Berry picker

Autumn is coming and it's time to harvest. With vegetables, everything is simple - they mainly grow on the ground and access to them is unlimited. As for the berries, they are difficult to get because most berries grow on trees that are usually taller than a person.
This device will help you pick berries such as cherries, apples such as ranetki, shadberry, etc. With this tool you can pick berries from inaccessible tree heights.
This berry picker is made from PVC pipe. Heat is used to form the plastic. Two “fingers” at the working end of the pipe collect the fruit. The berry then falls through the pipe and lands in a plastic bag tied to the other end.

Let's start making a tool for picking berries

You will need a piece of PVC pipe (you can buy it at a hardware store). The height depends on your needs and the height of your trees, and the inner diameter depends on the size of the fruit you are going to collect.

Draw a sketch of the “fingers” by hand using a pencil or felt-tip pen.

Make cuts according to the sketch. For work it is convenient to use metal scissors.

Next, you need to heat the working part of the berry picker to soften the PVC plastic.I used a gas burner for heating, but it is better and safer to use an electric stove. If you have a hair dryer, you can use it. The most important thing: when working with heating devices, be especially careful not to get burned. It is advisable to carry out all work on heating plastic outdoors or in a well-ventilated area, since plastic fumes are very toxic and can harm your body. Keep plastic away from fire to prevent it from igniting. Also, do not forget to first take care of fire extinguishing supplies, be it a fire extinguisher, a bucket of water or sand.

After the plastic is softened, it needs to be shaped; for this I used a stone wall. It is necessary to shape it into a hook.

We wait a couple of minutes until it cools and hardens. At this point, the working part of the collector is ready.
Now let's move on to the bottom part. To ensure that the bag of berries placed on the pipe does not fly off, it must be molded and pre-heated.

I used a glass mold to squeeze out the juice. You can take any heat-resistant object with a convex shape.

That's all: the collector is ready. We put on the bag, tie it with a string and go to test it.

I hope it will make your work easier and more enjoyable.

Original article in English