heli3544 Posted September 9, 2012 Report Share Posted September 9, 2012 Has anybody ever heard of helicopters long lining cranberries out of the field bogs during harvest? Just curious what time of year this is done and where? All info appreciated, thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silver-eagle Posted September 9, 2012 Report Share Posted September 9, 2012 Cranberries are harvested in the fall. Generally, they flood the fields with water, corral the berries to one side, and rake them out into boxes.If things have to be moved, I don't see any reason you couldn't substitute a helicopter for it. They do it for fishing don't they? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iChris Posted September 9, 2012 Report Share Posted September 9, 2012 (edited) Has anybody ever heard of helicopters long lining cranberries out of the field bogs during harvest? Just curious what time of year this is done and where? All info appreciated, thank you. Most U.S. cranberries come out of Massachusetts. Harvest 6 - 8 weeks around Sept- Oct. Helicopters maybe used in "Dry Harvesting" Contact the Cape Cod Cranberry Grower's Assoc, Massachusetts http://youtu.be/pRbA-kSigT0 Edited September 9, 2012 by iChris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spike Posted September 9, 2012 Report Share Posted September 9, 2012 During my time there, annually, MA cranberry companies had a competition to see who could haul the cranberry loads with new or better equipment or with better techniques. To no surprise with the New England culture, it was usually a done deal prior to demo day. In any case, after my time in MA, a former California colleague who was heavy into the Xmas tree stuff inquired about cranberry ops. I hooked him up to the competition day thang eventually bringing the Xmas tree long-line technique to the berry bogs which appeared to be successful (and no, no claim to be the first). In any case, the New England good-ole-boy culture won out. Strange how a MA based Bell 47 with a 50 ft rig out performed a California Based 500 on a 100 ft line hauling twice the amount of crates… Go-figyah......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helonorth Posted September 9, 2012 Report Share Posted September 9, 2012 Actually, by state, Wisconsin produces the most cranberries by a wide margin. I work with a guy that worked harvesting them by helicopter back in the late '70 and early 80's. Go figyah? I would say one pilot knew what he was doing, the other didn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flying Pig Posted September 9, 2012 Report Share Posted September 9, 2012 I have to imagine the operating expenses of the 47 vs the 500 were pretty substantial though. That Jet Ranger in the video is probably going for $800-1000 an hour. How heavy are those crates? Get yourself a nice 300 light on gas and you could probably do it nicely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spike Posted September 9, 2012 Report Share Posted September 9, 2012 (edited) To be clear; my reply didn’t state that harvesting by helo was new. In fact, I said “and no, no claim to be the first” and that was in regards to utilizing long line techniques which may have been also tried in the 70’s and 80’s. Maybe even in the 60’s? Shoot maybe Igor tried it in the 40’s? Either way, I can’t say as I only worked there in the 90’s and it’s the way it was….. Besides, production is production and certainly not rocket science. Knowing what you were doing wasn’t the deciding factor. It was about who you knew, personal relationships and cash….. Edited September 9, 2012 by Spike 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iChris Posted September 9, 2012 Report Share Posted September 9, 2012 (edited) Actually, by state, Wisconsin produces the most cranberries by a wide margin. I work with a guy that worked harvesting them by helicopter back in the late '70 and early 80's. Go figyah? I would say one pilot knew what he was doing, the other didn't. You're right. Massachusetts is #2, 2,315,000 barrels vs. 4,410,000 barrels for 2011. Edited September 9, 2012 by iChris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iChris Posted September 9, 2012 Report Share Posted September 9, 2012 (edited) I have to imagine the operating expenses of the 47 vs the 500 were pretty substantial though. That Jet Ranger in the video is probably going for $800-1000 an hour. How heavy are those crates? Get yourself a nice 300 light on gas and you could probably do it nicely. When you start bidding these types of jobs (Xmas tree, etc,) you'll find some guys bidding B206 and 500's between $475 - $650 per hour (2 hour min) plus per-diem for two persons, and fuel truck mileage. Maybe even $600 per/hr. flight rate plus Daily Availability rate of around $800 per day. It's become a low bid ball game against other low end aircraft. Edited September 10, 2012 by iChris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trans Lift Posted September 10, 2012 Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 (edited) I did this for 2 seasons in MA ending last year using 44's. They work fine for it. We only used short lines (20-25ft) with a mirror on the front. We mostly lifted mud that they dig from the drainage systems throughout the year and some dry-harvested berry lifting in fall. The crates are on average about 650lbs but they can overfill them and make them closer to 800lb. The only real thing you have to watch out for is letting them down easy as to not spill the berries everywhere. Some ops used to put them onto the back of a truck. We usually just let them down and the used a forklift. Edited September 10, 2012 by Trans Lift Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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