How to make a device for picking apples with your own hands. Device for picking apples: designs and manufacturing

When it's time to collect fruits from tall trees, then the most beautiful and ripe ones turn out to be so high that even with the help of a stepladder it is impossible to reach them. Of course, you can use a long stick to knock down the fruits. Some summer residents shake the trees, but the apples are damaged and lose their attractiveness. appearance. As alternative solution You can use an apple picking device. If you don’t have it at hand, and you don’t want to spend money on purchasing it, then you can make such a tool yourself in a short time. As a result, it will be possible to obtain a fruit picker that will not differ in efficiency of use from that produced in a factory.

Selection of design features before production begins

If we consider fruit pickers, they can be divided into several groups. The first of them are tools that are equipped with cutters at the end of the rod. With this add-on, it is possible to cut off the stem and the apple will fall into a container located in close proximity to the cutter. This apple picking device has a movable knife, which is driven by a special rod. Working with such a device is quite tedious, since the cutter is located on a bar, or rather, on its long arm. This creates additional weight, which is quite significant. A device for picking apples may also belong to the second group, the tools of which resemble mechanical arm equipped with fingers. The latter are made of wire. After the apple or pear is grabbed with the help of special fingers, the latter are clamped by means of traction, and the fruit ends up in the container. This action is performed using traditional twine. This is what allows the fetus to be torn off. The disadvantage of this tool is that the branch itself may break off along with the pear or apple.

The third group of fruit pickers

If you are making a device for picking apples, then you can take as a basis the third group, which is the most common in terms of design features. Such structures are made of elastic, lightweight plastic or fabric. And the shape of the product is a bowl equipped with petals. A special container must be attached to a wooden pole. The apples are removed by simply turning the pole around an axis that is oriented lengthwise. In this case, the leg is trimmed using the petals of the tool.

Preparing to make a fruit picker

A device for picking apples from a tree should be made only after you have chosen one of the proposed ideas. The third variety will form the basis for a simplified design of a tool for picking fruits. First you need to prepare plastic bottle. If you have to collect fairly impressive-sized fruits, then a container volume of around 2 liters is suitable, while for medium-sized apples or pears will do bottle, the volume of which is limited to 1.5 liters. Every summer resident probably has such bottles in stock.

Process technology

If you are making a device for picking apples with your own hands, then you need to cut off the bottom of the bottle, and then make a corner cutout. It will be convenient to use both a knife and scissors. The above cut along the bottle can also be made on the opposite side.

After the bowl has been prepared, it needs to be attached to a pole, the last of which can be a long, light strip. Fixation can be done using wire or self-adhesive adhesive tape. After this, we can assume that the fruit picker is ready for use. To use it, the tool must be brought from below the pear or apple, and then rotated around its axis. This will allow you to cut off the fetal leg using the cutout located on the tool. The apple will end up in a bottle that can simultaneously serve as a collection container and a cutter. A similar device for collecting apples from a plastic bottle can be used without lowering the container for some time. Several fruits can fit in one bottle.

Making a fruit picker from a bottle and fishing line

Before you make a device for picking apples, you need to decide design features future instrument. The basis can be the same plastic bottle, a mop handle, which is sometimes replaced with a PVC pipe or fishing line. The length of the latter can vary from 2.5 to 3 meters. You will need scissors and an awl.

Manufacturing process

First you will need to make the so-called enough, which is made from a plastic bottle. The bottom of the container must be cut so that it looks like a crown. Two holes are made in each petal; for this you can use an awl or a hole punch. At the next stage, the product should be given tenacity. For this, a fishing line is used, which is pulled through the neck into the container so that its upper end is threaded into each hole in a circle. You need to bring the line back through the neck. This will result in a bottle that has no bottom. There will be two long ends coming out of the neck.

The next step is to fix the holder, which should be a full PVC pipe. The double fishing line from the bottle needs to be threaded through the hole in the holder, leading out reverse side. If the mop handle has removable handle, then this is a good solution. The ends of the fishing line must be secured to this part of the holder. Two holes are made in the handle into which the fishing line is threaded, the ends are fixed on the other side by stretching. The handle is then put back on the handle. If you are making devices for picking pears and apples, then it is important to assemble the entire structure so that the plastic bottle is tightly attached to the holder. The cut edges of the bottle are bent. In this case, you need to make grasping movements. This is the principle of collecting fruits using this tool. If the mop does not have a removable part, then you need to remove its end, and you should retreat 10 cm. You need to make two holes on the sides where the ends of the fishing line are threaded. Afterwards they need to be fixed together and then tied.

