Hand-held fruit container, box, scoop, rake for collecting cranberries, blueberries, lingonberries and other forest berries. How to use a lingonberry harvester and how to make it yourself Designing combines for collecting berries

August is a special time not only for ordinary people who like to observe the incredible riot of colors and beauty of our nature, but also for berry growers or simply for those people who have currant or blueberry bushes on their property. The berry ripening season is in full swing and you need to get everything from it! Picking berries is a very exciting and interesting activity, but extremely exhausting: the branches get into your eyes, the berries are difficult to get, and you just get tired of throwing one berry at a time into the basket. The question arises: how can you speed up and simplify harvesting and there is an answer - a berry picker. The thing is very practical - a comfortable handle, great pleasure, and most importantly - high collection speed. Indeed, the harvest is harvested about three times faster than usual, but there is an opinion that berry pickers harm berry bushes. You can even give an example: in Belarus, picking berries with any mechanical devices is prohibited. It is believed that it comes from a bush a large number of leaves and branches break off during its use.

But this is only believed - an experiment was conducted, the results of which slightly differ from the prevailing opinion.

IN this experiment a high-quality berry picker was used - not a homemade one - like this .

What's the point? From plot 25 square meters They harvested lingonberries - they harvested them well, without missing anything. Having processed the plot, we began to calculate the harvest - in the end we got about 3 kilograms of berries, 40 leaves and a couple of inflorescences.

From this experiment we can conclude that a high-quality factory berry picker does not harm nature in any way, but what does this mean, and this means that this unit can be used to its fullest.

But somehow I digress from the product itself - let's take a closer look at the berry picker itself, or rather, list its advantages over the manual method of picking berries:

Firstly, the berry picker greatly increases the efficiency of your work: you no longer need to bend over, bend over, crawl on your haunches and climb on thorny bushes, you just need to move it through the bush once and all the berries are already in the harvester’s container.

High level of convenience. The berry picker is made in such a way that you will not experience discomfort when using it: a comfortable rubberized handle, sharp cutters for separating berries from the branch and a very durable berry receiver made of high-quality plastic. Harvesting will only bring pleasure.

- The most important advantage of berry pickers, rightfully, is speed. A bucket of blueberries in 15 minutes - impossible? It's very possible! One movement along the bush and there is already half a glass of fresh berries in the harvester receiver - how do you like this situation?

Now you know what berry pickers are, why they are dangerous and not dangerous, their main qualities and advantages, but you came here not to learn more about them, but to buy them. We list all the berry picker products that our store offers:

Berry harvester, 10 cm wide. An excellent tool, suitable for picking a wide variety of berries: blueberries, lingonberries, cranberries, cranberries and even sea buckthorn. A distinctive feature of this harvester is that it does not grab leaves; of course, three leaves can be caught, but as you understand, this is not a serious loss on the part of the bush.

Basic berry picker 14 cm. An excellent average option, suitable for both picking wild berries in the forest and for your own bush on the site. It does not damage or crush the berries - they fall into the harvester receiver whole and unharmed. Doesn't grab leaves. It has a comfortable handle, which is most important - once you try to collect with this tool, you will understand that you don’t need anything else.

The berry picker is wide 17 cm. Picking berries is a wonderful activity, you must agree: the forest, nature, what else is needed, not if picking berries is directly a source of profit, then for industrial picking you need something more than a small berry picker. For such purposes, a wide berry collector was invented.

Children's berry picker. Berry picking is often a family activity. They also like to pick berries, but they won’t pick them in five buckets and won’t be able to use berry pickers for adults. Based on these reasons, a children's berry picker was invented. This combine has two differences from the usual ones: design and size.

