Weeding Equipment Uses Vegetable Garden Technology in Vineyards

Weeding Equipment Uses Vegetable Garden Technology in Vineyards CROPS Weed Control With a background in vineyard management Ryan Thiessen recently branched into vegetable farming He soon took note of the weed control equipment those farmers were using and decided he could adapt similar techniques to the vineyard world As the owner of Thiessen Tillage Equipment he created the Adaptive Cultivator System ACS The weeding fingers of his invention were already being used but he designed the torsion and spring system allowing his unit to float across the ground without damaging sensitive crops “The fingers are polyurethane either plastic or rubber They’re flexible and mounted on the spring-assisted arm ” says Thiessen “The beauty of it is it’s all ground driven Most vineyard weeding solutions require hydraulic sensor arms but ours uses no additional hydraulics electronics or operator input The only hydraulics you need is to lift it up at the end of the row ” Spider discs or plates run ahead of the 26-in fingers and control weeds beside the trees or vines while the fingers weed within the vines They’re also mounted on a flexible arm making them safe for plants even over uneven terrain The fingers are also able to flex up and down Soil pressure moves the weeder in and out of the rows running the fingers right up to and around the crop leaving no unworked areas When near a plant or grapevine it pushes harder on the soil flexing the arm away Thiessen says the equipment works on all soil types with many customers using it in heavy clay “The ACS uses a 2-in square arm and can be mounted on a 3-pt hitch toolbar either on the front or back of the tractor or to a vertical hydraulic lift in the center Each tractor is slightly different but there are many standard mounts in the vineyard world using this type and size of mounting ” The entire ACS without the tractor mount sells for $5 295 CAD or approximately $4 100 USD plus S&H Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Ryan Thiessen Thiessen Tillage Equipment 1167 Lakeshore Rd W St Catharines Ontario L2R 6P9 ph 905-359-2210; info@thiessentillage com; www thiessentillage com

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