A BRACKET that wobbles like crazy could be the answer to the wine-grape grower's perennial problem of replacing trellis posts broken by mechanical harvesters.

It could also help stave off a looming environmental disaster posed by the stockpiling on farms of millions of posts which have been treated with toxic chemicals.

Inventor Brian O'Malley said he came up with the idea for the Ocloc post repair clamp almost three years ago.

While researching the idea, Mr O'Malley said he uncovered some "astonishing figures" in a report by the South Australian Environment Protection Authority, which stated there were 85 million copper, chromium and arsenic-treated posts in vineyards across Australia.

The report estimates up to 12 per cent, or 10.2 million posts, were broken each year by the vibration of mechanical harvesters.

"At a conservative estimate, 4.5 million of these posts are being pulled out every year, in five years that's 20 million ... that's a nightmare," Mr O'Malley said.

Victorian law prevents treated posts from being burnt or buried, requiring that they be taken to a licensed landfill.

Mr O'Malley said winemaker and wine-grape grower Nigel Catt liked the idea and became his business partner.

Mr O'Malley now has a world-wide patent pending for the clamp, which comes in three sizes.

The clamp is wrapped around the damaged section of post and fastened with the supplied bolts within minutes to provide a flexible support.

Designed and made in Australia, it is distributed by Toro.

Mr O'Malley said with a price tag of $15 (medium size), the clamp is a time-saving alternative to pulling out a broken post and replacing it with a new one at a cost of $14.30, plus 30 minutes' labour and disposal fees.

He has demonstrated the clamp at field days and to people working in local government, viticulture and oyster farming.

A major winemaker in the NSW Riverina has bought 5000 of the clamps to test across its 300ha of vines.

Toro Australia will have the clamp on display at next week's WineTech exhibition at the Adelaide Convention Centre.