The annual collection of forest and wild berries is a special craft that has preserved its traditions since ancient times. Oddly enough, little has changed in this industry. The berries still have to be picked by hand. The difficulty lies in the fact that these healing gifts of nature, rich in vitamins and microelements, have one not very pleasant feature. They are very small, and sometimes they grow in such places that it can be difficult to get them. To make their life as easy as possible, people have long used a combine harvester to collect cranberries. This simple device greatly simplifies the collection process and the baskets fill much faster.

Berry harvester

Modern industry offers huge selection similar devices. A cranberry harvester most often looks like a small ladle, the lower part of which is a comb. The distance between its cloves is slightly narrower than the diameter of the average berry. The principle of operation is extremely simple: you need to comb the bushes from the bottom up. Twigs and leaves will slip between the teeth, and the berries, coming off the bush, will roll into the bucket.

If you get a little used to it, in a couple of hours of work you can collect a whole bucket of berries. In some regions similar method picking cranberries and lingonberries is considered barbaric and even prohibited by law. The fact is that the teeth of the comb can damage delicate twigs and leaves. On next year the berry harvest in this place will be much smaller, because the plant will have to regain its strength. Therefore, when using a combine harvester to collect cranberries, it is important to take your time and act very carefully so as not to damage the plant.

There are several options for such “robberies”:

• metal;
• wooden;
• plastic.

The latter are mostly industrial production. But you can make the first two options yourself.

How to make a “robbery” yourself

Making a cranberry harvester with your own hands is not that difficult. You don't need any special skills for this. If you didn't miss labor lessons in high school and have at least minimal skill in working with tools, you will definitely succeed. For homemade products, it is better to use metal or wood. You will have to tinker with plastic for a very long time. And the durability of such a product, made at home, leaves much to be desired.

Materials and tools

So, how to make a cranberry harvester? To work you will need the following tools and materials:

• a piece of tin or sheet steel;
• metal wire (hard);
• a piece of wood for making a handle;
• drill;
• fasteners;
• glue;
• metal scissors;
• jigsaw or small hacksaw.

This list is quite general. Everything will depend on which one (cranberries in in this case) you will want to make.

Tin ladle: design

If you opt for the metal option, then it is best to prepare a piece of galvanized or sheet aluminum for the job. These materials are quite easy to process and are not too susceptible to corrosion.

You can find many examples of what a cranberry harvester looks like. Photos from this article may also be useful. For example, you can use the template below.

The entire structure consists of a handle and a collection bucket. The bucket, in turn, consists of four more elements:

• body (scan below);
• stiffener;
• comb;
• fastening bar.

Manufacturing technique

Carefully, observing all dimensions, transfer the image onto a galvanized sheet.

Using tin snips, cut everything out necessary details: body and stiffener of the combine. Bend everything as shown in the picture.

Now you need to make the comb itself. To do this, take a steel wire Ø 2-3 mm and cut it into pieces of approximately 20 cm. Bend each piece of wire in half.

To make a fastening element, take a wooden block of the required size and drill “blind” holes 15-20 mm deep in its end part.

Now you need to make a handle. To do this you will need a piece of thin metal-plastic pipe and a wooden block, the same as for making the fastener.

Let's move on to assembling the entire structure. It’s not difficult to do, you just have to get used to it:

• We pass the ends of the wire elements through and insert them into the adjacent holes of the fastening strip. To prevent the teeth from falling out, the ends of the wire must be lubricated with good glue.
• We connect the resulting “rake” to the handle bar using ordinary self-tapping screws.
• We cover the resulting structure with a body on top and fasten everything together with small nails or the same self-tapping screws. The body must be simultaneously attached to both the bar and the block.
• Using steel rivets or small bolts, we fasten the body and the stiffener.
• Using pliers, bend the end elements of the housing around the outer teeth of the comb. The product is ready.

Wooden ladle

If working with metal is beyond your capabilities, you can make a cranberry harvester with your own hands and from wood. For this purpose, for example, ordinary plywood or thin dies no more than 10 mm thick are suitable. No special drawings are needed here. You can simply draw all the elements on a sheet of paper and transfer them to the selected material.

