Trimming the vines
Lieza Munckhof trimming the vines on a vintage Lamborghini, 3 cylinder air-cooled model.
Innovation is the practice of recognizing an unfulfilled need and finding a new solution that not only accomplishes the required job, but also does it within the customer’s abilities, resources and budget.
Every summer during the season, grape cultivators do battle against their vines, trying to contain their voracious growth within the confines of the trellis and keep a neat and tidy operation.
For the larger growers the task is fairly simple. Aided by the help of hydraulically driven commercial machinery they are able to make short work of the foliage. The smaller guys, however, suffer. Overlooked by the industry as not significant enough to target, they are left to fend off their vines with hand tools, like knives or gas-powered trimmers, and hours of backbreaking work.
Larger manufacturers tend to overlook small farming operations and favour large scale mechanization designed to cover hundreds or thousands of acres a year. This puts the little guy at a distinct disadvantage.
Mechanization, however, is a farming advancement that should not be limited to large scale agriculture. Some of the finest wines are produced from fruit grown on small scale farms by people who know and care about every plant they farm.
That’s where Munckhof Mfg comes in. “Many of these small operators have approached us looking to purchase commercial grade equipment and we were unable to help them because their tractors were too small to handle the required loads, or in some cases there was no tractor at all,” said Dennis Munckhof. “It was obvious they had limited options and some even resorted to desperate and dangerous solutions; strapping gas powered trimmer tools to their quads or tractors, or having a worker stand on a platform, trying to handle sharp tools while another person drove them around the farm.”
A solution was needed and so Munckhof decided to tackle the problem.
“We developed the world’s first fully electric sickle bar trimmer designed specifically for small vineyards,” Munckhof says.
The company knew it would have to be something compact, robust, light, and simple, without any hydraulic cylinders or complicated mounting attachments.
The trimmer features its own integrated electric lifting cylinder, turnbuckle angle adjustment and multiple cross bar attachment points so the operator only needs to securely attach a 1½-inch cross bar and connect the battery.
The head has a built-in spring that will allow the upper blade to move away in case it hits a post and guide it back to position automatically. It is even available with an optional “blade saver” bumper bar to guide around posts in plantations with overhead netting where contact is inevitable.
At the base of the lifting cylinder is a shear pin to protect the machine in case of hard contact in the lateral plane/axis.
One of the biggest design challenges in making this machine a reality was achieving the versatility needed to trim all the different shapes and styles of plantings with the limited cutter bars the small machine uses. The team developed an innovative head that can be set at the 90, 60, 30 and vertical position, giving a maximum cutting length of 5’9” in the vertical position. This, along with the turnbuckle, allows the trimmer to be conformable to match the shape of several different trellis styles.
The best part is that the operator is able to sit safely back from the cutting head and control the height and trimmer motors from a simple control box, giving small operators the same comfort and safety that the larger operations enjoy, but in an affordable and accessible package.
Munckhof is putting out their inaugural production run with a limited quantity to be ready for this summer’s trimming season. “This is a game changer in our being able to offer a safe and affordable option to hobbyists, micro-estates and small lot growers in the five-acre and under crowd. I am super happy to be adding this unique piece of equipment to our product line,” Munckhof says.
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