Trellis Anchoring grapes and Muscadines

[Bobp]

Ive had trouble in the past with anchoring blackberries.....fixed it by cutting T posts in half and driving them completely and tieing back to the end posts.

On my Muscadine vinyard we used 10'- 21/2 & 3" rigid galvanized conduit pipe for end, and main posts every 50'....T posts at 20'

On our grapes we used 2 7/8 dill stem pipe for the ends and middle main posts. And T posts every 20' ....i cut it 9' burried 3' and left 6' out. We don't have the wire up yet..... working on it...soon i hope. Gotta get the grapes tied up asap.

We anchored the muscMuscad with 6' T posts drove home all the way, so far so good.....

But i had a chance to visit a big commercial vinyard.... the ole gentleman who owns it took me on a ride around the vinyards....he has 250 acres of them.

He spent a deal of time pointing out failures.....one being 4' poured concrete anchors with Rebar hooks.... eventually they pull out...

Hes got wood posts as anchors, steel, concrete, you name it hes tried it.

Hes got several vinyards anchored with burried Cinder blocks 4' deep and burried Car wheels 3 and 4' deep. Using rebar with hooks bent hooked under the cinder block and a hook exposed about a foot above ground.....to hook anchor wires to..
Im betting his blocks are cement blocks not cinder.....but thats a guess....they the burried
Im leaning real hard towards the cinder block idea.....i can get all the seconds i want for free....just got to go dig them out of the reject piles...they pay to haul the waste off so they will let you taje it.....
Im thinking drill 9" holes at the end of every row, then ho back with the 24" and try to push it down 3-4'....lay a block in, with rebar hooked back fill and pack it, let it settle till summer before tightening up the wires.....

Opinions?

 

[mitchell3006]

Sounds like it should work out good. It's hard to anchor the end wire on any trellis.

 

[bumblebeetuna]

I have duck bill anchors, jury is still out

 

[BigH]

I built H-braces for all my end posts using 6" wood posts from Tractor Supply. Six years in and I am quite happy with them. I have 150' rows. H braces may have been overkill, but they were easy to build.

H

 

[bumblebeetuna]

If my anchors don’t hold, H braces are replacing them

 

[Shibumi]

I'm planning H-braces. On my little 42 foot row for 7 vines. Anchors are a no go just because I don't have room for them and they would forever be a tripping hazard. I live in a residential home 1/4 acre lot with much of my backyard already developed.

Debating using foam 2k for the end posts, perhaps wallowing out the bottom of the post holes to create greater surface area to resist pulling. No to concrete. Hate it. Tamper earth for other posts.

May put two short posts in the middle to directly support the cordon wire thus lessening the tension needed to be carried by the braces. Perhaps overkill for only 7 vines. At least it will look nice and neat.

 

[Charles DeVier]

I don't like anchors either; they are always in the way. I use "H" braces made from 6 inch post each 9 feet long, with a 8 foot piece of used 2 inch oil well pipe as the horizontal. Then I buy stainless steel dog bowls , paint them brown to stop the shine, and fasten them upside down on the top of the post. It stops the rot. In 50 years of grape growing, I have never had end post pull out. Number 9 galvanized wire holds everything together. I also use T-posts every 10 feet.