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

Berry harvester

Modern industry offers a huge selection of such devices. The cranberry harvester most often looks like a small bucket, the lower part of which is a comb. The distance between its cloves is slightly narrower than the diameter of the middle berry. The principle of operation is extremely simple: you need to brush the bushes as if from the bottom up. Twigs and leaves will slip between the teeth, and the berries, breaking away from the bush, will slide into a bucket.

If you adapt a little, then in a couple of hours of work you can collect a whole bucket of berries. In some regions, this method of collecting 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. Next year, the yield of berries in this place will be much smaller, because the plant will have to restore strength. Therefore, using a harvester to collect cranberries, it is important not to rush and to act very carefully so as not to damage the plant.

There are several options for such "robbery":

• metal;
• wooden;
• plastic.

The latter are mainly industrial production. But the first two options can be made by yourself.

How to make a "robbery" yourself

Making a cranberry harvester with your own hands is not so difficult. No special skills are needed for this. If you have not missed labor lessons in high school and have at least a minimum skill in working with tools, you will surely succeed. For homemade it is better to use metal or wood. It will take a long time to mess with plastic. And the strength of such a product, made at home, leaves much to be desired.

Materials and Tools

So how to make a cranberry harvester? For work you will need such tools and materials:

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

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

Tin bucket: construction

If you settled on a version made of metal, then for work it is best to prepare a piece of galvanized steel or sheet aluminum. These materials are fairly easy to process, they are not too susceptible to corrosion.

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

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

• case (scan below);
• stiffener;
• comb;
• mounting block.

Manufacturing technique

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

Using scissors for metal, cut out all the necessary details: the body and stiffener of the combine. Bend everything as shown.

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

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

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

We proceed to the assembly of the entire structure. It is not difficult to do this, you just have to adapt:

• The ends of the wire elements are threaded through and inserted into adjacent holes of the mounting plate. In order to prevent the teeth from falling out, the ends of the wire must be lubricated with good glue.
• The resulting "rake" is connected to the handle bar using conventional screws.
• From above we cover the resulting structure with the body and fasten everything with small studs or the same screws. The case must be simultaneously attached to both the bar and the bar.
• Using steel rivets or small bolts we fasten the body and stiffener.
• Using pliers, we bend the end elements of the housing around the extreme teeth of the comb. The product is ready.

Wooden bucket

If you can’t work with metal, you can make a harvester for collecting cranberries with your own hands and from wood. For this, suitable, for example, ordinary plywood or thin dies with a thickness of not more than 10 mm. No special drawings are needed here. You can simply draw all the elements on a piece of paper and transfer it to the selected material.

The teeth of the comb are best sawed with a circular tool. But if you don’t have it or you don’t know how to handle it, you can use the usual jigsaw. Only you need to be very careful so as not to damage the previously sawn cloves.

The design is assembled with glue, usual high-quality PVA is suitable. For fidelity, you can walk along the perimeter with small cloves or self-tapping screws. Just do not need to drill too much, you can damage the thin walls of the structure and you have to start all over again.

Of course, if you masterfully know how to handle, then making such a "robber" will not be difficult for you. But what about those who do not hold a hacksaw in their hands?

Another harvester option

The most primitive cranberry harvester can be made from virtually nothing. You will need wooden skewers for barbecue and two sawn thick branches. The thickness of the round beads should be about 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. With the help of a chisel, one of the round pieces needs to be made a ring. To do this, remove the entire middle, leaving the sides 1-1.5 cm thick. Using a skin, we clean both parts from small burrs.

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

We put the skewers through both holes and pull the parts from each other to a distance of about 12-15 cm. We fix the structure with glue.

You should get 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 the combine

Even if the use of such devices for collecting wild berries in your area is not prohibited, use it with extreme caution. It’s important not only to collect the largest possible yield, but also not to harm the plant. In no case should you pull the “robbery” if it is hooked on leaves or branches. Wild berries do not hold too tight in the ground and pulling with special zeal, you can simply pull them out with the root.

You should not start collecting until the berries have fully ripened. Of course, they can ripen outside the bush, but in this case they will quickly deteriorate and may acquire a bitter taste. In addition, the unripe berry comes off harder and again you risk damaging the plant.

If there are a lot of leaves and twigs in the "robbery", do not rush to get rid of them. Brewing them with tea (or separately), you get a wonderful drink full of vitamins and minerals.

