[Hedging noise]
Mechanical hedging is a form of non-selective pruning which has been demonstrated to reduce labor hours in commercial orchards. Mechanical hedging is particularly suitable for modern tree fruit orchards that are planted medium to high density using dwarfing rootstock and fruiting wall architecture training systems. Mechanical hedging can be used for various tree fruits and must be tailored to each type. To achieve a clean and uniform cut the appropriate speed of the tractor angle and height of the hedging apparatus and RPMs must be determined. Hedgers cost around ten thousand dollars, but some can cost up to fourteen thousand dollars. This single side tractor mounted hedge requires a tractor with a front three-point hitch and three hydraulic control circuits for manipulating the hedging apparatus. The orchard at WSU Mount Vernon consists of 65 different cider apple cultivars that are being tested in various orchard management experiments. This is the second summer that this orchard has been mechanically hedged. Mechanical hedging should happen once a year depending on the vigor of the orchard and should occur around the twelfth stage in order to set terminal buds and encourage fruit production. This is based on recommendations by WSU extension based on preliminary research at WSU Mount Vernon. The average time to hedge both sides of a single row is less than two minutes per 100 feet. This is approximately twice as fast as hand pruning a similar orchard based on another study done by WSU scientists. Though popular in European orchards mechanical hedging is not yet widely used in the United States and is being studied for labor efficiency and effectiveness on different apple bearing habits. Mechanical hedging can reduce the need for summer hand pruning but also serves to sculpt a preferred narrow and open canopy suitable for other mechanized management practices such as mechanical harvest. Some hand pruning may still be necessary if long branches persist within the row outside of the hydropath. Based on the time and labor it can save and if there is no significant negative impact on yield or fruit quality. Mechanical hedging is a promising technique well suited for modern high-density orchards in the U.S.
https://youtu.be/JqISUeVTkxg?si=ZsIL8AI9BszeoDiY