Hello all

This is my first post on the new forum having been a member of the old site for a number of years, albeit a mostly silent member!!

This harvest season is the first time we have used a contract tree shaker to harvest our fruit and I must say that the economics are far more favourable than casual labour using pnuematic rakes. However I am a little concerned at the degree of root disturbance caused by the trunk shaking machine (8year old trees).

Does anyone know if any studies have been carried out on long term tree health if harvesting is done by tree shaking on a regular yearly basis.

Look forward to any comments on this subject.

Michael Pimm
West Australia

Hello Michael

First of all welcome to the group.

There has always been a lot of discussion on the potential damages caused by tree shaking. To my knowledge tree shaking has a positive impact on the trees, promoting soil aeration and the development of new roots.
It can only be dangerous to the very young (which might be your case) or the very old trees; where the shaking can severely damage either the trunk or the main roots.

In your case I would exercise caution, if you have any doubts that your plants can manage the shaking just wait another year. It’s better to wait a year than to waste three or four years recuperating trees that where severely damaged.

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João Correia
Cascais - Portugal
____________________________________________
msn: jorgegranja@yahoo.co.uk

skype: JoaoJCorreia

Michael,
I would urge caution. There are several shakers around, some of which require very precise calibration, and extreme care in their use so as not to damage the trees. Not only that, but you need to talk to the operator to ensure the best result for yourself and the trees.

A local (and friend) has a shaker and does contract harvesting around the state (NSW Au) and he:

* will not start until after 10am as the bark is still too 'soft and sappy' until the dew has risen ... leads to bark damage and potential ringbarking.

* stops before the evening cooling starts, as that also leaves the bark soft and prone to damage.

* will not shake trees that he hasn't inspected well before, and accepted that the pruning has been doen early enough to allow the bark where the gripper will grab to harden in the sun for a while (it is no good pruning a week before the harvest and expecting the bark to be OK)

* is cinvinced that there is no damage to roots on "mature" trees. Will not touch trees under about 10 years of age, and even then, he insiists on an inspection, for his own peace of mind.

Who can blame him?
If the harvest goes well, and the majority of fruit is detached with minimal to zero damage to the tree, everyone is happy. If there is tree damage, it will be seen as being his fault! Unless he is meticulous, he will be blamed for everything bad that happens, and the grower will take the credit for everything that goes right! Law of human nautre, that!

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"I spent most of my money on booze, women and fast cars, the rest I wasted" George Best (arguably one of the best footballers ever!) R I P

Thank you Joao & John for your replies.

On our 8 year old trees there was no bark damage at all but there was considerable leaf drop. The lenght of shaking cycle appears critical as far as leaf loss is concerned, there is a point where optimum fruit removal has occured and shaking beyond this point causes heavy leaf fall. This seems more pronounced early morning when dew is still on the leaves.
I had hoped we may have received a post from someone who had several consecutive year experience shaking the same trees to be able to gauge any long term positive or negative effects on tree health. Maybe that post is still to come??

Regards
Michael Pimm

Michael,

If your main concern is the leaf drop during the shaking of the trees I believe you can relax.

I’ve once confronted a teacher of mine with this very same question, and it was explained to me that, even if olive is an evergreen tree most of the leaves (which have a two years lifespan) drop during the cold period (i.e. just after harvest). So the leaves that drop during harvest are leaves that would have dropped anyway. This means there isn’t any significant consequence of the leaf drop produced by the harvesting.

Cheers,

__________________
João Correia
Cascais - Portugal
____________________________________________
msn: jorgegranja@yahoo.co.uk

skype: JoaoJCorreia

we are selling a canopy shaker type harvester in spain under the brand Oxbo but I have talked to alot of people that have used a trunk type shaker and they claim they have not had any tree health issues with it. we decided to make a coanopy shaker only for production rate benifits not tree health issues.

Regards

Tylor Cain