Two years ago, I came across a cranberry Klondike near the house. Well, how close ... ten kilometers with convenient transportation. Cranberries really lay there on the carpet and for several days I mowed 200 liters with a simple blueberry harvester. I also provided the production of tasty liquors for the winter, frosted berries for fruit drinks, distributed them to friends and relatives, and sold some to neighbors. For half a day, spitting, I dialed two twenty-liter buckets.

Mindful of this wonderful place, last year for the season he made a special cranberry harvester in order to collect the same amount not in five days, but in two. But, as it usually happens, man assumes, but God disposes. In that year, there were no cranberries in the Leningrad Region - it drowned during the rains. Rains, who do not remember, that summer poured 60 days out of 90. In general, I postponed the harvester until this year and now I will tell you a little about it.

A few words about the swamp. This is the northern part of the Sestroretsky Spill Lake - it is swampy and there is a bird sanctuary. Out on the horizon Sestroretsk:

All sorts of rare ducks and gulls nest in the swamp. The swamp is upland, not marshy. But the entry into it from the north is completely hellish (therefore, there are always few people there). Directly offshore in the water an impassable shrub - willow. About knee-deep water, testicles in some places. In the wet year, there can’t get through without wading boots. Deep pits, tall grass, high bumps. Going light is still bearable, but going out with the load without knowing the paths is hell. The first time I went out there with two full buckets in my hands and without a pole. One hundred meters was an hour.

The berry grows on small islands.
Here is a mossy cranberry island. Where there is tall grass - water knee-deep.

Here is another island:

There are probably a hundred of them.

And now, in fact, about the miracle of technology.

I spied the idea on the rush combine. I drew a form from the photos, figured out the sizes and piled from what was. Sheet lumine was expensive, sensible sheet iron was also not at hand, made of PVC plastic. For these purposes, I bought an orange pipe for sewage, sawed it along with a jigsaw, heated it with a construction hairdryer and straightened it. Knitting needles from thin electrodes. As it turned out, the bending of these spokes is one of the main components of the correct combine. The first time he bent incorrectly, lost a day in the swamp and had to be redone. The handle is also a piece of PVC pipe. The berry picking sleeve is a regular building bag. It would be necessary to find something easier, but so far. By the way, the sleeve must be made of durable synthetic fabric - it is shuffling along the grass and the hb-fabric will quickly wear out.

The plastic turned out to be a bit thick. Firstly, it is overweight, and secondly, it does not push moss so effectively than thin metal. But, as they say: you’ll become a cancer yourself without fish. There will be a mood and material - I will redo it in the winter.

Harvesting with this combine is different from harvesting with blueberry scoops. This combine is rowed towards you, and not from yourself. The initial movement is almost vertically down. We squeeze the moss, pull it towards ourselves, gradually turning the combine with a brush. The final movement - pour the berries into the sleeve.

For the passage, the harvester takes about 80% of the berries.

Here is the original bump.

After one run.

No need to strive to collect all the berries - this is an extra effort. We only take cream.
The harvester does not work well in thick grass. Yes, it doesn’t work at all. For these purposes, there are other ways, for example, an ordinary Finnish blueberry processor does a good job. But there are cranberry. They have low open berry productivity, but can be picked from hard to reach places. And this combine is for a berry lying on the surface. In good places and with good yields, he raises wheat like "Don 1500". One hundred kilograms a day with such a stray is quite real.

There was no summer this year. There are cranberries in the swamp, but not in the quantities that the combine was counting on and for which it was made. If the search for a berry tussock takes more time than picking berries from it, then it is all the same what to collect - even with your hands, even with a blueberry harvester.
In general, I nakhradovat ten liters and moved home. I will wait next year, at the same time I will redo the sheet metal harvester.

Going to the swamp, I grabbed a Finnish easel backpack for 500 rubles in the commission. He took off his backpack, left the cargo frame from which a completely decent ponyag was obtained. Sneaker in the photo - for size.

The bag contains cranberries, a harvester, a bottle of water, a jacket, and sneakers.

Combine harvesters not only help to significantly facilitate the collection of blueberries, lingonberries, cranberries and other berries, but also make this process as efficient as possible, reducing losses and shortening the time of events.

Users can choose both a production model and design a hand-made harvester for picking berries with their own hands. The configurations of such devices are quite simple, and following the instructions, drawings, creating them is easy enough.

Features blueberry harvesters

Harvesting blueberries is a very time-consuming process, and care must be taken, since the berries, although dense, are easy to damage. Plastic containers or baskets are used, and it is not worth often moving the crop from one tank to another.

