He Picks Berries With A Cherry Picker

He Picks Berries With A Cherry Picker CROPS Miscellaneous “It’s perfect for picking berries on our 20-ft tall elderberry shrubs ” says Sandra Wright about her husband Malcolm’s 30-ft rebuilt cherry picker that mounts on a trailer “It’s great for getting into big blackberry patches too ” When a local sawmill was replacing their bucket truck he bought the old one for just $650 Rather than fixing up the truck he chose to remove the boom and mount it on a trailer “I didn’t want to deal with insuring and licensing the truck and dealing with all of its maintenance ” says Wright “By making a trailer for it I eliminated all that Plus I put a long hitch on it so I can back the trailer into ditches and places I might not want to take a truck ” Compared to the many commercial sawmills and other projects that Wright an electrical engineer helped design and build over his 50-year career his cherry picker was simple The key feature is a 2 1/2-ft tall trapezoid with about a 5 by 5-ft base It narrows to 32 by 32-in at the top He fabricated it from 3/16-in steel plate and welded the base to 3/16-in 3 by 6-in steel tubing crossmembers that frame out the trailer “The trapezoidal shape is super strong ” says Wright “I welded a 6-in wide 1/2-in thick steel plate rim around the top and bolted the bucket boom base to it ” The front end of the frame extends out another 2 ft and then narrows for 6 ft to a ball hitch A platform ahead of the trapezoid holds an 8 1/2 hp Briggs and Stratton engine with a 2-stage hydraulic pump He bought them secondhand although they were brand new They had been purchased originally for use with a log splitter “I can control the boom with the valves in the bucket or if there is a problem someone on the ground can control it from below ” says Wright At each corner of the trapezoid base Wright devised a swivel system with 5-ft long outrigger legs that rotate 90 degrees He fabricated the legs out of 3 by 4-in 1/4-in steel tubing Feet made of 12 by 12-in 3/8-in steel plate pivot at the end of the heavy legs “The weight of the legs adds to stability ” says Wright “Originally I planned to fill the inside of the trapezoid with concrete but I found the trailer was heavy enough without it ” Whether used for tree trimming or picking berries Wright encourages others to put old bucket booms to work “I had wanted to build a bucket boom trailer like this for a long time ” he says “Used booms are pretty cheap I thank God for the ideas he gives us ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Malcolm Wright 7067 Cavendish Hwy Lenore Idaho 83541 ph 208 476-0183

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