6 Best Fruit Pickers For Apple Picking That Old-Timers Trust
Discover the 6 fruit pickers seasoned orchardists swear by. Our guide covers the time-tested tools they trust for a perfect, bruise-free harvest.
There’s a perfect apple, glowing red at the very top of the tree, that the ladder just won’t reach. You could shake the branch and hope for the best, but you know that means a bruised, useless fruit on the ground. This is the moment every orchard owner understands the true value of a good fruit picker.
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Why a Good Fruit Picker is an Orchard Essential
A fruit picker isn’t just about extending your reach; it’s a tool for preserving the quality of your harvest and the health of your tree. A cheap, flimsy picker with a hard plastic basket will bruise an apple on its way down. A well-designed picker, however, has a cushioned basket that cradles the fruit, ensuring it arrives in your hands as perfect as it was on the branch.
More importantly, a good picker protects the tree itself. Yanking an apple off can damage the spur—the short, woody growth that produces fruit year after year. Damaging spurs means fewer apples next season. A proper picker lets you gently twist or snip the fruit from its stem, leaving the spur intact and ready for future production.
Finally, think about safety. We’ve all been tempted to take that one extra step up a wobbly ladder. A reliable, long-reach picker keeps your feet firmly on the ground, turning a risky balancing act into a calm, efficient harvest. It’s a simple investment in both your well-being and the long-term productivity of your orchard.
DocaPole ‘Big-Reach’ Picker for Heritage Trees
If you’re stewarding old, standard-sized apple trees, you know they can soar to 25 feet or more. This is where the DocaPole shines. Its primary advantage is unmatched extension, often reaching over 20 feet, which makes it indispensable for those towering, venerable trees that ladders can’t safely service.
The design is straightforward: a multi-section telescoping pole with a twist-on basket. The basket itself is a classic metal cage, coated to prevent bruising. Its deep design is great for securing one or two large apples at a time without them tumbling out during the descent.
The tradeoff for this incredible reach is weight and maneuverability. Fully extended, the pole requires some strength to control, especially on a windy day. It’s not the tool for nimble work on a small dwarf tree, but for reaching the prized apples on a century-old giant, there’s nothing better.
Fiskars Telescoping Picker: A Reliable Classic
You see Fiskars tools everywhere for a reason: they are dependable, well-designed, and built to last. Their telescoping fruit picker is no exception. It represents a fantastic middle ground, offering good reach without being unwieldy, making it a perfect all-around choice for the typical hobby farm orchard with semi-dwarf trees.
What sets the Fiskars apart is its lightweight-yet-sturdy fiberglass pole and a reliable locking mechanism. Cheaper poles use friction locks that slip under load, which is frustrating and dangerous. The Fiskars lock is secure, giving you confidence as you maneuver the basket into the canopy. The basket is a simple, effective design with a foam cushion at the bottom to protect the fruit.
This isn’t the longest picker on the market, nor is it the most feature-rich. But it is arguably the most reliable and user-friendly option for 90% of orchard tasks. It’s a tool you can trust to work every time, season after season.
Corona TP 6870: The Pruner and Picker Combo
Sometimes, an apple’s stem is surprisingly stubborn. The Corona TP 6870 solves this by integrating a pruner into the picker head, operated by a rope pull. This "cut-and-hold" feature is a game-changer, allowing you to snip the stem cleanly and securely catch the fruit.
This tool is about efficiency. While harvesting, you might spot a small, dead branch or a water sprout that needs removing. With the Corona, you can snip it right then and there without having to fetch another tool. This is especially useful for fruits with thicker stems, like some pear varieties, but it’s just as handy for ensuring a clean break on apples without damaging the spur.
The main consideration is the added complexity. You have a rope to manage, and the cutting mechanism adds a bit of weight to the head. However, for those who value multitasking and a perfectly clean pick, the Corona offers a level of precision that a standard basket picker can’t match.
Flexrake Classic Picker: A Simple, Sturdy Tool
The Flexrake picker often comes as just the basket head, which is its greatest strength. This approach assumes you already have a preferred pole—perhaps a sturdy wooden dowel or a telescoping painter’s pole. This makes it a customizable and economical choice for the resourceful farmer.
The basket itself is the star. It’s typically made from heavy-gauge, vinyl-coated wire that is both gentle on fruit and incredibly durable. It won’t bend or break when you accidentally nudge a thick branch. The "fingers" at the top are designed to easily coax the apple from the spur with a gentle pull.
This is a no-frills tool built for one job, and it does that job exceptionally well. If you believe in simple, robust tools and have a pole you already like, the Flexrake basket is a lifetime investment. It’s the kind of tool your grandfather might have used, and for good reason.
The Eversprout System for All-Around Orchard Use
For the hobby farmer looking to get the most out of a single tool, the Eversprout system is a smart investment. The core of the system is a high-quality, lightweight telescoping pole. The magic is in the variety of attachments that twist onto the end, including a fruit picker basket.
The value here is versatility. With one pole, you can pick apples, saw off a high limb with the pruning saw attachment, or even clean out your gutters. This is ideal for those of us with limited storage space and a desire for tools that serve multiple purposes. The locking mechanism is secure, and the pole feels balanced and well-made.
The fruit picker basket itself is well-designed, with a foam cushion and a solid build. While you might find a more specialized tool for a single task, you won’t find a better integrated system for overall orchard and homestead maintenance. It’s about buying into an ecosystem, not just a single-use tool.
Zenport ZL6146A: A Commercial-Grade Choice
If you have a large number of trees or run a small U-pick operation, speed and volume matter. The Zenport ZL6146A is a commercial-style picker designed for exactly that. Instead of a rigid basket, it features a soft bag that can hold several apples at once, dramatically reducing the time spent lowering and emptying the picker.
This tool is built for heavy use. The pole is lightweight aluminum, and the picker head is simple and robust. The design allows you to pull fruit into the bag quickly and efficiently. It’s less about delicately cradling a single prize-winning apple and more about clearing a branch in a few swift motions.
For someone with just a few backyard trees, this picker is probably overkill. But for the serious hobbyist with dozens of trees, the efficiency gains are significant. It’s a tool that prioritizes productivity without sacrificing the basic need to get fruit out of the tree without turning it into applesauce.
Maintaining Your Picker for a Lifetime of Use
A good tool deserves good care. The difference between a picker that lasts two seasons and one that lasts twenty is a few minutes of maintenance after the harvest is done. It’s a simple habit that pays dividends.
Start by cleaning the basket. Remove any leaves, twigs, or bits of fruit. If it has a foam cushion, make sure it’s dry before storing to prevent mold and rot. For pickers with cutting blades, like the Corona, wipe the blade clean and apply a light coat of camellia oil or WD-40 to prevent rust.
Next, inspect the pole. For telescoping models, wipe down the sections to remove grit that can jam the locking mechanisms. Check that the locks still tighten securely. For wooden poles, check for splinters or cracks and consider a light sanding and a coat of linseed oil every few years.
Finally, store your picker properly. Don’t leave it outside exposed to sun and rain, which will degrade plastic, rust metal, and rot wood. Hang it horizontally in a dry shed or garage to prevent the pole from warping over time. This simple care ensures your trusted tool will be ready for many harvests to come.
Ultimately, the best fruit picker is the one that fits your trees, your body, and your approach to farming. It’s more than just a tool for reaching things; it’s a connection to your orchard, allowing you to harvest the fruits of your labor with care and respect. Choose well, and it will serve you for a lifetime.
