J. agric. Engng Res.

(1988) 40, 297-301

RESEARCH

NOTE

Design, Development and Testing of a

Tractor-operated
Lift for Fruit Harvesting
A. TAJUDDIN*
A tractor-operated lift by means of which a height of 6.5 m from ground level can be reached
was designed, developed and tested. The lift is attached to the category 1 or 2 three-point linkage
of any tractor and is operated by the tractor hydraulic system. Operations such as fruit
harvesting can easily be performed by the tractor attachment within the operating height. The
attachment costs (Indian) Rs.2500 and the operational cost of it has been determined to be
Rs.50.5/h. The cost of plucking fruits using the tractor-operated lift was only 70% of the
corresponding cost of manual plucking without the lift.

1. Introduction
Fruit harvesting by hand is a labour intensive and time consuming operation but is still
used in most of the developing countries. Fruits are easily damaged by this method of
harvesting and almost half of the fruit harvested has been found to be unmarketable.
Attempts to mechanically
harvest fresh market quality tree fruits have resulted in excessive
damage to the fruits caused by (1) detachment, (2) falling through the tree canopy and (3)
interaction with catching and collecting components of the harvesting machine.2 The cost of
this type of fruit harvesting machine is usually high and so a lift, substantially lower in cost,
has been developed as a tractor attachment to facilitate hand harvesting of fruits.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. General layout of the lift attachment
The tractor-operated lift (Fig. 1) consists of a main beam (A) hinged to the tractor top link
hitch point. The main beam is supported by the lower links of the tractor through a drawbar
and strut assembly (B). A platform (C) is hinged to the free end of the main beam. The
platform is also hinged to a supporting beam (D) which in turn is hinged to the tractor
chassis. The platform is provided with a ladder (E).
2.2. Construction

and safety features

The platform is maintained in the horizontal position while the main beam is raised by
means of the four-bar linkage mechanism provided by the unit. The tractor chassis acts as a
fixed link, the main beam, platform and the supporting beam act as the three hinged links of
the four-bar linkage mechanism. The platform was provided with suitable hand rails and
weld-mesh enclosures for ensuring convenience and safety of the operator. Reinforcement
was given to the main beam to avoid bending during operation. Below the platform two
L-shaped structures made of angle sections were welded to the free end of the main beam
(Fig. 2). If any of the hinge pins connecting the platform to the main or supporting beam
shear-off by mishap the platform will be held in position by these L-shaped structures and it
will not topple.
* Department of Farm Machinery, College of Agricultural Engineering, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University,
Coimbatore-641
Received

003, India

4 March

1987; accepted

in revised form 7 February

1988

297
0021-8634/88/080297 + 05 %03.00/O

c; 1988 The British Society for Research m Agricultural

Engineering

298

A TRACTOR-OPERATED

LIFT

T.W

Fig. 1. Tractor-operated

lifi

2.3. Design principles

The main load bearing structural components of the tractor-operated

lift are the main
beam and strut. The design features and procedures used for the main beam and the strut
are described briefly below.
The design height of reach by the operator
standing on the platform
Average height of reach by an operator
Minimum height of the platform

Fig. 2. Close-up view of the platform

= 6.5 m
= 2.0 m
= 1.5 m

A.

299

TAJUDDIN

The height of lift of the platform

Length of main beam required for 60 operational
angle of the main beam with the horizontal

= 6.5--2.0-

1.5 = 3 m

= 3 cosec 60
= 3.5 m approx.

The section of the main beam from the supporting point of the strut was taken as a
cantilever beam subjected to a uniformly distributed load of 100 N/m due to self-weight of
the beam and a point load of 1000 N acting at the free end of the beam which includes the
weight of the platform and the weight of operator. The main beam is supported by the strut
at a distance of 700 mm from the upper hitch point of the tractor and the length of the
cantilever beam from this point to the platform end is 2.8 m. The maximum bending
moment was calculated to be 3190 N m. The permissible bending stress was limited to
15 750 N/cm2 which indicated a tubular section of inner dia. 56 mm and outer dia. 70 mm.
The reaction force acting through the strut member was determined to be 5080 N. By trial
and error, a tubular section of 50 mm outer dia. ahd 48 mm inner dia. was selected for the
strut. The slenderness ratio of the strut section was calculated to be 40.4. The permissible
stress3 in axial compression (P,) for this slenderness ratio is 12 000 N/cm. Since the capacity
of the strut (P, x cross sectional area) is greater than the reaction force the design of strut is
safe.4
3. Results
3.1. Cost economics

of the lift attachment

The operational cost of the tractor-operated lift was determined in accordance

specifications of the Bureau of Indian Standards5 which is as follows:
Purchase price of the tractor
Residual value of the tractor
Life period of the tractor
Rate of interest

=
=
=
=

with the

Rs.97 165.00
10% of the purchase price
10000 h in 10 years of use
12%.

