Wish I couldsee a photo of this water drill, not clear, how do you cut,bend a 6inch pieceof 4inch pipe, how about a photo, Lee Elliott, winchester,il
--- On Thu, 2/11/10, Fleming, William <[email protected]> wrote: From: Fleming, William <[email protected]> Subject: RE: Apple-Crop: Attaching trees to trellis To: "Apple-Crop" <[email protected]> Date: Thursday, February 11, 2010, 10:09 AM Nick, the way it works when you use a tractor drawn tree planter is the logical place for the trellis poles is in the groove made by the planter. If you attach the wire to the outside of the post with stapes the wire ends up half the post width out of line with the tree row. That usually ends up being the 3-4 inches you mentioned. Even if you don't use a planter better that the posts are in line with the tree row, wire will then be offset from the row. Other things I've learned: Rather than placing the trellis posts halfway between trees place them close to the tree. Depending on your tree spacing placing the post midway creates a small "dead space" that's harder to deal with for weed control. This is especially true if you're organic and using mechanical weed control but the post can also create a herbicide spray shadow. With the post close to the tree you end up with one extra small space and another space almost equal to your tree spacing. Using water to set the posts is the best method I've found. I made a tee shaped handle with 3/4" steel pipe, valve on the top of the tee. Since we were using 4-5" posts I attached a 6 inch long piece of 4" pipe at the bottom of the tee. It was cut, bent, and welded to a point with a 1/2" outlet at the bottom for the water to exit. Water at 80 psi from a sprayer is plenty. Volume is more important than pressure. With a two man crew we could set a very solid post in less than 30 seconds. One guy with the water, the other sets the post and plumbs it. You have to work very fast before soil suspended in the water settled, if it takes more than a second before the water drill is pulled out of the hole and the post is set it won't be as deep as you want. The way it worked seemed excellent to me. Rocks and gravel would settle at the bottom of the post hole creating good drainage for the post. The fine silt that settled out of the water rapidly set up almost like concrete. Much faster than an auger, less expense than a tractor mounted pounder. Bill Fleming Montana State University Western Ag Research Center 580 Quast Ln Corvallis, MT 59828 (406)961-3025 -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Nick Lucking Sent: Wednesday, February 10, 2010 10:49 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: Apple-Crop: Attaching trees to trellis Bill, That's good to know. On that note, when I plant these new trees should they be planted directly inline with the trellis system? Or be 2-3, or more inches off the wire initially? Thanks for the help, my horticulture degree did not quite cover this! Nick Lucking Field Manager Cannon Valley Orchard Cannon Falls, MN -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The 'Apple-Crop' LISTSERV is sponsored by the Virtual Orchard <http://www.virtualorchard.net> and managed by Win Cowgill and Jon Clements <[email protected]>. Apple-Crop is not moderated. Therefore, the statements do not represent "official" opinions and the Virtual Orchard takes no responsibility for the content. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The 'Apple-Crop' LISTSERV is sponsored by the Virtual Orchard <http://www.virtualorchard.net> and managed by Win Cowgill and Jon Clements <[email protected]>. Apple-Crop is not moderated. Therefore, the statements do not represent "official" opinions and the Virtual Orchard takes no responsibility for the content.
