Orchard picking and tree pruning

Orchard work is the harshest duty cycle we see for a small platform: soft ground after rain, side slopes between rows, and a machine that has to move every few metres. Crawler tracks keep ground pressure low enough to work without rutting, and the self-levelling outriggers hold the deck level on the slopes between tree rows.

The articulated boom matters most in older plantings, where the trunk offsets from the canopy. A vertical mast would park beside the trunk and still not reach the fruit; the boom goes over and down into the crown.