For a PVC pipe, you can use several bottle caps as a handle. If you use ten caps, making a hole in the central part of each with an awl, then the free ends of the fishing line can be threaded through the caps, securing them to the last one. To make the lids stable, you need to glue them together or make a knot, placing it with inside first cover. This will allow you to get a fairly comfortable removable handle made of caps. In this case, it is necessary to use the same technology as in the case of a mop handle.

Conclusion

If you decide to make a device for picking apples from the ground, then you can use one of the technologies described above. However, the bottle may have to be placed not along the holder stick, but at some angle. This will allow you to collect up to four apples in one container, depending on the size, and then pour them into a bucket. One of the listed devices is quite easy to make yourself. To do this, you don’t even have to visit the store to purchase materials.

If this year you have not only a rich, but also a high apple harvest, then picking it in the traditional way, shaking the branches, erecting a stepladder, will not be so easy. Many gardeners and summer residents in this situation have opted for an apple picking device. Such a device can easily be purchased at a specialized store, or you can make it yourself from scrap materials. We will present you with both options at once.

Buying an apple picking device

Modern fruit pickers are easy to use, lightweight and compact. Their assortment will also be rich: the tools differ according to the functions of the attachment for picking apples.

Plastic "tulip". The plastic glass nozzle is made in the shape of a tulip. It’s easy to pick fruit with it - place the apple in the “tulip”, placing the stalk between the petals, twist the handle around its axis, thereby safely picking the fruit and bringing it to the basket in a fruit collecting glass. But if the apple is held tightly to the branch, the device will be useless.

Collet devices. The popular type of such fruit collectors is telescopic handle, if desired, extending in length. They are supplemented with a convenient thick bag: in one go you can collect several fruits at once. The operation of the device is simple: tin petals grab the apple, and you, using circular movements of the device around the axis, tear it off. These parts are found both in plastic and equipped with a metal knife for cutting a hard cutting.

Wire fruit pickers. They are a fruit grabber made of thick wire strings. You put the device on the apple, the wire wraps tightly around it, and with the familiar rotation of the device around its axis, you tear off the fruit. It remains captive in the wire frame while you carry it to the basket.

Fruit collector with gripper. There are also models with an extension handle - a telescopic tube. The operating device resembles a plastic beak or a three-fingered hand. What's convenient is that it can capture both the bullseye and quite large fruit. The fruit is torn off by the same twisting of the device around itself. But there are also more advanced mechanisms: you need to pull the fishing line or lever, after which the “beak” will grab the fruit, and you pull the fruit collector towards you, tearing the apple off the handle.

After this review, you are convinced that the design of the device is simple and it will be quite easy to assemble a homemade fruit collector. We will borrow the principle of the gripping device from those already presented.

Option number 1: fruit collector from a bottle

We will make a device for collecting apples from a plastic bottle. For the device you will need:

• Plastic bottle.
• The length of the fishing line is 2.5-3 m.
• Awl.
• Scissors.
• A wooden pole, a long mop handle, a piece of PVC pipe - anything that is long and thick can become a fruit collector holder.

Once everything you need is at hand, we get to work:

1. Cut the bottom of the bottle so that the edges of the part with the neck resemble a tulip.
2. Make holes on each petal with an awl.
3. Pass the fishing line through the neck of the bottle. Its lower part (the one that remains at the bottom of the bottle) should be approximately equal to the top.
4. Now we thread the fishing line into each of the holes made. Then we take it back through the neck again.
5. To build a device for picking apples, all we have to do is attach the grip to the holder. To do this, stepping back a little from one of its ends, we make a through hole.
6. If it is difficult to drill such a hole (for example, on a wooden pole), then you can do in the following way: take regular plastic cover from soda, drill two holes opposite each other through its sides. Secure the fishing line with the grabber through them. Next, if necessary, sharpen the edge of the holder to the diameter of the cork, and glue them together with strong glue.
7. We pass the double fishing line several times through the hole made in the plug or holder and securely fix the gripping structure.
8. At the same time, do not forget to leave the long end of the fishing line at such a length that, while on the ground, it would be convenient for you to squeeze and unclench the “petals” with it for a more successful capture of apples.

