My father in law will sell one of his lands soon. On it he has about 60 grape vines that are all 10 years of age. He told me I can have them all (My land is a couple of miles from there). I was thinking to dig them up with an excavator after the leaves fall and they are pruned (next month). Anyone have any tips for me because this seems like a great opportunity full of risks. Thanks!
Sounds like a great opportunity there Bill. Considering how hard grape vines get pruned back each year and their dormancy, they should transplant just fine. You could take some cuttings of the canes as well, just as a back up measure for any that don't survive. Just prepare your own ground well and don't expose the roots to the air for too long, and it should go well. Big job but why not. eh!
I know grape roots go very very deep, so not sure how successful it would be digging them up. I have a feeling they might be a bit like roses though, and I transferred roses very well by waiting till they were dormant, digging down as far as I could, then pulling them up. some roots broke off but they seemed to recover all right.
Googling nets me the usual transplanting methods - https://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=4513 If you want to be sure, and money was no object, a Tree Spade would do the job, the vine wouldn't even know it was moved (besides microclimate).