09/30/05 Benefits of mechanical work platform

A group of tree fruit researchers from several Northwest institutions have been at work the last few years developing, and improving upon, a mechanical work platform designed to help laborers reach and pick fruit, even fruit high up on the canopy, in a more efficient and less strenuous manner. According to Tom Auvil of the Washington State Tree Fruit Research Commission, the models of work platforms have progressed over time. And that progression has helped alleviate some of the initial concerns of how to avoid putting bruise free fruit into the bins. But the biggest celebration of how far research into mechanical work platforms has come stems from those laborers who have used such technology. AUVIL: Most of our work to date especially in 2005, has been pruning and thinning and tree training and in those settings where there is a lot of ladder work and just a little bit of hand work on the trees, the platform is a life saver. The folks have expended so much energy repeatedly climbing up and down eight and ten foot ladders that being able to stand in one spot and just do the work was a tremendous benefit that they actual could sit upright and drive their car home rather than to lean slumped against the window in a total state of exhaustion. Auvil says Europe already has successful commercial mechanical work platforms, and that such commercial introduction in the U.S. should occur within the next eighteen months.