A mechanical harvester was developed to harvest sweet cherries for the fresh market. The harvester operator used joysticks to position and engage a rapid displacement actuator on main scaffolds to effect fruit removal. The three main scaffolds per tree were inclined to reduce damage as cherries fell to the catching surface. Ethrel was used to reduce the fruit retention force of mature cherries to enable removal without stems and damage. A catching conveyor was designed to intercept falling fruit without damage and elevate the fruit to a collecting conveyor. Mechanically harvested cherries had only 2-6 more damage than did commercially hand-harvested cherries and graded 85-92 marketable.
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