Combines for factory-made berries

The most common design was a handheld harvester for collecting blueberries in the form of a scoop. Despite the fact that it is extremely simple, the device accelerates the process by three, four times. The cost of a harvester for assembling blueberries is not high, while you can find it in the household department, or in tools for the garden. The equipment is known to users under several names:

• Buttock.
• Fruit lifter.
• The berry harvester.

Design

• The capacity of the device has the form of a parallelepiped.
• On the underside are elongated bent teeth for combing berries.
• The gap between the teeth is five, six millimeters.

Branches with foliage easily pass between the cloves, remaining intact, and the berries are torn off and sent to the back of the equipment. Among various models, Finland harvester is very popular. The case of homemade and factory products can be metal, plastic or wooden. As for the teeth, they are almost always made of their wire.

How to make a harvester for picking blueberries with your own hands?

A DIY harvester for blueberries is simple enough to make, for this you will need:

• Patterns of paper parts - two side walls and one back, bottom, handle, part with teeth.
• Place the pattern on the surface of the material from which the body will be made, circle and cut.
• Fasten all the components according to the diagram.

Using drawings to create a do-it-yourself harvester for collecting blueberries is quite simple. For the teeth you can take the wire. After making several long loops, fasten them to the bottom of the device.

Cranberry Harvester

One of the popular cranberry harvesters was the device - Toropushka. A manual adaptation damages plants, providing a gentle and quick harvest. The device is equipped with a capacious storage sleeve, into which the picked berries are sent. To pour them into the tank, one hand movement is enough. If you want to make a popular do-it-yourself Cranberry harvester combine, consider the drawings.

Design Features:

• In the harvester for cranberries, partitions are made of solid metal, which prevent tangling of plant bunches. This allows grass and moss to go out without problems, leaving the berries in the container.
• The springiness of the plates does not break the leaves from the branches.
• Due to the rounded shape of the device, the berries can be removed even from the recesses.
• The sleeve is made of fabric, which reduces the time for extracting berries - you will need to lower the edge of the sleeve into the container.

Lingonberry harvester

A convenient and efficient hand-held harvester for collecting lingonberries was previously produced by domestic manufacturers. Its configuration is similar to other berry appliances:

• Housing equipped with a handle.
• The bottom with a comb made of wire.
• A metal partition located inside the handheld berry harvester, overlapping a section of the casing, prevents accidental loss of lingonberries.
• The partition is fixed in the side plates of the case so that it can be easily rotated to allow berries to directly access the combine.

  This design is often used for the manufacture of harvesters for picking berries with their own hands. Today, inexpensive models made of durable plastic are increasingly used. Most often on the market you can find Finnish berry harvesters that have proven themselves excellently for working with different harvest volumes.

In the summer, all gardeners and summer residents are picking berries. Someone does it the old fashioned way - with their hands, and someone uses special devices. They greatly facilitate and speed up the assembly process. So, to harvest, harvesters can be used to collect blueberries. They can be purchased or made independently.

Picking berries

Collecting blueberries manually is painstaking. It is much faster to do this with a combine. This is due to the fact that the named berry is very small and densely growing.

Having made the harvester, you can safely gather for the blueberries. With it, in just a few minutes you can pick up a full bucket of delicious, beautiful berries. It is worth remembering that the best time to collect blueberries is a day without rains. Collect berries after rain or watering is not worth it.

Combine harvester

You can simplify the work with a factory-made tool, although it is easy to make a harvester for picking blueberries with your own hands. Any option is able to accelerate the work of collecting berries five times.

The factory apparatus is a container, at the end of which there are long bent-shaped teeth that look like a comb. With these cloves, the bushes are literally combed. All berries available on them remain on the device. Branches, leaflets freely pass between the cloves located at a distance of about half a centimeter from each other.

In the manufacture of factories, a variety of materials are used. Combines can be made of plastic, metal, wood. In the manufacture of their own hands can be used and dense rubber. And for the teeth, wire is most often used.

Training

Before you make the harvester yourself, you need to prepare. It’s worth starting the preparation by making a diagram of the device. For ease of operation, it is recommended to make paper templates, according to which it will be easy to produce individual parts of the tool.

Metal harvester

You can make harvesters for collecting blueberries on your own. To do this, you need the following materials:

• fasteners;
• metal sheet;
• plywood;
• 3 mm wire.

Having made this harvester for collecting blueberries with your own hands, you can quickly harvest. The device will last more than one year. So let's get started!