Option number 2: plastic bottle-bowl

And another do-it-yourself craft made from plastic bottles. The fruit picker tool is made in literally two steps:

1. Cut off the bottom of the plastic bottle - you can immediately put it far to the side. Cut sharp teeth on the remaining part. Using an awl, drill two holes in the neck of the bottle exactly opposite each other.
2. Now prepare the pole holder, PVC pipes, mop handles. Adapt the thickness of one of its ends to the diameter of the bottle neck. Having placed the gripping element on the pole, secure it through the holes made with two self-tapping screws on the holder. That's all!

Using this device for picking apples is simple: insert the apple into this bowl so that its stem is between the cloves. A few turns of the device around itself - and the fruit is yours!

Option No. 3: closed bottle fruit collector

And again, a craft made from plastic bottles. Making it yourself is just as easy:

1. Do it in the side of the bottle round hole.
2. From the bottom side, provide it with sharp teeth.
3. Some gardeners advise making a hole in the shape of a heart.
4. In one of the ways convenient for you, put the neck of the device on a pole or stick.

The apple is placed inside the bottle through the hole made, after which you scroll the device, and the fruit ends up inside the fruit collector. However, with such a tool it will not be possible to remove more than two fruits at a time.

Option number 4: strong construction from a tin can

An apple stalk does not always lend itself easily to a fruit collector from a plastic bottle. For strong branches, a device made from a large tin can (with enough space to fit an apple) is perfect. This DIY apple picking device is made like this:

1. Using a utility knife, cut a shallow line from the top of the can on one side.
2. Using pliers, push the sides of the slot apart until it becomes wedge-shaped, with a sharp angle at the bottom.
3. Make two holes opposite this “trap” for the cuttings.
4. Using strong wire, securely fix the fruit collector on the pole through the holes.

Option No. 5: plastic pipe fruit collector

Another device for difficult to pick fruits. You should try to find a thin plastic pipe of such a size that even a large apple can easily fit through it. And converting it into a fruit collector is simple:

1. Make a J-shaped hole in the wall of the top of the pipe.
2. Attach the blade to the lower tail of the “letter”, which should point upward. If the cutting is stubborn, you pass it into this trap and cut the branch by sharply lifting your device up.
3. Cut the bottom edge of the pipe into the shape of sharp triangular teeth.
4. Heat the pipe, after which the teeth can be easily bent to form the bottom of the fruit collector.
5. Drill holes in the thickness of the pipe through which you will attach it to the pole with wire.

Option No. 6: from a fishing net

If you have an aquarium or fishing net, then you already have a ready-made fruit collector for apples. Perhaps, to combat unruly cuttings, you will need to attach a device to a hoop that would tear off and cut off the branch. By the way, for convenience, the net can be carefully bent at an angle in relation to the handle.

Having understood the principle of operation of the fruit collector, you can make it from other available materials. Let's see what gardening engineers have already come up with:

• A hoop made of thick wire and a linen bag stretched over it.
• A basket and a galvanized hoop as a knife.
• A design of two metal rings: a bag is pulled over the static one, and a small movable one above it can be tightened using a fishing line around the handle.
• Construction of scissors, spring and pole.

Thus, making a fruit collector from scrap materials is absolutely not difficult. And by giving free rein to your ingenuity, you can even come up with your own unique model of this device.

When the trees in the garden are large and spreading, reaching down the stairs, trying to get the next ripe fruit from the tangle of branches is not the best or fastest thing to do. Harvesting this way can take hours, and the result will not be the best, because if it is not done, you won’t be able to get the apples from the top. But since ancient times, if someone could not reach the upper branches, then they took a stick in their hands. She will help us out again.

Picking apples with a pole

So, we will need a long pole, on the basis of which we will combine the main functions of a nail puller and a basketball hoop: from the first - to catch, from the second - to pass a round object through itself. The task seems difficult, but in fact we need 2 pins on the top of the rod (which can be telescopic, for example, an old fishing rod), perpendicular to the axis of the pole. The apple stalk should easily fit into the gap between these protrusions.

