Pruning olive groves with electric tools

Pruning task is essential for the development of the olive grove and therefore for a profitable production. The olive grove must be pruned once the cold weather conditions are saved, and no frost days are expected, then, this task is normally carried out in March, although this task can also vary according to the weather and therefore the area. In our case, we are finishing the task, which is undoubtedly one of the hardest we have throughout the year in our olive grove.

We are carrying out different types of pruning as the olive trees require it. The 4 years old olive trees still need to be pruned to create the definitive tree. In this case, the pruning is not very aggressive and consists of shaping the olive tree. For older olive trees, the aim of pruning is to remove wood so that the olive tree can have more air and sunlight, which in the end is something fundamental in the development of the olive tree throughout its life.

The use of tools in this pruning task is based on shears and saws, although the power system is very wide-ranging, from hand tools without any power system, petrol chainsaws (increasingly smaller and therefore more manageable), pneumatic tools and finally and most modern we take into account electric tools. Over the last few years in our pruning work we have gone all the way and worked with all types of tools, this year being the first year that we have used  electric tools... we can conclude that this is the best option in our experience because they are the most comfortable to use.

In December we used the Agritec Flora PC32 electric shears for vineyard pruning and this time we have increased the blade size using the Agritec Flora PC38. The great feature of this model is the size of the bite, which goes up to 40mm, this feature is very important for pruning olive groves because they have generally large diameter branches. In addition to the scissors, we have also worked with the Agritec Flora PCP100 electric saw, which has surprised us a lot because with the 10cm rapier it allows the user to cut really thick branches with amazing ease... you can see it at the end of our video.

What tools do you use and do you do something different?

Versión en español.

Freedom in pruning work thanks to the “Cordless electric scissors”

The fact of choose to use  one or other scissors on a pruning day is a decisive factor. The tools available on the market for this type of work are improving very fast and if a few years ago the leap from manual to electric scissors was an achievement, nowadays, the use of cordless scissors (battery included in the scissors) is a further step the professional pruner undoubtedly appreciates, because the freedom of movement achieved is significant.

We had the opportunity to work with the Agritec Flora PC32 scissors, of the Italian manufacturer “Agritec” which is distributed by our friends at Agrinativo. The main performances that we could highlight of these scissors are below:

• No power cable.
• Progressive cutting.
• Cutting capacity up to 32mm.
• Aperture adjustment in two positions for 32mm and 20mm.
• Ergonomic handle and weight around 1kg with good weight distribution.
• 3 lithium batteries with an autonomy of 3 hours. Charging time 90 minutes.
• 350W motor (brushless motor).
• High quality steel blade and counter-blade.
• Simple and quick lubrication system.
• Very quiet

In order to work with these scissors, we visited our friend Santiago, who was pruning a airen young vineyard about 9 years old (perhaps for older vines where the shoots have a high diameter, the recommended model is the Flora PC40). Our sensations after a morning's experience were very positive, highlighting the speed of cutting, the light weight of the scissors, the speed of closing and above all the great freedom that comes from not having a power cable. Finally, it is a breakthrough in pruning tools. They will leave behind corded scissors and especially hand scissors because their price is around €400.

Versión en español.