Mango Slayer! - device to pluck mangoes from tree

We preserve mangoes every year for future use. We preserve these in the form of Achar (pickle), dried mangoes and jam.

We have to climb mango trees or hit the mangoes with sticks or stones. Sometimes we used to call someone else to climb instead of me. This was not fun. So I decided to make a simple device to get mangoes from the tree. All the things required were actually lying as junk at home.

The design:

Some raw materials: a long PVC pipe which was already lying unused, an empty cold drink bottle, a cutter, a screw and a screw driver.

Cutting is easy and simple. Used the cutter to carefully make the cut according to the design:


Front View


Side view

Fix it on the PVC pipe using a screw.

The device is ready:

Some mangoes slayed: :face_with_hand_over_mouth: :crazy_face:

Lets have some FUN
It would be amazing if I could shoot s some of the action. So I taped my mobile on top of the device to capture some action:

Surgical Strike
The video is not uploading so I uploaded it in the drive at the following link.

Please Watch IT
Me in action
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1g7CvCpj9Ln4aXCWtDvW3aVzQ6zpFBF3d/view?usp=sharing

My Dad in action. He got three in a row:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gBPqfD1IA8kL0xSLd8jD-5Xzinv_fYDi/view?usp=sharing

Preservation of food
Dried Mangoes:

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Superb.Nice way to slay mangoes during this lockdown.:ok_hand::ok_hand:

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Very nice documenting the action with mango stick selfie.

Down south we used a split bamboo rhombus with a coir rope net. The corner of the rhombus snags the stalk nicely, ensuring the mango does not slip out.

Maybe a notch at the bottle rear will snag the mango better.

MAngo-plucker

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This is very useful!!
Great work!!
Good to see Father-Daughter duo in action !! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts: :smiley:

We have mangoes in our native place too…
This is a great idea for getting mangoes from the trees.
Will be passing on this information to my relatives in Kerala (my native place) as it would be useful for them…

Thanks @Pritika & @singh sir

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@jtd thanks for this valuable suggestion.
This will make it better.

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Improvement made. We will put it to test in the evening.
Thanks
@jtd

Photo is not uploading.

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Is it showing error or merely taking time?

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It is showing error. For video also.

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Can you copy and paste the error here?

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But the size was less than 1 mb
It was same for video. So it was uploaded on drive videos we 5-6 mb only .@jtd

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At my village in konkan, we traditionally use something like this: (image from thehindu.com)

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Ohh
That’s great!
Is there a hook or something to pluck the mangoes and get them inside the net?

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I believe, there is a hook-like thing. Farming community in India just like many others do create a lot stuff of jugaad! :crazy_face: :money_mouth_face:

-DP

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Yes true! :sweat_smile:
JUGAAD :crazy_face: :star_struck:

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Hey, it’s not jugaad! It’s most simple and most economical, yet ‘industry standard’ solution for the Mango growers. At a time, the net can hold more than 1.5 - 2 dozens of mangoes. It’s just that it gets ‘tip heavy’, so, when to send it down for emptying depends on the muscle power of the person who’s doing the ‘slaying’ job.

When it comes to Hapus (yeah! I do not like to call Alphonso) mangos, those have to be plucked at a particular stage of ripening (maturity). In a day there would be thousands of mangoes to be plucked. Hence, the device needs to be sturdy and having as much capacity to hold mangoes in the net as possible so that the frequency of emptying is reduced.

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@sandysat, looks like our understanding of ‘jugaad’ is different :sweat_smile:. I would love to understand when you would call something ‘jugaad’? (Each one of us could have a different meaning of the same) @Lydia, you too can say, maybe using examples!!

Also, @sandysat hanks a lot for the deets of mango plucking! This appears to be very effective in the ‘slaying’. Hahaha :grin: :grin: As a child, we used to have a single long instrument (we used to call it దోటి : dhoti in southern Andhra) without a net, which we used to pluck drumsticks or guavas, and dry clothes when at home, LOL. In this case, I liked the usage of the net, and a simple google search indicates it is a common practice in horticulture.

-DP

#simple_design #design-thinking

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Sumukh made a similar one at home for our garden tree. He revised it to a bigger version later as there were many more fruits this year.

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