Mechanical or hand planting

[Iva Woodlot]

Are mechanical planters worth the effort or does a well-equipped team of hand planters do a better job just as quickly? At what size plantation does a mechanical planter make sense?

I'd be interested in anyone's experience of using planters for large plantations. Do any commercial planting companies/contractors use mechanical planters?

What is the best brand of mechanical planters?

[Rhodey Bowman]

Iva,

As far as I'm aware, commercial plantations in Australia are all planted by hand with a Pottiputki tree planter or similar. I've only ever seen mechanical tree-planters used for smaller-scale farm forestry and landcare-type plantings (and vegetables). These were tractor-mounted or towed implements; making a planting hole with a rotating spike or with soil folded into seedling planted into a furrow. Some of these could also deliver a quantity of water to each plant. Planting rates by hand into well-prepared ground are around 1,000 plants per day for a complete novice and I've heard of professional planters doing up to 10,000 plants per day (at jogging pace!). Rates for the mechanical planters are similar per person (ie ~5,000 per day but its a three-person operation; one on tractor, two planting). Planting by hand is said to be better for the seedling (better soil contact and more vertical) but you can do a good or bad job with either.

Rhodey

[Iva Woodlot]

My inclination is that hand planting is faster and better quality. I have recently seen a mechanical planter in operation that I think would be very good for certain situations. It is a water injecting planter designed for dry planting of Old Man Saltbush. It has a rotary hoe on the front and a water wheel that injects a preset amount 400mm into the soil. The plant is pushed into this wet pocket and a pair of grader blades pushes dry soil over the top of the roots. The plant can sit in this wet pocket for a long time with little or no transplant shock. I think this has great potential to plant outside the normal planting season. You could plant dry in advance of seasonal rain. You can see this planter at www.saltbushsystems.com.au. I've seen it in operation with saltbush and was impressed. Also works for trees in tubes or cell trays.

I know there are super-planters out there who can do 10,000 trees each per day (biting them out of the Hiko trays and spitting them into the soil as they sprint through the paddock), but what is a realistic amount for a skilled planter in well-prepared site? What is the ideal planting team structure. I'm thinking a team of 6 planters plus 2 support people to keep up the supply of plants etc. Any ideas or real world examples?