Fruit Picker

This is a finished product of my fruit picker using a half a gallon (1.89 liter) plastic apple juice container. It took me less than five minutes to create using:

drill
3/16" drill bit
small screw & bolt
soldering iron (alternatively blade or knife)
1/2 gallon=1.89 liter plastic container
pole (wood or 1/4 or 1/2 inch pvc)

Alternatively you can use any size plastic container (soda container, milk container, metal coffee container, etc). Two holes were cut, located at the bottom of the container and on the side, to make fruit picking easier at different angles.

Container dimension: 10.5in x 5in x 3.5in

Step 1:

Cut a hole on the side of the container, accordingly a bit larger than the size of the fruit you will pick, with a soldering iron (alternatively blade or knife). Just like placing a hot knife on butter the soldering gun will cut through with ease. I should add a few notches on the right side of the cut which will ease at grabbing the fruit stem/branch.

Step 2:

Cut a hole at the bottom of the container with notches for ease of grabbing stems or small branches. Reiterating that a two hole picking system will make it easier to pick fruits at different angles.

Step 3:

Place the pole inside the opening container (if the hole is much larger add a stick or fill with something to make your container & pole sturdy) and drill a hole through your container and pole with the same size as the bolt you will be using. I used a 3/16" drill bit. The bolt is a bit longer so when a branch breaks trying to pick a fruit you can move it aside with ease.

I currently use this to pick persimmons and am very satisfied with the result.

Happy picking.

Comments

[joshua5000]

I would be very satisfied all the time if persimmons grew near me :)

[antioch]

Ah, thanks so much. A cheap, simple, using everyday objects, yet highly comfortable. I love these 'ibles!

One addition (you're free to add):
if you use this to collect apples that you want to store for a prolonged period, like over winter, a great deal of them will spoil.
So, for apples (and any other impact-sensitive fruits) I recommend putting something soft, like a folded or rolled-up cloth for example, down in the bottleneck or pole opening. This will reduce both drop height as well as negate the sharpness of the pole end.