36 Vine Maintenance Work Platform*

Supervisors:

Bruce Beard

Moderator:

Byron Martin

Number of Students:

Jing Liau, Yong Sa and Wai Wong

Description:

Southcorp Wines is one of the biggest wine producers in Australia. They have a significant area of vines in Australia (8,000Ha, approximately half of which are in South Australia) and which require regular maintenance: trimming, weed management, mowing, spraying, etc. Currently the various implements are mounted on the back of a tractor or onto a dedicated trailer which is towed along each row. The problems with this arrangement are that multiple tractor adaptors or hitches are required and that each pass along the row increases the soil compaction.

The primary focus of this project is to design a ``work platform'' and to develop methods for mounting the various tools required for vine maintenance onto the ``work platform''. The ``work platform'' should be able to span multiple rows, to permit the mounting of equipment and implements for multiple-function passes, and to minimise wheel loading and therefore soil compaction. It is preferred that wheel travel be to the centre of the row to minimise compaction near the vine and its root-zone.

A platform should be designed such that it can accurately track its towing tractor in normal turning between vine rows. It would ideally allow 3 Point Linkage mounting with hydraulic PTO(2) so that remotely mounted equipment could be mounted and remotely controlled; this may require a tractor mounted PTO driven hydraulic power pack to power these remotes, which may in turn operate sweeping, slashing, trimming, and spraying (weeds, canopy).

The project may include :-

1. Project Objectives for all Stakeholders
2. Analysis of Vine Maintenance Procedures
3. Selection of Tools for the Work Platform
4. Specification for the Work Platform
5. Design and Specification for Construction
6. Occupational Health & Safety considerations

Industrial Sponsor:

SouthCorp Wines.