Orchard Planning for Draft Animals

[KMichelle]

I will begin planting an apple orchard this spring. I have about 30 trees to plant this year, and my goal it to top out at 3-4 acres of fruit and nut trees. The trees I am planting this year will all be newly grafted whips on dwarf(B9) and semi-dwarf(M111).

Since I do not have a lot of space I want to plant as intensively as possible with the smaller trees and shrubs. I have a team of Belgians, but not a mower. This year I will be managing the property with a sycth and grazing.

Does anyone have recommendations on orchard row spacing for a 5′ mower? Is there a consideration for the single horses mower? I would like to be able to maintain rows easily by mowing the lanes, but would also like to allow space for beneficial flowers, herbs etc… Thanks!

[robie robinson]

What will be grazing the orchard this year? Consider the pruned and the unpruned sizes, air flow and sunshine are critical.

[Will Stephens]

There are mowers designed specifically for that, Single horse.http://smallfarmersjournal.com/wp-content/gallery/farmdrum027a/351-mower-2.jpg is a picture of one. I am planning on trying to convert a side bar mower to this configuration. Hard but not impossible. I have been planning on doing this for several years though. There is a 4 ft single horse mower for sale on this site I am interested in but would not get to doing anything with it for a while. It appears to be a good candidate for the conversion as parts are readily available for that mower (unlike my off brand rusty project mower. I don’t have mowing experience yet but intuitively I think this setup would be better for a single horse than a side mounted sickle bar because there is no side draft for the horse to work against. Donn or Jay Bailey may have experience with these.

[Will Stephens]

You can tell I don’t want to be in the office today and would rather be out building stuff!! Pioneer makes a gange mover. I don’t know but I bet it’s expensive. Human powered reel mowers are available at yard sales all the time. I can easily imagine a few build scenarios to build something trailerable/mountable to your forcart or a stand alone unit, may walk behind so you could make it out of wood. I gotta get out of this office!!

[Jelmer]

Have you heard of the one horse mower from E-Z trail mfg. Ohio? See attached picture (does somebody have a better picture of this mower?).
They make a 1 horse mower designed for mowing inbetween plastic beds to mow the covercrops. That mower can be useable in orchards as well. It can be build in various lengths, so you can have it to you row distances.
The cost is 1.895 $

For more info on this mower:
E-Z Trail Mfg.
9575 Salt Creek Road
Fredericksburg Ohio 44627
phone: 330-287-0496

[Jelmer]

second attempt adding picture

[Crabapple Farm]

Hey Michelle,
Row spacing should equal mature tree width + alley width.
The alley width for a 5′ sicklebar should be at least 10′, to allow for a mower pass in each direction, for a 4′ one-horse you would want 8′. If you got a center cut mower of some sort, you could reduce the alley width to a single pass, then use a sicklebar to reach under the drip line to mow under the mature trees. With the M111 25′ would be good between rows, but you could go a little closer in-row (15′?). With the B9 you could bring your rows in to 20′, half that in the row. Unless you want to go super intensive espalier-style, where you prune your trees narrow (or tall) in one direction so that the horses can walk much closer to the trunk than with a typical apple-tree. If you want your horses to walk under the branches, though, you need standard rootstock (and a tall ladder…).
With the clearance on the mower, you could put some low herbaceous plantings in the alley (or blueberries, which you already have in places), but anything taller should be in the row with the trees.
My recommendation for starting would be to lay out some hedgerow lines this year around grazing paddocks, protected with electric from the horses, and infill those blocks in later years. Grazing the horses is going the be the easier way to manage the largest area, until you get a mower. If you find a good center-cut mower or a one-horse mower, you can infill at a tighter spacing than if you end up with a 5′ sicklebar.
B9 trees can go tight enough that it might be worth putting them in an intensive block that you can only mow with a scythe. Mowing with a sicklebar is going to prevent you from getting the real space efficiencies from that rootstock.
I think long term, larger trees might be more productive per-acre for you, if you are managing with a sicklebar, because the tree-width to alley-width ratio is better. But B9 makes sense to get things going more quickly.
-Tevis

[KMichelle]

Thanks Tevis! I actually spent today driving around with my Mom looking at the orchards up here in Peru(NY), thousands of trees and saw all kinds of spacing, of course! I am not super committed to the B9, I just wanted to get a jump on a good cider blend.

So far I am thinking the B9 will all go in their own block, that I will managed with the scythe(arrives next week!!), there are only 15 of them. I may choose to do so for the M111 too, since I have not committed to any equipment. The horses will graze the property in blocks and I will mow the gardens/orchard, pond, wetlands and dogbane.

Thanks for another good equipment pointer Jelmer! No worries about pictures, maybe they will send a catalog. In Oregon where I learned to drive, a farmer there had built several center cut mowers that were in use on a biodynamic vineyard in Washington. I think the price tag will be all about the same. Very similar to the design that Will posted.

So does anyone know of an orchard that operates with draft horses?? Visiting farms is my jam, you learn a lot.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 7 months ago by KMichelle.

[ethalernull]

Hi Michelle,

I’m about 3hrs straight south of you in Columbia County NY, and I’ve got a field ready single horse mower for sale. They’re hard to come by in my experience, and I would hold on to it if you are interested for your future orchards. Let me know… abodecsa@gmail.com

-Evan

[KMichelle]

Thank you! Is it a center cut or sickle bar for single? I am pretty tap for major purchases this spring but it is always good to know what my options are!

[wild millers]

KMichelle, I have had the chance to visit White Oak Nursery in Strasburg, PA. It is owned and managed by and Amishman named Amos Fisher and his family. They grow nursery stock, and have extensive orchards, all managed with horses. He had some interesting thoughts and specialized equipment that he had custom made for managing his orchards with horse power. Including a motorized, horse drawn tree digger for his nursery stock.

He was great to visit with, lots of knowledge, really nice, and spent quite a bit of time with me touring his very well planned out and maintained orchards. Has a great little farm store on site selling produce, apples, and orcharding supplies as well as nursery stock.

If it is a long drive for you to that area of PA, the trip could be sweetened a bit since his nursery is just minutes down the road from Peach Lane Harness (Amish shop, they are makers of really nice harness for really good prices) also just minutes from another Amish shop making collars. All hand stitched leather with Rye straw stuffing. Really high quality and the best prices that I have found anywhere. My harness and collars come from these shops.

Call 717-687-8861 from 6-8 p.m to request a White Oak catalog

717-687-5122 For Peach Lane Harness Catalog

Spring fruit tree planting is such an exciting task at the start of a new season! 3-4 acres will be quite an orchard, good luck!

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