er with the mobile orchard towers than with conventional ladders. It 

 is believed that with additional operator experience, better adopted 

 orchard conditions, and refinements in the equipment, the efficiency 

 of the picker could be improved. However, even with these improvements, 

 it is doubtful that the equipment would be practical in the harvest 

 operation. 



The fruit picked with the "Dynasoar" showed less bruising and the 

 fruit picked with the "wish basket" more bruising than fruit picked by 

 conventional ladder methods. However, the differences were not suffi- 

 cient to be major factors in the evaluation of this particular test. 



On the basis of the 1963 results, there appears to be little prom- 

 ise in the use of mobile orchard towers to ease the harvest labor require- 

 ments. It also appears that future efforts should be concentrated in two 

 principal areas: (1) modification of the tree to facilitate harvest 

 either by hand or by machine, (2) development of mechanical fruit removal 

 procedures. 



Work will continue. The problem is a difficult one, but one that 

 must be solved." 



Mechanical Harvest of Baldwin Apples in Massachusetts 



Mechanical harvesting of apples using an inertia shaker and col- 

 lecting equipment has been tested in several states including our own. 

 In 1961, Arthur Selders , graduate student; Department of Agricultural 

 Engineering, University of Massachusetts initiated a study to develop 

 and evaluate a system of harvesting and handling Baldwin apples from 

 the tree to the processing plant by the use of mechanical equipment. 

 The equipment consisted of a commercially manufactured tractor mounted 

 tree shaker, a collector unit and power driven conveyor system, bulk 

 boxes, a tractor fork lift and a truck. Apples were removed from the 

 tree with the shaker, collected and conveyed into the bulk boxes which 

 were then handled in the orchard and loaded onto the truck with the 

 tractor fork lift for transporting to the processing plant. 



Quality of the fruit was acceptable to the processor and the 

 wastage factor was only slightly higher than for hand-picked fruit. 

 However, severity of rot on mechanically harvested apples held in stor- 

 age may be a problem. 



Our Agricultural Economists calculate that a volume of approximately 

 6,000 bushels of apples harvested by this mechanical system is necess- 

 ary before any savings can be realized. With a volume of 10,000 bush- 

 els, a grower could expect a savings of from $500 - $1000, depending 

 upon harvesting rates obtained. 



The utilization of machine-picked apples for processing looks prom- 

 ising. However, trees must be modified to facilitate equipment place- 

 ment. 