Design

The apparatus consists of a housing, a comb, a handle for holding the device and a partition. In general, all blueberry harvesters consist of a handle, a body with a bottom. To prevent loss of berries, a comb is provided.

The design also has a partition, which allows the device to collect a large number of berries. For ease of use, a handle is mounted on the top.

Construction collection

Before proceeding with the design, drawings should be made. They describe in detail all the dimensions, details of the device. Then the bottom of the apparatus and its body are cut out of metal.

As soon as the bottom and hull are ready, a comb is made. It is recommended to make it from a three millimeter wire. The length of the pins should be no more than ten centimeters.

An edge is bent from one end for reliable fixation of parts.

Front harvesters for collecting blueberries are closed with a piece of metal. It makes holes to accommodate the rods. Between the teeth, a distance of about four millimeters is maintained. The edge of the metal plate is bent. This is necessary in order to prevent the collected berries from falling.

The wire rods are fixed to the base of the apparatus.

Side parts can be of any height. She is chosen at will. They are connected to the bottom and front of the structure.

A handle is attached to the top of the device. It can be made of metal or wood.

Wooden harvester

Many people wonder how to make a harvester for collecting blueberries from wood. In fact, it is much easier to perform than metal. It will take a piece of plywood. The body of the apparatus will be made of it.

Details

The harvester will consist of two side parts, a bottom with teeth, a back and a top. It is also worth installing a partition that will prevent the berries from falling out.

The lower part will be rectangular. At one edge, cuts are made with a circular saw. Their length should be about six centimeters, with a gap between the teeth of five millimeters. If there is a grinding machine, then you can make an impromptu bend of the teeth.

The sides should have one oblique cut. The lower part will be longer than the upper. Next, the cover and back wall are made according to the size of the combine.

In order for the collected berries to remain inside the device, you must install a latch on the front wall. It can be made of soft iron, plastic or rubber. On the bolts, this part is seated in such a way as to be able to open. The back should also open so that you can unload the berries in a container.

Gardeners who like to grow a variety of berries want to facilitate and improve harvesting. For this, various devices are often used, which are called combines or berry pickers. They allow the collection of small berries to make a simple and enjoyable task.As a result, instead of 30-40 minutes, you can cope with the task in 5-15 minutes. There are a lot of varieties of combines, and many of them can be made from simple materials.

What is a berry picker?

Such a harvester is a device that improves the collection of berries in large volumes. Such devices have various use techniques, structure, level of mechanization. The most important thing is that the harvester takes the crop from the branches with minimal damage, and better without them at all.Most often, berry pickers are used in the collection of gooseberries, lingonberries, blueberries, cloudberries, cranberries, currants and other berries.

The simplest device is a scraper.It consists of a comb, a container where the berries will be poured, and a handle. The shapes of the berry picker can be very diverse: in the form of a rectangle, circle, oval. Containers can be soft or hard. Using this unit is easy. It is enough to hold it with one hand on the handle, and with the other - to direct twigs with berries towards the ridge. The principle of using any combine is the same: when it moves, the shoots slip between the teeth.

The diameter of the gaps at the crest should be less than the diameter of the berry so that it cannot slip.

There are several main types of combines.

Manual without mechanization, which was made according to the prototypes of devices created by our distant ancestors. The view of such a berry picker resembles a rake with a handle and a container. Of course, today they have acquired a very comfortable shape and are characterized by ergonomic handles. Many models have special picket fences made of wire or sheets to capture branches.

Manual with mechanization.A motor is provided in their design, which allows crushing the crop directly from the branch to the container due to fast translational movements. There are also interesting options with vacuum suction.

Automatic controlled by the operator.  Such a harvester looks like a huge machine that performs grain harvesting. However, instead of mowing elements, they have special ones for picking berries without damage.

Of course, most gardeners prefer a homemade version of the harvester. Moreover, when choosing what to buy or do, it is worth deciding on which berries you need the unit. For example, blueberries, currants and gooseberries are harder, and models with a rake-shaped picking element are suitable for them, while soft, fragile strawberries and raspberries are best picked with tools that crush the berries into a container.

One of the most successful hand models recognized Finnish berry picker.

This device does not damage the bushes and is recognized as safe from an environmental point of view.Its main part is a plastic container that resembles a closed scoop in its appearance. The handle is comfortable with a rubberized pad. The cutter is made of metal, and the needles have special protection.

It is worth noting that in such a harvester, the spokes can be with balls at the ends or bent like studs.It is with knitting needles that branches with fruits are poured, and then their cutter tears them from the base, and they fall into the berry container.

