Two preparatory steps to take prior to using an olive harvester on your new olive farm

Industrial olive harvesters can pull olives off trees far more quickly than manual harvesting tools, and as such, they are an excellent addition to any farm that grows this type of fruit. If you have bought this piece of industrial equipment for your new olive farm, you should take the two preparatory steps described below before using it to harvest the olives from your trees.

Ensure that the open areas between the rows of the olive trees are free from debris

If, like most olive farmers, you plant your olive trees in neat rows with wide spaces between these rows, then you should check that these spaces are free from any type of debris before you drive your new industrial equipment through this area. The reason for this is as follows: any sizeable debris, such as large rocks, big broken branches or deceased wild animals, could interfere with the movement of the olive harvester. Whilst this equipment is heavy and very stable, its balance could still be affected if it rolls over one of the aforementioned forms of debris.

For example, driving over a large rock could cause the tyres that roll over it and lift slightly. This could then tilt the harvester in such a way that the part of it through which the olive trees pass whilst their olives are being pulled off, would end up being tilted, too. This could result in the trees bending as they pass through the equipment, which could either cause several branches to snap off or cause damage to the upper trunk of the trees. The damage might lead to you having to remove those trees and plant new ones.

As such, any debris that has the potential to cause this industrial equipment to tilt should be removed from the field before you drive the harvester through it.

Elevate the unloading arm high above the ground

Most olive harvesters have a component that is usually referred to as the unloading arm; this is the long, hollow piece of metal that the harvested olives shoot out of after being plucked from the trees by the equipment. It is often positioned in a way that leaves it parallel to the ground. However, before you start the harvesting process, you must make sure that this arm is elevated so that it is pointing up towards the sky.

The reason for this is that if it is in its normal horizontal position whilst you are making your way through the field, it might lop off the tops of the trees on the row that is adjacent to the one you are driving on or, worse still, it could collide with another harvester that one of your employees is using in the same field. The former could cause these trees to die (if pathogens get into the wound where the branches were lopped off) whilst the latter could cause the other harvester to break down.



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About Me

A Guide to Industrial Equipment Welcome to my blog. My name is Eric. For the past few years, I have been researching how Australian industry operates. It has taken me many hours of self-guided study and interviews with industry insiders to reach a point where I feel comfortable starting this blog. I love the idea of being able to offer advice to others. Although I never got to work in the industrial sector, I have always taken a keen interest in it and I was very proud of the fact my father worked in an industrial unit for his entire life. I hope you like this blog!

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