As any typical man, I thought I needed a full complement of tractors and associated attachments, aka implements. Instead, I spent more time and money re-tooling the vineyard equipment to what I needed versus wanted. Here is a must-have. I use the compost spreader multiple times each year. More specifically, I spread chicken manure in the fall and gypsum 2-3 times during the year. It does a beautiful job banding the material right into the vine row. Gypsum is probably one of the hardest materials to spread. It’s almost like talcum powder. Getting it to flow out of a simple spreader is a challenge. You need a compost spreader and this one works beautifully.
One caution of note. Gypsum is VERY heavy. This spreader attaches to the three-point hitch on the tractor. If you are not careful, you can overload the hopper and lift the front tires off the ground. The lack of steering makes for a challenging trip down through the vine rows. There are other manufactures that make tow-able spreaders if you have enough room at the end of the rows to turn around due to the large turn radius those units require. The tow-able spreaders are more costly but carry more weight/material to and from the vineyard. That means less time stopping and refilling.
As you probably guessed, you’ll need a tractor or skid-steer or some type of equipment with a loader/bucket to fill the hopper. Some folks rent a loader tractor when they are spreading gypsum. A rental for that need is very easy to find. I broadcast about 2,000-2,500lbs of gypsum per acre, per year. This hopper holds about 1500lbs of material and still allows me the ability to steer the tractor.
See it at work here: [Compost Spreader]