It is important that the berry picker be without sharp cutting edges so as not to damage the plant stems and leaves.

Necessary materials and tools

For the manufacture of the simplest DIY assembly device first, a number of materials and tools should be prepared.

Durable plastic bottle.  The simplest option is a plastic bottle of mineral water, but it does not differ in strength and durability. It is better to opt for options from ketchup or milk, kefir. Such containers are small in size and at the same time quite wide, which is convenient when shaking berries.

Sharp knife.You can use both ordinary kitchen and office.

Stick.Its length should be convenient for picking berries from the bush.

Rope or scotch tape  for fastening combine parts.

You can make a berry picker from metal.   This will require slightly different working tools.

Sheets of steel.  It is advisable that they be new and free from damage. The combine body is made of them, and sometimes the container itself.

Metal wire  It must be durable and not bent when in contact with branches or soil. She will make a comb, which is responsible for picking crops from the bush. In this case, the length of the pins is desirable to choose in the range from 10 to 15 cm.

Bolts, nails, screws  or other elements for fasteners.

Scissors for metal.They will allow you to quickly and accurately cut the sheet into the necessary parts.

Sheets of plywood or plasticwill be needed for housing sheathing. This is necessary to avoid damage to the berries when harvesting. You can also use cans, plastic bottles, or trimmings for this.

Drillwill make holes for fasteners with minimal effort.

Hammer.It is especially indispensable for lining a container with plywood.

Also often harvesters for picking berries can be made from plywood. In this case, you will need everything the same as when creating a combine from metal. Only the basis will be not steel, but a plywood sheet.

There is another option for a very simple combine, for which you will need such materials and tools:

wooden skewers for kebabs are perfect for comb;

tree branches with a diameter of 10 cm are taken as a basis;

the saw will allow you to separate the circles of the desired size from the branches;

drill and drill holes will be made;

a chisel is useful to give the tree an optimal shape;

glue will make it possible to quickly and easily fasten the entire structure.

Drawings and Dimensions

For blueberries, gooseberries, cranberries and lingonberries, the simplest bucket with a recess is suitable. A comb with teeth 10-15 mm long, which are 4-5 mm apart from each other, is attached to it in front. The rear bucket is equipped with a handle for more convenient operation. The berries are easily picked from the bush and rolled into a container, and then they can be poured into a bucket or other container.

The parameters of such a berry picker will be as follows:

base in the form of a rectangle with sides of 72 and 114 cm;

sidewalls that bend U-shaped according to the drawing below;

comb teeth 2 mm thick and 10 mm long;

distance between teeth - 5 mm.

Figure 1. Drawing of a metal berry box

It is worth noting that such a model is absolutely not suitable for strawberries and currants from the bush.

This is due to the fact that they have too large leaves that pass poorly between the teeth of the comb. It is recommended that strawberries be harvested on a large scale by purchased berry pickers, vacuum cleaners that cause minimal damage to the delicate trunks and mustache of the plant.

Manufacturing instruction

Making a berry picker yourself is very simple. The simplest option is a glass from a bottle.

First, the place where the hole will be located is marked on the bottle.

According to the mark made earlier, a hole is made in the form of a square.

From the bottom you need to cut large teeth.

You can also make a handheld harvester for picking berries from metal.

First, a paper pattern of parts according to the drawings is made. An exception is only wire elements.

Then, the bottom of the tool, as well as the body, must be cut out of the steel sheet.

A cutter is made from a separate sheet of steel. To do this, measure the width, which is equal to the width of the receiver for the berries, and then bend one edge of the steel.

Holes with a diameter equal to the diameter of the wire are made on one side of the resulting cutter. The distance between them should be 4-5 mm.

Now you need to cut the wire into pieces 10 cm long and insert into the resulting holes. Then they are fixed either by welding, or simply bent with a hammer. There is also the option to fix it with a wooden battens.

The ends of the rake, thus obtained from the wire, must be bent to form a side. This will prevent the berries from slipping.

Now you can assemble the case using pre-selected fasteners.

If desired, the tool body is additionally sheathed with wood or plastic. This measure improves safety during work and at the same time protects the bushes from unwanted damage.

The handle is made of a steel tube or narrow plate. You can also use ready-made handles, for example, from an old door or from a construction iron. It is fastened by welding to the upper part of the body or by bolts, under which the holes are drilled in advance. You can make the handle less slippery by wrapping it with a layer of electrical tape.