Lettuce Harvesting by Tractorlorry O NE of the latest applications of
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motor vehicles is in connection with the harvesting of lettuce on a 1,400-acre estate near Yuma, Arizona, U.S.A. It is stated to have solved one of the major difficulties encountered in the preparation of lettuce for the market, for the produce is harvested as fast as it becomes ready.
Formerly, the crop was picked and thrown into horse-drawn field units, which dumped the lettuce at the ends of the fields, where it was packed into boxes, these being subsequently loaded on to lorries for conveyance to the central packing plant 12 miles away. During extremely wet weather it was impossible for the horsed carts to be drawn through the fields, and hundreds of additional field 'workers had to be engaged to pack the lettuce into boxes and carry them to the road. After many experiments with various types of tractor for the hail/age of trailers in the field, the owArs of the lettuce plantation acquired from the Four Wheel Drive Auto Co., Clintonviffe, Wis., four F.W.D. tractors with a 7-ft. track and unusually low gear ratios. The exceptionally wide track allows the vehicles to straddle two rows of lettuce and permits the wheels to travel in the irrigation furrows, which are 3 ft. 6 ins. apart. Eight forward speeds are available, the lowest ratio being 97.5 to 1, enabling the tractor-lorries to travel along the furrows sufficiently slowly to avoid the need for stopping to allow the pickers to catch up. The speed of the outfits ranges from 3-10ths m.p.h. to 38 m.p.h.
The four-wheeled 4-ton trailers have bodies 18 ft. long and 8 ft. wide, The sides are adjustable for easy loading.
When a trailer is loaded, the sides are raised by means of hand-operated winches. It is then hauled to one of the roadways at the end of the field, where it is connected to a lorry for conveyance to the central packing plant. The tractor is coupled up to an empty trailer for immediate return to the fields.
It is stated that the new system has not only speeded up the lettuce-gathering process, but that it has reduced harvesting costs and ensured delivery of the perishable produce in good condition to the packing plant. Another great advantage is that the lettuce has to be handled only once by the pickers, as against two or three times by the old method. Consequently the percentage of spoiled produce has been greatly reduced.