Vineyard Sled

One of the inevitable results from spring pruning are the cuttings that are left in the vineyard. This is not a good thing because old wood can harbor dormant spores of mildews and fungi, so we have always tried to be vigilant about removing the cuttings from the vineyard.
Over the years, we have thought of many ways of bringing out the grape vine cuttings from the vineyard. This is a bit tricky because we don't want use our tractor during the winter months to remove the cuttings because it can lead to soil compaction.
In the past, we've taken out the cuttings by hand because we didn't have too many vines due to the death of our young vines when we initially planted the vineyard in 2013. After replanting the vineyard in 2016, we had young vines, so pruning and removal of the cuttings did not become quite an issue until 2019. In 2019, we used tarps to bring the cuttings out. Yes, it was physically challenging work but the tarps did the job.
My husband, always in search for a better solution for cutting removal found this: the Berti Picker LC. A great solution, but way beyond our financial means. While it is an aspirational goal to own one of those, we needed a solution that could help us in the near term.
Last year, during pruning, my husband looked into purchasing a sled from AirFrames Alaska. Unfortunately, he was too late and the season for sled making was over. Our hunter loaned us his ice sled and although it was on the small side, it did work in pulling out the cuttings in an efficient and less physically taxing way than using the tarp.
This year, my husband was on top of things and when sled making time came around, he ordered one from AirFrames Alaska and to ensure that he would receive it, he ordered it in August 2022.
Here is a photo of our vineyard sled:

The trick to using the vineyard sled efficiently is to pile the cuttings at each linepost. It does take some time to do this during pruning, but the end result is very worthwhile. We have 37 lineposts that span almost 800 feet from end to end and approximately 190 vines in each row. My husband, with the help of our friend was able to remove 17 rows of cuttings in 3 mornings. Here is a photo of the sled before and during cutting removal:

Here is a video of the vineyard sled in action that our friend sent us:

Our hunter got a shot of my husband driving the mower pulling the vineyard sled full of cuttings on his trail camera and gave it a thumbs up. We think this is a great and economical solution for our small vineyard! Cuttings be gone!