Equipment Considerations
Mechanically harvested acreage continued to grow in Florida around the turn of the 21st century. During that time, UF/IFAS and its partners evaluated three commercially available mechanical harvesting systems.
- Continuous Canopy Shake and Catch System
- Tractor Drawn Canopy Shaker
- Trunk Shake and Catch System
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Continuous Canopy Shake and Catch System
One continuous canopy shake and catch set (CCSC) includes a minimum of four machines--two harvesting units and two field trucks (goats) into which fruit is conveyed. Most systems engage 2 additional field trucks that allow transport of fruit to the bulk trailers without stopping the harvesting operation. Harvesters work in parallel on either side of the tree row. Good synchronization allows the two harvesters to minimize fruit drop to the ground. A CCSC system travels between 1 and 2 mph down the row. Shaker heads penetrate the canopy and vibrate up & down and side to side to remove fruit. Fruit falls on to a catch frame and is conveyed to a trailing field truck.
CCSC system is well suited for long rows and uniform sized trees. Trees have to be “skirted” to allow optimal fruit collection. On trees that have been skirted and average between 3 to 3.5 boxes per tree, performance measures average:
- Removal: 95%
- Recovery: 90%
- Machine speed: 450 – 500 trees/hr, assuming no downtime
- Labor productivity: 100 box/hour per crew member
Up until the 2004-05 season, Oxbo and Korvan were two manufacturers of CCSC equipment. Korvan has since discontinued production, leaving Oxbo as the only manufacturer of CCSC systems as of 2012.
Photo Gallery
*Click blue box in the upper right hand corner of photo gallery to enlarge photo.
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Tractor Drawn Canopy Shaker
The tractor drawn canopy shaker (T-CS), manufactured by Oxbo, utilizes a shaking head identical to the shaking unit on the self propelled CCSC. Shaker heads penetrate the canopy and vibrate up & down and side to side to remove fruit. During the 2004-05 season, a T-CS shook fruit to the ground and then utilized a hand crew to gather the fruit into traditional 10-box tubs. A field truck or goat would then dump the tubs and transport the fruit to the bulk trailers. A T-CS system travels between 1 and 2 mph down the row. Its daily use, however, is constrained by the availability of workers to pick-up the fruit.
A big advantage of a T-CS system over its self-propelled counterpart is that trees do NOT have to be skirted or grown within long rows of uniform sized trees. Since harvest workers do not need ladders, labor productivity is improved by at least 2 fold (between 20-30 box/hr). In trees that yield between 3 and 3.5 boxes/tree, performance statistics for a T-CS average:
- Removal: 95%
- Recovery: 99% (pick-up crew gleans reachable fruit)
- Machine speed: 300 – 400 trees/hr, assuming no downtime
- Labor productivity: 20-30 bx/hour per member of pick up crew
During the 2005-06 system, Oxbo introduced a pick-up machine to work in conjunction with the T-CS. The pick-up system should be fully operational by the 2006-07 season. As of 2025, the manufacturing status of this system is not known.
Photo Gallery
*Click blue box in the upper right hand corner of photo gallery to enlarge photo.
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Trunk Shake and Catch System
One trunk shake and catch set (TSC) includes a minimum of three machines—one shaker unit, one receiver unit, and one field truck (goat). Sometimes one goat can service two TSC units. The shaker unit attaches to the trunk of a tree and shakes the tree for between 5 and 10 seconds. Falling fruit is deflected into the receiver that conveys the fruit to a cart attached to the receiver. The cart can hold between 70 and 90 boxes (90-pounds/box), after which the fruit is dumped into the field truck for transport to the bulk trailer.
The TSC system is well suited for long rows and uniform sized trees. Trees need to have a clear trunk of at least 12 inches and should be “skirted” to allow optimal fruit collection. On trees that have been skirted and average between 3 to 3.5 boxes per tree, performance measures average:
- Removal: 95%
- Recovery: 90%
- Machine speed: 235 tree/hr, assuming no downtime
- Labor productivity: 90 box/hour per crew member
Photo Gallery
*Click blue box in the upper right hand corner of photo gallery to enlarge photo.
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Mechanically Harvested Acreage
Between the 1997-1997 and 2013-2014 citrus seasons, the Florida Department of Citrus reported on the number of mechanically harvested Acres and Boxes of citrus in Florida. That data is captured in the graphic below.
