high tensile wire for grapes?

J

jrcampbell

New member
In the process of removing some fence from the old horse pasture at my house. Been wanting to put in some grape arbors and got to thinking: wire + posts= free arbors. my buddy that's a farmer says it'll hold a grape vine. opinions?
 
We use T-posts and two runs of single strand wire, one above the other - separated about 9 inches. Any good, heavy, wire works well. All three of our arbors are 5 feet off the ground. One has been in place for 6 years now.

Sounds like you have the makings for a good arbor.

PS forgot to mention. The distance between the T-posts is 5-6 feet.
 
Last edited:
How long are your T-post D1W??

Have a couple acres in front of the house that is currently in pines, about to be cut, and wanting to plant it back in fruit bearing trees and grape vines. Figured the gals would have a blast canning and making jellies and such, not to mention wildlife viewing out the window of the house.
 
I got around 6 acres that's open now. Lot's of folks around here are making their own wine,so I'm in the process now of getting all kinds of fruit plants, hope to have a nice little business in a few years. The old horse pasture was about 2 acres, so that gives me plenty to get started with. I'll probably end up using some of it to support blackberries and raspberries too. I'm planning on doing some experimenting with some hops too.
 
ROCKY We start with 6 1/2 T-posts. We always anchor each end of the arbor with another T-post driven in on a 45 degree angle and doubled wire from the end T-post to angled T-post; twisted(using an 18 inch naked tree branch) tight. Gives you that added support so the arbor doesn't sag.

GRAPES: We plant frontenac and LaCrosse primarily. They grow well in out alkaline soil and make outstanding grape jelly and juice.
 
good tip, I'll keep that in mind if I run out of wooden posts. sound like they're a lot easier to handle. any way you can get some pics of that setup?
 

I would like some pics, too. I need to build one for my vines. I'm a couple years late building one. I was planning on using wire between the posts, but threading it through black plastic pipe. Is that a good idea ?
 
Originally Posted By: Centurion
I would like some pics, too. I need to build one for my vines. I'm a couple years late building one. I was planning on using wire between the posts, but threading it through black plastic pipe. Is that a good idea ?


Having seen bunches of acres of grape arbor in the San Joquin Valley, out in Commiefornia, all they had was wire Centurion, but... all of their grapes were pruned back extensively; most of them more or less stumped, as if an annual ritual. I would say that it might work, but I don't know if the grape vine could hold on to a plastic pipe to wind it's way down the arbor.
 
Working on the pictures for the trellis. Agree with ROCKY; doubt that they would attach well to plastic pipe. ONE of my worries was that with the single strand wire - would it cut through the curly cues. No worry, doesn't happen.
 
I was wondering about that myself, and whether it would rub through any other part of the vine it may come in contact with. no worries now.
 
9 or 10 gauge galvanized wire, and put get your posts 2 deep. Those vines may not look like much, but add the growth of a year and the weight of the grapes and you have a lot of weight to support.
 
The Wife's Uncle took several 4x4 treated post and took a Post hole digger and buried them so many feet down,then drilled 1 hole thru the upper part and ran a steel cable thru each one to hold up His Grape Vines!
 
One thing I noticed out in California was, it appears different varieties need different types of arbors for some reason. Not sure what the deal was, but they would be trimmed back differently as well. And, you would see these different arbors on the same vineyards, so it was apparent they were different varieties, rather than different methods of managing them. There were even some that had no arbor, they were simply stumped, but those stumps looked like tree trunks. Probably 6 - 7 inches in diameter.














 


Write your reply...
Back
Top