Below we attach a small copy of a basketball hoop made of wire, for example, from a thick aluminum core from a cable. Only the usual through mesh will be replaced by a linen or similar mesh bag. Raise the device as high as possible, moving your hands over it until you grab the lower end of the pole. We place the ring under the apple so that the stem falls into the “nail puller”. We pull towards ourselves, the fruit breaks off and falls through the ring into the bag.

In the old days, it was a very fashionable game when a wooden cup or glass made of the same material, or a small wicker basket was attached to the top of a stick with a handle. A ball was tied to this device, which was called a bilboke, with a long cord, which had to be thrown higher and caught in the hole. We suggest doing something similar to pick apples from a great height when maneuvering with a stepladder is difficult.

The simplest option is a plastic bottle. We cut off the bottom of it and, turning it over, place the neck on the upper end of a long pole, specially planed to required diameter so that both parts are connected tightly.

Stick with plastic bottle for picking fruits

Next, we make slits from the edge of the resulting glass to a quarter of its length in increments of 2.5–3 centimeters so that they divide the bottle into equal sectors. Moreover, the resulting cracks should be wedge-shaped, that is, narrow downwards. Now you just need to reach for the apple, place the device under it and catch it in the container so that the stem ends up in the slot. We pull to the side, and the fruit is trapped, we catch the next one. When the bottle is filled to the slots, tilt the tool and pour the collected apples into a basket or box.

Another option is a pole-mounted wicker basket, which can be made from wicker or wire. The second type is preferable, since in this case several vertical rods can be made longer and their ends bent inward, this will result in a hybrid of a bielboke hole with the previously used nail puller function. You can, on the contrary, simplify the tool and put a two-liter plastic bottle on a pole without cutting it, but by making a round hole in the middle of its wall with a small wedge-shaped slit of 2 centimeters, directed towards the bottom.

Any of the above devices is suitable only if the apples easily break off and even fall on their own when the tree is slightly shaken. But what to do if the cutting is firmly attached to the trunk? The “nail puller” can accidentally damage the flesh, and the “bielboke” itself can break or become deformed with a strong tug. This is where tin cans will help you out.

The first option is the simplest. We simply screw a large, deep tin can onto a stick with wire, making small holes in the wall. Next, we cut a wedge-shaped slit in the edge for the handle and slightly move it outward from top to bottom, creating something like a spout on a coffee pot. The sharp edge of the tin will easily cut the apple from the branch.

Device for collecting fruits

The second option is from plastic pipe large diameter, such as those used for gutters or sewers. We cut a piece about 40 centimeters long on one side into petals, which we bend inward, thus creating a closed end (even with slots). In the upper part we make a slot, which should bend to the side, and then slightly upward, that is, in the shape fishing hook. To finish it off, use two screws to fasten a blade from a pencil sharpener or just a sharpened strip of metal. Now it is enough to catch an apple stalk in this slot, bring it to the blade, and the fruit will fall into the tube.

The third device is the most difficult to implement, but will last the longest. So you'll need a trim metal pipe, a washer or circle of large diameter (about 3-4 centimeters) and a dozen metal rods with a centimeter cross-section and up to half a meter in length. We weld a washer or a metal circle to the end of the pipe (a stick will be inserted into it on the other). Next, with equal steps, we weld the rods at a slight angle so that they diverge from the center upward.

From the outside you will get the classic shape of a janitor's broom. The welding must be done very securely so that the rods can be bent slightly if necessary. Now we simply hook the apple so that it is inside the structure, turn the device, and the fruit will come off. For any device, it is better to take not a long wooden pole, but a telescopic rod or a rod assembled from several separate sections in order to adjust the length as needed.

In stores they sell special nozzles for collecting fruits, made in the shape of a crown, with teeth facing upward, to which a bag is attached below. They are quite reliable, but short-lived, since thin galvanized metal is usually used. In addition, the teeth can easily damage the fruit, so it is not advisable to use them on the fruit collector. a large number of protruding parts. However, such devices are used on small dacha, where there are no large harvests and you can work slowly.

Crown attachment for fruit harvesting

If you don't feel like messing around, a net can be made to quickly collect apples from a regular (old) fishing net. At the point farthest from the handle, you need to make a bend so that you get the shape of a beak, it will replace the wedge-shaped slot in this device. Now all you have to do is catch the apple and pull it so that it lands right in the net. You can repeat until the grid is full.