I have seen a tool that has a type of rake and basket on a pole. It is designed for picking larger fruit, I do not know if it will work with cherries. Mmmm, fresh cherries are a real treat.

Here is a link that might be useful: fruit picker

I have seen a commercial harvester that shakes the tree. Although I think that was on an apple tree. I know, not much help.

I've been patiently waiting for someone else to
say it, but it hasn't happened yet and I can't stand
it any longer. How about a "Cherry Picker"?
(I'm sorry).

WOW, does that bring back memories! when I was a kid there use to be this big YELLOW cherry tree. This tree was atleast 40 feet tall and had the biggest juiciest sweet yellow cherries on it. I had my fill several times till my gut hurt. I have never seen another yellow cherry tree sence then. Yes fresh cherries does sound good. I'll volunteer to be the "Cherry Picker" but won't guarantee how many will make the basket!..

Don't know about apples but Almond trees are havested with shakers.

Ibpod, why be sorry. Where do you think the name came from. Large, powered lift booms to pick cherrys and other tree fruits are called cherry pickers.

The web page Canguy reference also shows a hand operated pecan picker tool that might work better then the fruit picker.

Do cherrys grow in clusters like grapes? If they do a pole pruner with lopper cutter may work.

I think you are correct nevada. When I was writing that I was wondering how they would keep the fruit from being damaged. It was for nuts, I don't remember if it was specifically almonds though. Very cool to see.

As for yellow cherries, there are the Rainier cherries. They are quite good. More expensive than the others but we treat ourselves to them. I like that they are so far only available seasonally and don't have that "all the flavor sucked out, apple texture" to them. Real fruit, real flavor.

Could be used for other nuts but almonds for sure. My brother worked in an almond grove for a while. They called it shaking but by his description it sounded to me more like a rapid vibration. Then they follow up with a power sweeper to gather them.

Not sure of the time frame but prior to harvest the tractor that power sweepes the nuts goes through the groves with a blade to scrape off any weeds and to smooth things out. They then flood irrigate and let the ground dry to a hard pack to make for a good sweep up.

Wow. Good info. Yes it was more of a high power vibration than a shake. It was almost like shaking a tree branch after a rain on your buds the way the nuts came out.

If they could find an cost effective way to cushion the fruit it would work great for other produce. I imagine they would not have to prune or breed for height as much either.

Again, great detail.

Thanks for you help... I can't believe there is no specific tool for this - a business opportunity if I can patent it before the rest of you! On the point of shaking.. I would be afraid that the fruit would bruise, unless I had a tarp attached to catch the stuff! we might be onto something!!!!

Not many folks have a Cherry tree in their yard or someone surely would have come up with something. The power cherry picker I know can be rented. In the city we see them fairly regular on construction sites. The boom arm has a people basket and the guy in the basket can drive the thing where ever he needs to do the job.

I'm sure commercial cherry groves still use some form of these. It may not however be economically practical to harvest one tree but if you have other trees needing pruning or work on the house requireing getting up in the air you might be able to do several things in one days worth of rental.

They use shakers to harvest cherries too. The shaker machine has a large frame and tarp that encircles the tree to catch the cherries. They then go onto a conveyor and into large tubs of chilled water.

For the manual version, you need an orchard ladder that only has three legs, tripod style, so you can get in closer to the tree without getting hung up on limbs. You should also invest in a picking harness that holds a small bucket in front of your stomach so your hands are free.

Keep in mind that a full size cherry tree will hold about 5000 cherries, so I couldn't imagine picking them a few at a time with a pole mounted device. Imagine cutting all the leaves off a tree with pole pruner...no fun.

In Brazil for picking coffee they use a Stihl machine that shakes the branches.
See it here:
http://www.stihl.com.br/site_novo/content/produtos/produtos_detalhes.asp?CodigoProduto=12&CodigoCategoria=24&CodigoModelo=59
Maybe you could get the attachment of this machine, that is if you have a Stihl FS85

Joe

I have a tool for picking larger fruit. It has a rake and a basket to catch the fruit in. It is too big for cherries and the rake just slides over them. That tool would work if the tines were not so far apart. I wonder why someone has not designed and sold them yet. If you can make a big picker why not a smaller picker with a long handle????