Over the last 6 years we have witnessed the rapid adoption of motorized platforms in many Tall Spindle apple orchards in NY State to reduce production costs. Cornell mechanization research and extension efforts have increased the awareness of the economic benefits of orchard mechanization. The simple, narrow, and very adaptable canopy of the Tall Spindle system has facilitated the use of motorized platforms for partial mechanization of several orchard tasks. During the last four years we have introduced several platforms to growers (self-propelled or pulled by a tractor and single row or 2-row types) at each of the pruning demos conducted in Western NY and in the Champlain and Hudson Valley fruit production regions. NY growers and employees are using platforms for pruning (with loppers, pneumatic pruners, or a chainsaw on a pole), hand thinning, tree training and trellis construction and repair. The use of platforms has increased worker efficiency and also improved the successful adoption of the horticultural techniques of limb renewal pruning, and tree height control. Our current research and extension efforts for orchard mechanization are proceeding along three fronts: motorized platforms to position human workers for greater canopy management efficiency, mechanical pruning with hedging machines and harvest aid machines to improve the efficiency of harvest. In the attached article (Part 1) we describe the current advances and future applications of (1) new motorized platforms for dormant pruning, hand thinning, tree training and trellis construction, (2) the Cornell concept for a fruiting wall via mechanical pruning and other fruit wall experiences from around the world, and (3) the potential benefits and future challenges of robotic pruning in the future. The attached article (Part 2) covers the current advances for mechanized apple harvest in NY and the US.

The Platform Factor - Labor Positioning Machines Producing Good Results (pdf; 1186KB)