Maximise productivity and minimise cost with MAX HT-S45E tapener

Optimising branch tying in fruit farming

MAX tapener HT-S45E

The MAX HT-S45E tapener has become exceptionally popular lately, establishing itself as the alternative for binding with tying tube. The HT-S45E’s greatest merit is the extra-strong binding delivers. As such, it offers a great solution for binding in fruit farming.

Case study among American apple trellis growers

The tapener had already been used for a while in some European countries, primarily in viticulture or for attaching drip lines to wires. However, the HT-S45E tapener has recently seen a surge in popularity because of the use of it in the American apple trellis cultivation. Apple growers there have started to appreciate the tool to such an extent that demand has suddenly increased significantly. A case study was conducted in the USA among these trellis growers to examine the actual benefits. Let’s take a closer look at this case study! Why did the HT-S45E become so popular, who benefits from the tapener and what are the advantages?

Who benefits from it?

A trellis system has multiple wires stretched horizontally, used to help plants grow along vertical and horizontal lines. This optimises the cultivation area by saving space and facilitating heavy machinery to move between the trees without harming them. This increases working and harvesting efficiency. The HT-S45E is the perfect tool to bind branches to each wire layer. Farmers who need to attach many branches to multiple wires will benefit highly from working with the MAX HT-S45E.

Save time, save money!

The HT-S45E, which can be used with one-handed operation, innovatively improves work speed. It is 5 times faster than tying tape by hand and 3 times faster than using a clip. It reduces working time and thus labour costs.

Why is it strong?

The HT-S45E uses other tape then the other MAX tapeners. It is a rigid, high-durability tarpaulin tape with embedded fibers, stapled in a special way that achieves a strong binding that can withstand a load of 10 kg. If you place several tape tapes on one branch, you easily achieve a holding strength of 30 to 40 kilograms. This way, it is very suitable for use in heavy fruit. Moreover, it holds for 2 -3 years, outperforming other tapes such as PVC.

Case study: cost simulation for 2.000 trees

In the case study that MAX conducted at apple farmers in the USA, farmers with apple V-trellis systems tried out the HT-S45E. In the study, a cost simulation was made for 2,000 trees using three tying methods: tying tube (hand tied), tying clips and binding with the HT-S45E. The results showed that the HT-S45E needed the fewest working hours (7 hours versus 37 for hand tie), leading to the lowest total cost. This shows that the HT-S45E is not only faster but also much more cost-efficient for large-scale apple farms. The case study led to a rapid expansion of the HT-S45E among US apple fields.

The HT-S45E at Dutch apple and pear growers

In short, the HT-S45E offers an excellent solution for apple trellis farmers who are seeking efficient cultivation. But also in the Netherlands, the HT-S45E has proven useful. While different growing systems are used for apples and pears in the Netherlands, such as the spindle system and two- or three-leader systems, the HT-S45E is still very useful. Even though fewer branches need to be tied compared to a trellis system, there is still a lot of tying work, and the HT-S45E makes this job much faster and easier. MAX has also conducted several field visits in the Netherlands, during which growers used the HT-S45E in practice. The visited growers — in both apple and pear growing — responded very positively to the use of this tapener, in line with American growers.