It is best to cut the comb teeth using a circular saw. But if you don’t have one or don’t know how to handle it, you can use a regular jigsaw. You just need to be very careful not to damage the previously cut teeth.

The structure is assembled using glue; regular high-quality PVA will do. To be sure, you can walk around the perimeter with small nails or screws. Just don’t drill too much; you could damage the thin walls of the structure and have to start all over again.

Of course, if you know how to handle it skillfully, making such a “robber” will not be difficult for you. What should those who cannot hold a hacksaw do well in their hands?

Another combine option

The most primitive cranberry harvester can be made from almost nothing. You will need wooden skewers for kebabs and two cuts of a thick branch. The thickness of the rounds should be approximately 1 cm, and the diameter should be about 10-12 cm.

In addition, for work you will need:

• drill;
• thin drill (Ø like a skewer);
• chisel;
• emery cloth;
• glue.

You can start manufacturing. Using a chisel, you need to make a ring from one of the round pieces. To do this, remove the entire middle, leaving sides 1-1.5 cm thick. Using sandpaper, we clean both parts from small burrs.

Now we take a drill and drill symmetrical holes along the edge of both parts at a distance of 5-6 mm from each other.

We insert skewers through both holes and pull the parts away from each other at a distance of about 12-15 cm. Secure the structure with glue.

You should end up with a kind of glass with lattice walls. Now you need to cut off the sharp ends of the skewers so as not to damage the berries. You can go on a berry “hunt”.

How to use a combine harvester correctly

Even if the use of such devices for collecting wild berries is not prohibited in your region, it must be used with extreme caution. It is important not only to harvest as much harvest as possible, but also not to harm the plant. Under no circumstances should you pull the rake if it gets caught on leaves or branches. Wild berries do not hold too tightly to the ground and by tugging with special zeal, you can simply pull them out by the roots.

You should not start picking until the berries are fully ripe. They, of course, can ripen outside the bush, but in this case they will quickly deteriorate and may acquire a bitter taste. In addition, unripe berries are more difficult to tear off and you again risk damaging the plant.

If a lot of leaves and twigs have accumulated in the “robbery”, do not rush to get rid of them. By brewing them with tea (or separately), you will get a wonderful drink, full of vitamins and microelements.

Summer is the time when sweet berries are ripe and it's time to pick them. When difficulties arise during work, a lingonberry harvester will help you, which you can make yourself. With this device you can easily collect whole fruits from your garden. The process of making the device will not bring any difficulties, and harvesting will become very convenient and interesting.

Materials and design

This DIY berry harvester is somewhat reminiscent of a scoop.

In order to make such a simple device for small berries with your own hands, you need the most common materials and tools that are found in every home:

• Sheet steel;
• fasteners;
• tree branches;
• drill;
• metal wire.

The design of the device is quite simple, so you can easily make it. It will become simply indispensable in use. Now you can quickly and easily collect not only lingonberries, but also blueberries, cranberries and other berries (Fig. 1):

1. The whole structure of this device It is a body with handles and a bottom. To prevent the berries from falling out again, a comb is provided.
2. It has a special partition (Fig. 3), which facilitates harvesting in large quantities. The main advantage of this device is that the lingonberries do not spoil at all while they are being collected.
3. Before starting work, you will also need to purchase plywood or plastic from which the main part is cut (Fig. 1). The rest is done with wire.

