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<pre>Peter,

Thank you for your reply.

Your observations on the Masterbloc are interesting.

Earlier this season there was a demonstration of this device in our
area on 4yr old Manzanillo & Paragon trees, the harvest percentage
was about 50% (thats being generous), the problem seemed to be that
the flexible young branches absorbed most of the vibrations leaving
the fruit gently swaying back & forth on the branch. The other
observation was that the amount of vibration transmitted back to the
operator put his dental fillings in serious jeopardy!! I would be
interested to hear your views on the fatigue factor after an eight
hour day operating the various harvesting options.

Regards
Michael Pimm
West Aust


In OliveOil@y..., "P Caird" <caird@o...> wrote:

> We trialled a petrol driven Masterbloc 1000, a 12V electric rotary
harvester and a compressed air Clapper on one grove this year. 4
year old Barnea (15kg/tree) and 4 year old Corregiola (about
10kg/tree). A catching frame 4m dia was used to collect fruit.
Without doubt the Masterbloc won hands down for several reasons
principal among them being
> a.. ease of operation and not being hindered by an air hose or
electric cord.
> b.. removal of fruit - approx 90% in total of green and ripe
fruit.
> c.. collection of fruit. Not thrown about nearly as much as with
the clapper.
> d.. minimal damage to tree/branches/leaves. Rotary job tended to
continually get caught up in branches esp skirt ones.
> And yes, we are agents for the Masterbloc in Vic but also for the
rotary and clapper. D/K who is the agent in WA but contact
RYAN.BROS@b... for info - they are the importers.
>
> Regards
> Peter Caird
> www.victorianolivegroves.com
> AUSTRALIA
>
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