The Hob's Quick Picker inventor and manufacturer Hobby Thompson, is set to change the way Nelson and Marlborough olive grove owners harvest their precious fruit. The labour intensive activity is about to get easier with a unique picking platform that can provide both faster and more hygienic crop harvesting.
Hobby has a long history of invention and innovation. Originally a civil engineer from Arizona where he improved the efficiency of passive solar heated homes, and reduced the contamination of ground water from septic systems through his design and engineering skills, he moved with his family to New Zealand 12 years ago. From their lifestyle block in the Waihopai Valley, he intended to incorporate fireproof security boxes into wooden household furniture such as tables and chairs. Until his neighbour and olive grower Neil Walton, asked him to investigate olive picking machines.
Focusing originally on large mechanical self powered machines that would drive over the trees, after four months of research Hobby decided it shouldn't be done that way. "The New Zealand conditions are different from other places. In California you might have 100, 200, or 500 acres all in olive trees, that's different than here where you might have small blocks or 15 or 20 acres. The average olive grower is a person in their fifties or over, they have less than a 1,000 trees. These machines are massive and wouldn't even get on their property."
He went back to his neighbour with a more simple, cost efficient and low tech design, catching the fruit in a portable, two piece, tiered scaffolding which surrounded the tree. It was ergonomic, with a quick setup time between trees (less than one minute), and where the fruit didn't touch the ground. He built two prototypes that were used last winter, and they worked very well but needed revision work, but the concept was right. He is now on his first production run.
"I'll be making them in lots of five at a go, I can only produce one of these things a week, if people want one they really should put in an order, no matter the time of the year. There are over 320 pieces, 12-1500 holes, and about 5-600 bolts and all the associated washers and nuts, how many cuts and welds - no idea. There are over 80 man hours to make one, plus the shroud that my wife makes which takes a couple of days. There is no way to make it faster but we are learning ways to make it better," Hobby enthused.
Capable of modification in any garage with a hacksaw and a small welder, it will unbolt and packup in boxes for shipping or storage. These three metre wide machines are made for olive trees planted on six metre wide rows with five metres between trees and can easily be towed around behind a small mower or an ATV. Total reach from the top rung is 3.5 metres. The contour of the land should be considered, as well as tree pruning. "If you are not willing to control a canopy and the size of the tree and properly prune it, there is no point. But if you do take the time to prune it properly, not only do you get a much higher yield off the tree because your've got air, light and good pollination, but everything works then. If used during the pruning process its not just a one time usage."
Between now and the first of June, Hobby and his partner Max Currie are selling them for $4,400 plus GST, but that does not reflect the true cost of production and after the first of June they will be $5,100. "We have now made some sales to people in the paddock who are really going to buy them," Hobby joked. "They know this is what they want, they don't waiver. They are panicked. The first year, the first harvest, they had lots of helpers, the second year they had one, the third year, this year, they have no friends. With having one of these, you're likely to see them again."
