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rockgineer · 01-07-2010, 08:26 PM

I am trying to do some research on hop harvesting machinery, particularly hop picking machines.

The only machine I have seen mention of is something called The Wolf but can't seem to find any information on this.

Can anyone point me in the right direction on how to find out more information on some of the existing hop picking machines?

Thanks,
Brad

HopBlooded · 01-07-2010, 08:41 PM

Most commercial scale hop harvesters in the Yakima Valley are of the Dauenhauer variety.

http://www.dmfg.com/hh/index.html

**Hopfarmer** · 01-08-2010, 03:09 AM

I know of 2 wolf pickers for sale.have a bunch of pictures of the one I brought to the farm for testing. Will get them up shortly. Cheers Glen

**GVH_Dan** · 01-08-2010, 02:13 PM

rockgineer:

How large is your farm? I suspect most commercial equipment is too large for your needs...OK, make that too expensive.

The Wolf machines are designed to do around 180 bine/hr, which is about right for a 20 to 50 acre grower. The Dauenhauer's are even bigger.

If you only have an acre or so, you can almost get away with handpicking. Of course it helps if you have a lot of friends and different varieties so it doesn't all come due on the same day.

At this point, there isn't any commercially available harvesting equipment for the small scale farmer. We are working on some as are others, but I know we won't be ready to sell anything for this next season.

To be honest, making something that will pick the cones off the bines isn't too hard. The harder part is separating the cones from all the leaves, stems and other debris that also gets picked.

Vinic · 01-08-2010, 02:50 PM

I don't know if this will be helpful, but it sure looks interesting as an in-house harvester.

HopBlooded · 01-08-2010, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GVH_Dan

rockgineer:

How large is your farm? I suspect most commercial equipment is too large for your needs...OK, make that too expensive.

The Wolf machines are designed to do around 180 bine/hr, which is about right for a 20 to 50 acre grower. The Dauenhauer's are even bigger.

If you only have an acre or so, you can almost get away with handpicking. Of course it helps if you have a lot of friends and different varieties so it doesn't all come due on the same day.

At this point, there isn't any commercially available harvesting equipment for the small scale farmer. We are working on some as are others, but I know we won't be ready to sell anything for this next season.

To be honest, making something that will pick the cones off the bines isn't too hard. The harder part is separating the cones from all the leaves, stems and other debris that also gets picked.

Dan is right. Dauenhauer machines are not for the small scale farmer. They require a large shed to house the picker, but can pick over 1,500 vines per hour. I mentioned it more as a point of interest.

Some of the pictures in this Flickr album show our Dauenhauer machine.

**GVH_Dan** · 01-08-2010, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vinic

I don't know if this will be helpful, but it sure looks interesting as an in-house harvester.

Yep, that's the perfect example of a "homemade" picker. The whole idea is to strip the cones of of the bine. Not too hard. The problem is that you get all the leaves and stems, too. USDA requirements don't allow you to mix that in with the cones, plus it would cause your alpha acid % to drop.

WIP · 01-08-2010, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HopBlooded

Dan is right. Dauenhauer machines are not for the small scale farmer. They require a large shed to house the picker, but can pick over 1,500 vines per hour. I mentioned it more as a point of interest.

Some of the pictures in this Flickr album show our Dauenhauer machine.

Thank you for the pictures. That was a cool steb by step. Where where they taken?

HopBlooded · 01-08-2010, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WIP

Thank you for the pictures. That was a cool steb by step. Where where they taken?

No problem. They were taken on our farm east of Yakima in September.

**Hopfarmer** · 01-08-2010, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GVH_Dan

rockgineer:

How large is your farm? I suspect most commercial equipment is too large for your needs...OK, make that too expensive.

The Wolf machines are designed to do around 180 bine/hr, which is about right for a 20 to 50 acre grower. The Dauenhauer's are even bigger.

If you only have an acre or so, you can almost get away with handpicking. Of course it helps if you have a lot of friends and different varieties so it doesn't all come due on the same day.

At this point, there isn't any commercially available harvesting equipment for the small scale farmer. We are working on some as are others, but I know we won't be ready to sell anything for this next season.

To be honest, making something that will pick the cones off the bines isn't too hard. The harder part is separating the cones from all the leaves, stems and other debris that also gets picked.

This is the picker I made.It worked great in 08 for the 1st year harvest but was inadequate for 09.All it really needs is a auto feeder, leaf seperator and dribble line.Even with these additions it would be tough to do much more than a acre maybe 2

YouTube

Cheers Glen
Still