restoring abandoned orchard

[djd3254]

my 2 20 something sons and i have begun restoring an old apple orchard. we have cleared out 9 acres and have another 10 across the road. i have looke dat deer 5055e and kubota tractors with the dealer pushing the new l6060. as we are new to this, want to buy a good general tractor now and an apple orchard one later. i would like a new or 2-3 year old tractor. i would greatly appreciate advice. we are working with umass on the replanting.
thanks!!
dd

 

[Briana03]

Welcome to TractorByNet!

I moved your thread to the Projects forum.

 

[woodlandfarms]

Can't help you on the Orchard tractor part, but am interested in what you guys are doing to "renovate" the old orchards. In the PNW, our trees had been left to their own for more than 15 years. We were instructed to cut them back (quite old trees) to just the solid leaders and watch them take off like crazy.

They advice was right, our old gravensteins are producing like crazy. We have added new flavors but they are another 3 years from producing.

 

[djd3254]

we hoped to saev the old tress but the umass expert pronunced them goners after a few minutes!

 

[rbargeron]

If you are clearing it for new planting, go to some grower meetings and talk with orchard guys who have done that. What you plant and how they are spaced will influence the tractor style, size features and power. You'll likely want 50-60 pto hp to run a pto-driven pull-type sprayer, and a cab with air filtration. Have you visited the UMass orchards in Belchertown? They've had several types of sprayers and tractors and can tell you how they compare.

 

[djd3254]

working with jon clements at umass
great idea to go visit some of their meetings

 

[Dr_Zinj]

I have a couple acres of overgrown orchard that only has one apple tree left. Not sure of the variety, since it doesn't match anyone we can recognize. What I want to do is cut all the other growth out, plant some good root stock, and then take as many grafts off this heirloom as I can get before it dies.