The forest lift A rugged tool to simplify pruning and fruit collection.

Extreme environments, like the steep olive groves in Liguria, Italy, cannot be reached by tractors and large-sized devices. This paper describes a small, tracked elevation platform able to lift the farmers close to the branches for harvesting or pruning. The vehicle moves thanks to tracks. The elevation platform, having no motors and no sensors, is powered by hand. A prototype of the forest lift has been tested on the field. The forest lift has a maximum elevation of 2 m with a tilting (0 ° ＋ 30 °) and rolling mechanism (－15 ° ＋ 15 °) compensating for steep terrains. The iron prototype weighs 400 kg and is 3,160 mm tall, 2,000 mm long and 900 mm wide.