Vibration produced by hand-held olive electrical harvesters

The paper reports the results of some laboratory and field tests aimed at assessing the acceleration levels transmitted to the hand-arm system by electric portable harvesters for olive. Four harvesting heads, different for shape and kinematic system, and five bars, different for diameter, length and material (aluminium and carbon fibre), were used in assembling eleven harvesters. The vibrations were measured in two points, next to the handgrips. The laboratory tests allowed the evaluation of the acceleration levels in standard controlled conditions, while the field tests allowed the assessing of the effects of the tree canopy with respect to the no load running. The laboratory tests showed that in reducing the vibration level plays a major role the kinematic system of the harvesting head and then the bar material. The classical flap-type harvester produced accelerations of around 20 m/s², while by using a harvesting head with two parts in opposite movement, the accelerations were lowered to about 6 m/s². The use of carbon fibres for the bars, besides the reduction in weight, produced also a reduction in acceleration (from 21 to 16 m/s²). The field tests proved that the tree canopy had a negative effect on the vibrations transmitted to the hand-arm system, especially when the aluminium bar of small diameter was used.