Mechanical Harvester for Fresh Market Quality Stemless Sweet Cherries

A mechanical harvester was developed to harvest sweet cherries for the fresh market. The harvester operator usedjoysticks to position and engage a rapid displacement actuator on main scaffolds to effect fruit removal. The three mainscaffolds per tree were inclined to reduce damage as cherries fell to the catching surface. Ethrel was used to reduce the fruitretention force of mature cherries to enable removal without stems and damage. A catching conveyor was designed to interceptfalling fruit without damage and elevate the fruit to a collecting conveyor. Mechanically harvested cherries had only 26%more damage than did commercially handharvested cherries and graded 8592% marketable.