Midlands-based engineering design company, Tech2reality Ltd, has taken a fresh look at the commercial harvesting of strawberries and has come up with a brand new solution - a revolutionary electric harvesting rig, TEKTU T100.
From the grower’s point of view, there are lots of issues with hand-picking strawberries, not least the cost, supply and quality of labour.
TEKTU T100’s rechargeable batteries enable this machine to run silently and producing zero emissions inside poly-tunnels. The battery pack lasts for at least a full shift and multi-shifting simply involves a quick battery change operation. TEKTU T100 customers are already seeing 25-30 per cent improvement in productivity and are expecting payback during the second full season of operation.
The TEKTU T100 comes in four, five and six bed versions, carrying eight, 10 or 12 pickers. Pickers are comfortably positioned over the crop rows and gather the fruit quickly and efficiently, directly into punnets. Conveyors carry the laden punnets to the load platform, where they are packed into trays and offloaded.
The purpose-designed structure is simple and strong, with a wide track and large wheels, for maximum stability and grip. Terrain can be tough, so four-wheel drive is available. Headlands can be narrow too. So, four-wheel steering enables the T100 to neatly crab sideways at the end of a crop row.
Electric drive and control brings a number of benefits, as the machine is fitted with ultrasonic automatic steering, which means there is no need for a driver while harvesting.
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