Applications
Vineyards
Vineyard rows are set out for a machine that is narrower than most machines are. The AFT-e1 is 0.68 m on the track and 0.75 m across the handlebars, and the handlebars rotate, so the operator can walk behind a rear-mounted tool or in front of a front-mounted one depending on which end of the row they are working from.
Most of the year the job is grass: keeping the alleys down, mulching the prunings where they fall. The flail mower does both in one pass at 60 or 100 cm. On a slope, the differential locks so one wheel losing grip does not stop the pass.
The quieter argument is what is not there. No fuel to carry along the rows, no exhaust into the canopy, and nothing to leak onto ground somebody is going to pick fruit off.
Depth comes from the tool
Flail mower60 / 100 cm width · alley grass and prunings, mulched where they fall
Cutter bar mower110 cm width · longer grass in a single cut
TrailerPosts, wire and crop along the rows
Rear tine cultivatorUnder-vine and headland surface work
Against the alternatives
Strimmer and hand workSlow, and hard on whoever is doing it all week.
Compact tractorWrong width for most row spacings, and a fuel tank in the alleys.
AFT-e1Fits the row, mulches as it cuts, and nothing to spill.
What you need for this job
An Aftrak AFT-e1 and a flail mower. 8 kW, 5.2 kWh, 0.68 m track.
View the Aftrak AFT-e1See the flail mower