Innovations in Dried Grape Vine Pruning

The dried grape industry's mechanised pruning prototype will be finalised next pruning season following further field trials this year and next.

_{Field trial of mechanised cutting head (v2)}

The project, a collaboration between Dried Fruits Australia (DFA) and Mallee Regional Innovation Centre partner La Trobe University, has delivered two full prototype trials during a very disrupted 2021 season.

A third prototype machine has also been built in preparation for more in-field testing, which project partners hope will occur before the end of the year.

DFA consultant field officer Stuart Putland said the trials had provided valuable data that led to a move from electronic to hydraulic powering of the on-tractor tool.

“Good progress has been made on getting the prototype up and running, but 12 weeks of COVID-19 lockdowns during the pruning season meant we weren’t able to do as much as we’d planned,” Stuart said.

“The plan was to have another two prototyping runs to finalise the cutting head retraction speed and vision system control. But because the project couldn’t be completed, we have organised an extension to allow time for more extensive testing under the correct conditions over winter 2022.”

Stuart said the third prototype was partly in a shed at Sunnycliffs and in the La Trobe University workshop in Melbourne, where Dr Robert Ross has been working on a faster retraction mechanism to link the cutting head to the camera sensing system.

“The third prototype will have a four-blade cutter bar with removable blades for sharpening,” Stuart said.

“In an effort to speed up the movement towards and away from the cordon as the machine moves down the row while still using an electric actuator, we have swapped to a four-bar mechanism to move the cutting head.

“This has allowed Robert to triple the in/out speed compared to previous versions.”

You can watch a video of Dr Robert Ross demonstrating updates to the actuator control mechanism below.