Page 43 - Grapevine July-August 2019

Around The Vineyard

sidered the Wine Capital of Canada and part of the
Okanagan Valley region. Amos sees customer service
for vineyard equipment important at every stage,
from new purchase to need for repair. “It’s import-
ant for good customer service pre, during and after
the sale. If people sell their product, they should sup-
port their product throughout its life span.”

Gearmore considers itself well-positioned to meet
the needs of vineyards morphing into the “no touch”
approach. It can provide nearly every implement
required for growing a successful grape harvest,
including tillage tools, mowers, pre-pruners, vine
trimmers, leaf removers and more. The company
offers Venturi Air Sprayers, available in 3-point or pull
type, ranging from 75 to 500 gallons. Distribution
heads on Venturi Air Sprayers are versatile enough
to fit any vineyard profile with nozzles that shear the
chemical into fog-like droplets covering the entire
plant.

Gearmore is also a chief supplier of Collard prod-
ucts, a family-owned business serving vineyards for
five generations and responsible for inventing the
first mechanical vine trimmer in 1962. The Collard
Vine Trimmer is especially designed for California’s
multiple trellis systems, along with Collard Leaf
Removers, which feature 3-point mounted air com-
pressors that power the leaf remover’s defoliation
heads. The system works through short, sharp bursts
of compressed air blasting the leaves to open the
canopy, allowing for more sunlight, better air flow
and greater spray penetration. Gearmore also is a
supplier for the Collard Leaf Remover, an equipment
choice that offers a solution to debris removal around
grape clusters, which ultimately provides for a clean-
er harvest.

Canada’s Slimline Manufacturing, based in British
Columbia, touts itself as the sprayer manufacturer
of choice for grape growers in the Okanagan area,
Niagara region, California’s Napa Valley, Oregon and
Washington coastal areas as well as other grape
growing communities throughout North America.

Turbo-Mist Sprayers have been around in some
form since 1948. When engineer Kim Blagborne
purchased the product and founded Slimline
Manufacturing in 1991, his experience in design

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