The amount of fruit harvested on each pass and the time of the season impacts the number of acres harvested. In blueberry harvesting the key is: pick all the ripe fruit and only the ripe fruit on each pass. This may mean slower ground speed on different passes through the season. Your ground speed should be set by evaluating the harvester performance. Some regions run around 1mph (or less) while other regions run at 2mph (or more). Your dealer or Oxbo representative can help you set up your harvester correctly for your conditions. In heavy yielding passes, the machine will reach fruit storage capacity sooner than in light yielding passes and require unloading. For efficiency and performance, you do not want to run out of empty containers mid-row. 

Based on data collected over years of mechanical harvesting, one of the biggest factors in harvester efficiency is loading/unloading. Time spent loading/unloading is time not spent harvesting–for many operations in a given shift, a harvester may only be actively harvesting 40% of the day (the heavier the fruit, the higher the ratio of unloading to active harvest). Here are the most common field set ups: 

Driving to a common unload zone in the field can make sense if you utilize a forklift to remove full fruit pallets from the rear deck of a top load style machine (Oxbo 7440/7450) or need to fill a refrigerated trailer. The following create inefficiencies in this method: Drive time from end of row to unload zone and back to the next rows and multiple machines waiting to unload.

However, unloading pull, palletized stacks of fruit is extremely efficient. The full 6,000lb capacity of a 7450 can be unloaded in a matter of minutes by a skilled forklift driver. This method is also used for lower-load models. 

This method is common in high temperature climates and when the fruit has a long transport time between the field and the pack shed–both of which require refrigerated trailers. 

Bringing a truck to the harvester in the field and manually moving the lugs/flats to the truck. In this scenario, the machine often pulls partially into the next row and a flat-bed style truck pulls in behind the rear deck. The following create inefficiencies in this method: Manually unloading thousands of pounds of fruit and waiting on a truck to unload  

However, this method means that the truck comes to the harvester, minimizing harvester movement in the field. This method is common in moderate climates where the fruit is quickly transported to the processing facility due to proximity. 

The trailer deck design on the 7440 and 7450 or trailer design on the 8040 means that the harvester can drop a full trailer of fruit and load a trailer of empty containers from anywhere in the field. This method requires tractors in the field to move full trailers to an staging area where a forklift or crew can unload the fruit. 

Row length and headland space also contribute to harvester efficiency. Turning the machine from one row to the next is time the machine is not harvesting. Fields with short rows, turning can negatively impact acres per day; in long rows and high tonnages, you may need to unload more frequently due to storage constraints. Inadequate headland space translates into effective turning, reducing harvest hours per day.  

The available harvest hours in a day can be determined by climate–high heat, humid climates will likely require night harvest for optimum fruit quality. Regions prone to dew during the harvest season also limits the harvest hours per day. 

Some field operations are limited by the downstream process at the pack shed or processing plant.  

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