Utility Vehicle Rolls Out Bird Netting

Utility Vehicle Rolls Out Bird Netting

"Our hand-operated netting system attaches to the back of a Kubota utility vehicle and is used to unroll netting over grape vines. It makes placing the netting an easy job," say Jackie and Albert Becker, Plainview, Ill.

Jackie came up with a T-shaped metal support frame that bolts on back of the utility vehicle. It's made from 1-in. sq. pipe and fits into the vehicle's receiver hitch. The top part of the frame supports 4 lengths of 8-in. dia. pvc pipe spaced about 2 ft. apart. Elbows on either end help the netting slide through without catching. The netting is stored in a bag at the back of the utility vehicle and is enough to cover a full row.

In operation, the lead end of the netting is threaded through the pipe lengths so the dispensing end is directly over the grape row. After that it's just a matter of driving carefully, allowing the netting to feed out directly over the grape row.

"We usually have one or two people on each side of the row who pull the netting out as someone else drives the utility vehicle down the row," says Jackie. "Before we built it we tried predator calls, owls, audio and video tapes, reflective tape but nothing worked. We spent only about $100 to build it. We use the same setup to roll the netting back up at the end of the season."

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