David wrote:Soil Compaction - when grapes are hand picked usually a tractor with a hopper or a bucket follows the hand pickers. Are we suggesting there is a difference with a machine harvester following the same path?
Soil compaction is a result of soil cultivation and machines after that. Best practice is now is not to cultivate IMHO.
Im with Tim Smith on the other issues. (and with his wine)
Yes, I am suggesting that there is a difference between 8000kg and 1000kg.
Roger
8 tonnes up and down the row? Not in my vineyard. And I would suggest not in a quality vineyard. Lets not look at extremes but what is done to produce quality fruit at the crusher.
If we need to hand sort in the vineyard the vintage has problems anyway.
I am not talking about yield. The maximum yield from any row in my vineyard would be <500kg. I am talking about the weight of the harvester against the weight of the little tractor that I use.
Your statement about hand sorting in the vineyard is garbage.
8 tonnes up and down the row? Not in my vineyard. And I would suggest not in a quality vineyard. Lets not look at extremes but what is done to produce quality fruit at the crusher.
If we need to hand sort in the vineyard the vintage has problems anyway.
I don't think Roger means tonnage from the vineyard.
I assume Roger meant 8000kg of tractor/harvester/pickup tractor vs 1000kg of tractor with a handpicking bin on the back.
8 tonnes up and down the row? Not in my vineyard. And I would suggest not in a quality vineyard. Lets not look at extremes but what is done to produce quality fruit at the crusher.
If we need to hand sort in the vineyard the vintage has problems anyway.
I don't think Roger means tonnage from the vineyard.
I assume Roger meant 8000kg of tractor/harvester/pickup tractor vs 1000kg of tractor with a handpicking bin on the back.
The point I was trying to make (very badly) was that I am not sure the one pass by a harvester and truck makes a great difference in compaction vs a tractor and bin and truck.
To me the greatest compaction occurs with cultivation.
This is great info, thanks to everyone for their insight. I've got my own opinons (not so much about the tech specs or ability of harvesters and most matters MOG), more on the comceptual level at what AJ has done in that article. But I'm just enjoying reading those with more experience than me at the moment. Cheers
AJ wrote that he is yet to sight a sorting table in Australia. He's in Adelaide right? Doe's anyone know where to point him in the right direction or is he correct that no one sorts grapes close to Adelaide? Is he now just too inundated with samples to find the time to travel further than the corner store? Am I being harsh?
Is he now just too inundated with samples to find the time to travel further than the corner store? Am I being harsh?