On 10/23/2015 4:20 PM, Don Y wrote:
On 10/23/2015 12:42 PM, Muggles wrote:
The basket approach *tugged* on the fruit. The "twister"
product seems to have the correct approach (grab the fruit
firmly and twist it off). I'm just concerned as to how
long such a device would hold up and whether it would be
able to handle our larger fruit (the basket would accommodate
up to 6-8" diameter fruit; ours are frequently in the 5" range)

I like the idea of it having a snipper to cut the fruit off at the stem
and a bag to catch it in. I was thinking you might be able to use the
idea and incorporate all the pros into whatever you decide to design
yourself.

There's not much of a "stem" on the fruit. And, they're "balls" so
you'd need wide jaws to any cutter if it was to avoid catching the
flesh of the fruit.

[Consider it is not uncommon to have several hundred fruit on
a single tree. So, a single picking season is several thousand
"actuations"]

How tall are the trees?

Probably about 15 feet. But, just as wide. So, when picking the
top of the tree on a ladder, you have to lean in 6 ft or more
to get the fruit at the top of the tree. Those *inside* are
even more tedious (many citrus have nasty thorns -- like
Christ's "crown of thorns"... not tiny little rose bush thorns!)

The trees extend almost to the ground (imagine a 15 ft diameter
ball of green with orange or yellow specks on/in it). So, when
trying to pick it clean, I have to resort to crawling *under* the
lowest branches, then thread my body up through the branches
and stand on my toes to reach any of the "internal" fruit.
SWMBO stands outside the perimeter and I hand individual fruit
to her which she places in a sack.

It would be much preferable to just reach in with a pole and
isolate individual fruit. The "twist picker" looks ideal
save for the size and wear issues. I'm not sure how it would
work for the pomegranates, though.

Well, you could always invent what you really want.

--
Maggie