development and testing of a portable palm tree pruning machine

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
lifter to reach the palm tree top for easier harvesting. His lifter, as he reported, reduced the
required labor by 80 percent and related cost by 50 percent. Abdalla et al. (1986) developed a
simple and inexpensive walk-up elevator to suit date farming operations. The elevator consisted
of a single beam with two walking up feet pedals and a seat. The elevator was designed where a
worker can lift himself up by pedaling and then sits when reaching the crown zone to perform
required operations. Omar et al. (1986) modified two lifts to be utilized in palm tree crownrelated
operations, such as pollination, pruning and harvesting. One lift was one man operated
called ‘Ben-10’, while the other was an aerial lift platform called ‘Palmates’. Modifications were
necessary for the improvement of traction capability, working height and machine
maneuverability. The modified two lifts were found to perform satisfactorily under palm tree
field conditions. Ahmad (1994) developed a mechanical elevator that could easily move through
palm trees and safely put labors at the tree crown level to perform desired operations. The
elevator had to be equipped with a motor to improve its performance.
A non-scientific trial was made by Bahdal (2002) where he developed a saw for pruning
palm trees. No tests for this saw were reported. However, it seems that the saw is not powerful
enough to perform heavy-duty jobs.
The above literature shows the necessity of exerting more efforts to mechanize palm tree
farm operations. Thus, the objectives of this paper were to develop a new portable machine to
perform palm tree pruning operation and test its performance.
MACHINE DESCRIPTION
The developed portable pruning machine shown in Fig. 1 and 2 was designed so it could
be carried around by one person. Thus, the total weight and size of the machine were carefully
considered in its design, where the weight and length were maintained at 7 kg and 130 cm,
3