De Masi, one of the leaders in the design and manufacture of agricultural harvesting equipment for particularly the olive and nut industries, have developed the Multipurpose Machine format in an effort to provide both practical and cost effective equipment for today’s agricultural producers.

The MM20 consists of a base power unit to which a number of different attachments can be fitted, to cover a wide range of crops and other duties which arise in daily farm life.

In seconds the format of the machine can be changed through De Masi’s use of a rapid connect hitching system and quick connect hydraulic fittings. So one minute you can have an olive harvester with shaking head and catching frame, and the next a forklift that can be put to work collecting and loading the infield bins for transport to the processing plant.

To further increase the potential of this format there is also available a telescopic arm to which the shaker head can be attached to, and sweeping attachments that enable the shaking of other types of trees such as almonds, pistachios, walnuts etc. In conjunction with some of the other attachments, such as the windrower and the ground harvester, other crops such as nuts which occur at other times of the year, can be harvested with the one machine.

The ability to have one machine that can be potentially worked for a longer period of the year is unique for harvesting style equipment and means that the capital costs can be recouped much earlier.

The primary role of the MM20 machine is that of an olive harvester. This occurs through the combination of a catching frame/collection bin and a shaker head for fruit removal. This method greatly simplifies the process of harvesting as the entire process is operated by one person on one machine. The operator simply drives the machine up to the tree and places the shaker head clamp around the trunk. The umbrella is then deployed around the canopy of the tree, the shaking is initiated and the fruit lands upon the umbrella where it is directed down into the base of the collection bin. Once the bin becomes full the operator then drives the machine over to a larger bin, raises the entire frame up and over the bin and presses a button which opens a hydraulically operated door to unloaded the produce.

Particularly when harvesting olives there are a number of key features that set this machine apart from others in the market. The machines’ compact dimensions result in not only superior maneuverability within the grove but the ease with which it can be transported. Once harvest is finished it can be loaded onto a trailer and be onto the next grove with out the need to book and wait for the availability of more specialized transport. Another benefit of its size is the lower overall mass, which means a lighter footprint upon the ground, which cannot be underestimated if harvest time is wet.

The centre pivot steering allows the operator to accurately place the clamp upon the tree and the simplicity of the single joystick control for all of its functions, results in a very user friendly and easy to learn machine.

In summary the revolutionary De Masi MM20 Harvesting System offers features, benefits and possibilities never before seen in dedicated harvesting equipment.

Features:

• 85HP Engine
• Larger wheels and chassis
• Larger hydraulic pumps
• Hydrostatic handbrake acting on all 4 wheels
• Larger shaker head to accommodate larger trees as well as smaller trees.

De Masi delivering tomorrow’s harvesting solutions today!