It may be a relatively new player when it comes to supplying vineyard equipment, but Chichester-based Vitimech has made its intentions clear from day one.
The increasing success being enjoyed by English wines has seen a huge increase in the amount of land given over to vineyards across the South East.
For farmers, the temptation to look for a piece of the action by taking a suitable area of gently sloping, south-facing land and converting it to growing grapes can be strong, but it’s not an easy decision.
Establishing the vines and caring for them for the first few years comes with a significant cost, and while the future rewards may be temptingly high, the first few years can be expensive, not least in terms of the specialist machinery needed.
Step forward Vitimech, a relatively new player in the world of viticulture but one with a mission to ease the transition from farmer to grape grower by providing a cost-effective package of machinery that will do an excellent job at an affordable price, without compromising on quality.
Vitimech, which has the backing of long-established parent company Chichester Farm Machinery, headed up by managing director Lewis Ramm, has made its intentions clear from day one by focusing on high end viticulture machinery manufacturers Collard and Calvet, both renowned for innovative designs and strong build quality.
And while the viticulture side of the business was only established last September, Chichester Farm Machinery has many years’ experience in supplying, repairing, servicing and providing parts for a wide range of other quality equipment.
Farmers and growers were given a taste of the new vineyard-focused equipment alongside the existing groundscare ranges at a well-attended open day held at the companies’ base at Leythorne Nurseries just outside Chichester, in the heart of the South East’s wine growing area.
Alongside Collard and Calvet machinery, visitors were able to chat to staff about Chichester Farm Machinery’s wide range of kit, including mowers, trailers, compact tractors, mulchers and telehandlers, as well as Bomford Turner’s impressive Flailbot.
Crucially, one of the highlights of the open day was a selection from the vast Avant range, a versatile loader-cum-multitool that Vitimech sales manager James Brett believes is an ideal bridge between agriculture and viticulture.
The flexibility of the Avant range has inspired James to put together a package of equipment that is designed to support new vineyard owners, particularly those who are looking to enter the industry from a farming, rather than a city, background.
The idea is to fit an Avant 760 loader with a Collard LZP polyvalent frame that can then be used with a vine trimmer, leaf remover or pre-pruner.
“That gives a smaller vineyard, perhaps one that represents a farm diversification, all the equipment needed to establish and care for the vines, plus a flexible loader and multi tool, for about the same cost as a high-end vineyard tractor,” James pointed out.
Central to this plan are Chichester Farm Machinery’s talented team of in-house designers who can adapt a wide range of vineyard machinery to be mounted on the impressive Avant range, which can already be fitted with around 200 pieces of equipment.
One open day visitor, long-standing customer Jack Newcombe of JN TreeCare, described his Avant as “a game changer”, adding: “I use it every day and wouldn’t be without it.” He uses the loader with everything from a mulching head to a bucket, forks, a rotating head for tipping IBCs and a road sweeper.
Vitimech was set up in response to customers asking for replacement parts for Collard machines bought direct from the French manufacturer, inventor of the world’s first vine trimmer in 1962. Not only did Collard make Vitimech its sole UK distributor, it introduced the company to Calvet, a leading sprayer manufacturer with a well-deserved reputation.
Chichester Farm Machinery supplies a wide range of other machinery including Teagle flails, mowers and spreaders, Bomford Turner and Kirogn hedge trimmers, Stiga ride-on mowers, Grasshopper zero-turn mowers, Iseki compact tractors and Marshall trailers, including one designed with central wheels to suit the pivot-steer Avants.
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