Manual leaf removal is expensive and labour is hard to come by so a number of machines are now taking their place in vineyards. The French manufacturer Provitis supplies a top of the line quality range available across the UK from Vitifruit Equipment.
A blower generates air at a pressure of 0.6 to 1 bar which is then supplied to the Ecojet deleafer heads and expelled out at the vine leaves through rotating nozzles. The leaves are shredded by the air pressure. The working height varies from 400mm to 640mm. The machine is supplied with a blower, gearbox with pto shaft, two double rotor heads mounted on a high-clearance frame with variable width control all mounted on a frame with a two wheel axle (up/down movement 500mm, inclination -5° to 30°, width control to 500mm, hydraulic inclination correction from -6° to 40°).
These technical choices place the product in the top quality category. The primary advantages are:
- The blower is larger than others making it possible to use larger diameter nozzles to avoid unwanted harsh airflow resulting in skin damage .
- To protect the blower, the LB 260 is equipped with a cyclonic filter which removes 99% of dust and a second 25 micron PVC filter. The PVC filter is easy to clean with water.
- The gearbox is located at the rear of the machine and driven by a long PTO shaft thus reducing damage to the universal joints when lifting the machine at the end of rows when turning.
- The double rotors allow variation in working height.
- Both deleafer heads are equipped with break away devices to rear and side.
- For improved maneuverability the machine has been designed in a compact form of 1.0m long and 1.20m wide.