Agricultural tractors are exempted from taxes in India, so tax charges were ignored.
Insurance and housing charges were taken as 0.5 and 1.5% of the average purchase price of
the tractor respectively.
Average diesel consumption of the
tractor
Cost of diesel fuel
Average lubricating oil consumption
of the tractor

= 4 l/h
= Rs.3.75/1

Purchase price of the lift attachment

Residual value
Life period of the lift
Repair and maintenance cost

= 3% of the average diesel fuel

consumption
= Rs.l8/l
= 10% of the tractor purchase price per
annum
= Rs.990/month
= Rs.33/day of 7 h
= Rs.2500.00
= 10% of the purchase price
= 5000 h in 10 years of use
= 5% of purchase price per annum

Therefore, depreciation
the tractor

= 97 165 -9717
10 000

Cost of lubricating oil

Repairs and maintenance cost
Tractor drivers wages

charges for

= Rs.8.74/h

300

A TRACTOR-OPERATED

97165+9717
2
= Rs.6.41/h

12
1
xiKOx1OOO

97165+9717
2
= Rs.O_27/ha

0.5
1
x 100 x 1000

Interest on investment

Insurance charges

97 165+9717
2
Rs.O.gO/h

Housing charges

1.5
xExlOOO

Fuel charges

4 x 3.75 = Rs.l5.OO/h

Lubricating oil charges

&

Repair and maintenance

charges

Tractor drivers wages

Operational

cost of the tractor

LIFT

x 4 x 18 = Rs.2.16/h

97 165 x 10
= Rs.9.72/h
100 x 1000
33
- = Rs.4.17/h
7
8~74+6~41+0~27+0~80+15~00
+2.16+9.72+4.71
= Rs.47.81/h

Depreciation charges of the lift

attachment

2500-250
5000

= Rs.O*45/h

Interest on investment

2500+250
2

12
x loo x &

Repair and maintenance charges

2500 x &

x &

Operators wages

Rs.13.50/day of 8 h = Rs.1.69/h

= Rs.0.33/h

= Rs.O*25/h

Operational cost of the lift attachment = 0.45 + 0.33 + 0.25 + 1.69 = Rs.2.72/h
Operational cost of the tractor= 47.81+ 2.72 = Rs.50*5/h
operated lift
3.2. Evaluation of the lift attachment
The platform could be raised from its minimum level to a maximum height of 4.2 m from
ground level within 5 s. This enabled the operator standing on the platform to reach easily a
height of 6.5 m from ground level. In total, the attachment weighed 155 kg, which includes
the platform, main beam, supporting beam and drawbar-strut assembly.
The tractor-operated lift was tested for harvesting sapota, mango and breadfruit and it
was found ideal for harvesting these fruits. The test results in the case of sapota fruit are
given below.
Quantity of sapota fruits plucked in
12 min duration using the tractoroperated lift

= 10.5 kg

A.

301

TAJUDDIN

Rate of fruit plucking using the

tractor-operated lift

= 10.5 x ;

Cost of plucking fruits using the

tractor-operated lift

Rs.50.53/h
= Rs.0.96/kg
= 52.5 kg/h

= 52.5 kg/h

With the hand-plucking method, the

quantity of sapota fruits plucked by
= 9.75 kg
manual labour in 1 h
= Rs.13.50
Wages for one labourer
13.50
Cost of plucking fruits using
= ~
= Rs.1.38/kg
manual labour
9.75
The extreme branches of fruit trees could easily be reached by the lift. The lift was also
tested for harvesting coconut (tall x dwarf) and found suitable.

4. Discussion

The cost of plucking 1 kg of fruit using the tractor-operated lift was 30% less than the
corresponding cost of manual plucking without the lift. The fruits plucked using the lift were
undamaged as these could be hand plucked. Apart from harvesting fruits and coconut, the
tractor-operated
lift could be used for other operations such as repair and maintenance
works on buildings, pruning, lopping and spraying of tree crops.
The operating height of the tractor-operated lift can be increased further by increasing the
length of main and supporting beams. Increasing the length of beams may result in lifting of
the tractor front wheels. This can be overcome by adding front wheel weights. Suitable
telescopic arrangements could be incorporated in the unit so that the overall length could be
shortened for better manoeuvrability during transit. There is scope for using the tractor
attachment in maintenance works on telegraphic and overhead power lines. Thus, the
tractor-operated lift is a useful attachment to a tractor for its many uses in and around the
farm.

Acknowledgement
Thanks are due to Prof R. Karunanithi,
Ers T. V. Job, P. Natarajan
College of Agricultural Engineering, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University,
help in designing the tractor-operated
lift.

and D. Manohar Jesudas,

Coimbatore,
India for their

References
Sahu, S. D.; Singh, M. D.; Manjit Singh. Fruit harvesting

in hilly region. Agricultural

Engineering
Engineers, New Delhi 1985, 9(l): 9-12
Peterson, D. L.; Miller, S. S.; Kornecki, T. S. Over-the-row harvester for apples. Transactions of the
American Society of Agricultural Engineers 1985, 28(5): 1393-l 397
Jindal, R. S.; Paras Ram. Design of Steel Structures-Part
1. Standard Publishers Distributors,
1705/B, Nai Sarak, Delhi-6, 1968, pp. 367-371
Rajkumar, D.; Ramasubramanian, R.; Ravichandran, T.; Renuga Devi, S. Design development
and
testing of a tractor mounted hoist for fruit harvesting.
Unpublished
B.E.(Ag.) Project Work,
Department
of Farm Machinery, College of Agricultural
Engineering,
Tamil Nadu Agricultural
University, Coimbatore,
India, 1986
Indian Standard: 9164. Guide for Estimating Cost of Farm Machinery Operations,
1979
Today,

Indian

Society of Agricultural