Manufacturing technique

1. In order for a berry harvester to serve you for more than 1 year, you need to carefully carry out calculations, draw up all the drawings and diagrams, which describe in detail the dimensions of all parts of the device.
2. Next, use special scissors to cut out the body and bottom of the combine from a piece of metal (Fig. 2).
3. Then proceed to making parts for the comb, which is made from wire with a diameter of 3 mm. Prepare several of these pins no larger than 100 mm in size.
4. Bend galvanized steel at one end, you will get a hard edge, at a distance of which a straight line is drawn, perpendicular to the long side of the plate.
5. Make several holes whose diameter is equal to the caliber of the rods. They are located on the sides of the plate. The most suitable distance between the teeth is 4 mm (Fig. 3).
6. Bend the ends of the plate so that you get a side. The detail prevents the collected berries from falling; insert the rods into the holes made and secure them wooden slats.
7. The rods should be soldered to the base of the device.
8. The sides must be cut separately from the bottom of the structure, and their height can be selected as desired. The edges must be bent at right angles to the inside. Attach the bottom to the fold lines, and make rods on the sides to make the device a little stiffer.
9. To give the handle a unique shape, use a small amount of galvanized steel. Release a few centimeters from the edges of the strip and bend it at an angle. Attach the handle to the top side of the base of the piece. Another version of the handle can be made from metal rod and weld.
10. To avoid harming your fingers, wrap everything with electrical tape.

Now picking berries will not cause any trouble.

Of course, metal devices are the most durable, but there are options for making a combine from other materials.

How to make a berry harvester (video)

Other options for creating a device

If you don't know what material to use for your harvester, then pay attention to wood. The manufacturing method is quite simple and practical. What you will need:

• kebabs skewers;
• large tree branches (approximate branch diameter 10-12 cm);
• saw;
• chisel;
• drill;
• drill;
• glue.

First, use a saw to make 2 identical circles from branches. Then, using a chisel, make a hole on one wooden figure with a distance of 1 cm from the edges. The resulting parts need to be properly sanded and get rid of splinters and burrs.

After this, proceed to creating the comb. For this purpose, you will need a drill and a drill bit, the diameter of which should match the caliber of the kebab sticks. Drill holes in the circle.

Optimal distance between the holes - no more than 5 mm, so that the berries do not fall to the ground when picking. When the holes on the first figure are ready, repeat the same with the second. Next, place one rounded piece on top of the other so that their holes match. Using kebab sticks, pull both figures away from each other at a distance of 15 cm and secure the frame with glue. The harvester is ready (Fig. 4).

The simplest option for assembling a combine consists of a durable plastic bottle. For this design you will also need a knife, stick, leash, etc.

Ketchup containers, which are known for their durability, work best. Capacity for mineral water may quickly become unusable. The bottle itself should be small sizes, with a large neck to easily remove the collected berries.

Make marks on it, a small flag with a couple of teeth. Using a sharp knife, a hole is cut along the contour, after which the bottle is tied to a stick with a cord or secured with tape.

Harvester for collecting blueberries and lingonberries (video)

The practice of berry pickers in the wild shows that a special manual harvester is the most convenient tool for collecting lingonberries in the wild. Despite certain disadvantages and even a ban on its use in some countries (including Russia), it is with this type of combine that the bulk of lingonberries are harvested in forests and on many plantations.

Classic harvester for collecting lingonberries

Indeed, such a device greatly simplifies the task of picking berries. The video shows how such a device collects in the forest:

With developed skills in use, the combine speeds up the collection of berries by 2-3 times compared to manual collection, and therefore is widely used by harvesters. And in countries where such devices are approved for use (mainly in Scandinavian countries - Sweden, Norway, Finland), they are produced by industry and are widely used by the population. Moreover, such devices must strictly comply with safety requirements so that their use does not lead to injury to bushes and a decrease in yield even in the wild.

Actually, it is for this reason that such combines are prohibited for use in Russia and Belarus: methods of monitoring what the population uses have not been worked out, and most assemblers prefer to use imported machines instead of safe and harmless ones. homemade devices, which lead to injury to the bushes and loss of green mass. In such conditions, it is easier to ban combines.

On a note

People call tools for picking berries differently - “scrapers”, “combs”, “grabbers”, “peelers” and others. Some of these names specifically indicate the roughness of the tool and its traumatic nature for bushes.

