was looking at a towable backhoe last night...

Robert_in_NY · Sep 7, 2011

ganodave said:
I'm in Prince Edward County, Ontario's newest VQA region... we have to do the same thing here as they do in Montreal. Some varietals are much stronger and that's what we're looking at here, to plant a hardier and frost resistant vine. Don't plan to have a large vineyard, 3 or 4 acres at most. Thanks for the advice on the backhoes too, I was looking at a towable backhoe last night...

Ok, if your only looking at 3-4 acres then you can get by with a smaller compact tractor in the 30hp range and a smaller 150 gallon trailed sprayer. Just make sure you find a sprayer and make sure which ever tractor you pick will be able to handle the sprayer you will use. A 100 gallon 3pt sprayer will be pushing a 30hp compact tractor weight wise. It will lighten the front end a lot.

You guys definitely earn your money up there when playing in a vineyard. Its very seldom we have to worry about that long hard freeze so once our vines are on the wire they stay there (thankfully).

charleyfarmall · Sep 7, 2011

Robert_in_NY said:
Double curtain is a spread trellis system that allows more room for growth as well as light to enter the canopy. You can go to this link http://viticulture.hort.iastate.edu/info/pdf/domototrellis.pdf and if you go down past the section about construction a vineyard they will get to the trellis design section and it will show a decent picture of single curtain compared to double curtain as well as other designs.

Thanks! Much clearer now!

Reading that made me want to go plant grapes....

Robert_in_NY · Sep 7, 2011

charleyfarmall said:
Thanks! Much clearer now!

Reading that made me want to go plant grapes....

Your welcome, glad I can help.

I hope you have a deep pocket book as their not cheap to plant and then you have to wait 3 years before you start to see any return on your investment

The nice side though is once their planted you don't have to replant again for a long time. Some of the vineyards here are over 100 years old so the investment will keep paying as long as the market is still there.

zonta223 · Sep 7, 2011

Robert_in_NY said:
Your welcome, glad I can help.

I hope you have a deep pocket book as their not cheap to plant and then you have to wait 3 years before you start to see any return on your investment The nice side though is once their planted you don't have to replant again for a long time. Some of the vineyards here are over 100 years old so the investment will keep paying as long as the market is still there.

A recent survey in Australia showed that only 25% of grape growers can make a full time living from their vineyards. More than 50% "Support" their vineyard with outside income. Today's prices for wine grapes are terrible mostly at or below the cost of production. If you grow Chardonnay grapes it's a case of paying wineries to take them away. Whats the situation like in your part of the world??

Bob