However, it is obvious that progress is behind such devices, and sooner or later the ban on their use will be lifted, but only those that do not harm the bushes can be used. Therefore, let's figure out what a harvester looks like, which makes the task of picking berries easier and does not harm berry bushes, what varieties it has, how it works, how much it costs, and how to make such a safe tool with your own hands.

What is such a combine?

Structurally, the harvesting combine is a deep bucket, to which a special comb with long teeth is attached at the front bottom, and a handle for holding the entire device is located at the top.

The disadvantage of this model is the thin metal handle, which is uncomfortable to hold and quickly rubs calluses.

The main working body of such a device is the comb. The length of its teeth is 10-20 cm, so that in one movement you can grab and “comb” an entire lingonberry bush. The distance between the teeth is approximately 4-5 mm. It is into such gaps that the leaves and stems of the bush easily fit, but the berries no longer fit.

Practice shows that a lingonberry harvester is also suitable for harvesting cranberries, bearberries, as well as large blueberries and blueberries.

Small blueberries fit between the teeth and are easily crushed. Other berries - strawberries, cloudberries, currants - cannot be harvested with such combs, since the leaves of their bushes are very large and do not fit between the teeth.

The receiving compartment of the device is blind; berries picked with a comb accumulate in it.

When working, the picker holds the scoop in his hand, brings the comb to the base of the bush and simply lifts it up. Stems, branches and leaves pass between the teeth, and the berries are torn off and rolled into the depths of the receiving chamber. At one time or another, the picker pours the berries from the harvester into a bucket or basket.

This way you can pick berries from one bush in a few seconds. When collecting manually, the same operation takes at least a minute.

In well-designed harvesters, the comb does not have sharp cutting edges and therefore does not scratch the plant stems or tear off leaves. Even the edges of the teeth are rounded and do not scratch the stems. That is, in a good case, the tool is harmless to lingonberry bushes. In many cases, when such devices are made by hand, they contain areas that are dangerous for plants, which cause damage to the bushes. appearance and design features.

For example, in Karelia and Leningrad region Finnish combine harvesters MARJUKKA are very famous. They are made of durable plastic and therefore are quite lightweight, but at the same time durable. The photo shows classic version such a device:

You can buy such a harvester in an online store for about 750 rubles - it will pay for itself in just a few days of harvesting.

And here is a model for children in the shape of a fox:

Its price is similar - 750 rubles.

Simpler devices can be made of steel:

and sometimes they don’t even have teeth, but simply a rounded lattice in the front part:

You can order them at a price of 600-650 rubles per unit.

These are the models that are considered the safest. Already these options:

...they pick off a large number of leaves that do not fit between the teeth. It is these harvesters and their analogues that are considered poachers and it is with them that the ministry is fighting natural resources. And they are the ones that cost less (in the range of 300-400 rubles), which is why they are most popular among the population.

And on cranberry or blueberry plantations, real mobile harvesters are used:

Actually, these manual deep buckets with handles are also called manual harvesters. However, other devices for picking berries, often not at all similar to buckets, work on a similar principle.

Similar designs: rakes, scoops, shovels, combs and others

The principle of “picking” berries from herbaceous bushes is implemented in some devices, either simpler in design, or designed to further simplify the work of the picker.

For example, the most simple options- these are ordinary wooden scoops with long teeth on the leading edge:

Some of their options are simplified as much as possible:

And in some homemade models an excellent balance is maintained between simplicity, cheapness and functionality. For example, here's a combine:

It is made of wire, thread and a bag, but is very compact and is not inferior in ease of use to industrial options.

In these cases, the typical combine design is simplified for the fastest possible production. However, these options have their drawbacks. For example, the scoop has low sides and if accidentally tilted, the berries easily spill out of it. A wooden ladles quickly become dirty.

In other cases, inventors are working to make it possible to use a harvester to pick berries without bending over or crawling through the forest on your knees. The simplest option in this case is a special rake:

They can be used to comb the bushes without bending over, from time to time pouring the collected berries into a bucket.

A more complex option is to combine a rake and a combine. Simply put, the combine has a long handle that allows you to change the angle of the bucket itself. The video shows an example of such a device:

And, by the way, please note: even such complex designs can be made with your own hands. And when correct production the resulting combine will be no worse than an industrial one. Therefore, it is worth saying a few words about how to correctly implement the basic principle in such a product.

How to make such a device with your own hands?

The easiest way to make a scoop for picking berries is to take a regular scoop and cut teeth into it so that the gap between the teeth is at least 5 mm. The photo shows an example of what should happen in the end:

The disadvantage of this design is the handle located at the back. Practice shows that it is much more convenient if the handle is on top. In this case, the risk of berries spilling out of the receiving chamber of the scoop is less high, and the hand holding the scoop is in a natural position. Accordingly, the wrist does not strain and the device can be used to pick berries for a long time.

The video shows how to make a real harvester with your own hands:

Below are drawings according to which the body of the combine itself can be cut out of metal, onto which a grid with a ridge will later be attached:

The width of the combine can be greater if necessary.

Finally, you can make a rake for berries if you have a tool for working with metal:

In some cases, craftsmen manage to make fully functional devices literally from tin cans and scraps of lumber:

As you can see, the build quality here is not bad, but the appearance of the products still leaves much to be desired. Be that as it may, how quickly and easily it will be possible to collect lingonberries with such a device will depend only on how skillfully the picker works with the ladle itself. Often, a person with the most primitive device collects more berries than his colleague with an expensive imported scraper, simply because he does not make unnecessary movements and makes all movements more efficiently.

However, it is important to remember that the speed of harvesting lingonberries most often directly correlates with harm to the plants themselves (especially with poor harvesting techniques).

Is mechanized berry picking harmful to berry bushes?

Even the highest quality harvester in any case injures the bushes more than a person picking lingonberries by hand does. At a minimum, some of the leaves and individual shoots are still torn off and end up in the receiving chamber. And on very light forest soil, especially with a moss bedding, individual bushes can be torn out entirely if the stem accidentally becomes intertwined in the ridge. One-time cases of such damage are, in principle, not critical. But you need to take into account that the berries are summer time thousands of people gather in the forest, most of them do not use gentle imported buckets, but rough homemade structures, which can break or pull out bushes literally “in one go.”

Observations in nature and forestry logs show that areas in the forest that are under heavy pressure from berry pickers very quickly lose their productivity. How more people

In this or that area, berries are collected using combines, the worse this area will bear fruit in a year. And with constant harvesting, the yield decreases every year.

Perhaps, in just a few years, it will hardly be possible to collect at least one bucket from the same plot from which these berries were now collected.

At the same time, according to environmental organizations in Finland and Sweden, with proper control by foresters and disciplined pickers, the use of combines does not affect the yield of berry fields in the forest. In these countries, the designs of devices that can be used for picking berries are strictly regulated, and serious fines are imposed for violations of the requirements. As a result, the population mainly uses safe structures, so the berry growers themselves do not suffer. In Russia and Belarus, collectors also note that with proper, careful collection, using only gentle modern combines and small quantity

for pickers (when the bushes are not trampled), the harm from the combines themselves is practically not felt, and the berry plants bear fruit equally whether they are picked by hand or when picked delicately with special combs. Where there are a lot of people, and the pickers do not disdain any devices, working on the principle “after us, even a flood,” berry growers die out.

Today in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia, collecting wild berries using mechanical hand-held devices (harvesters) is prohibited by law. The fine for violation in Ukraine is about 1900 UAH, in Bulorussia - 420 rubles, in the Russian Federation - 4000 rubles. At the same time, having a combine harvester with you in the forest is not considered a crime. The forester can fine only if he catches the picker red-handed - both with the harvester and with the berries.