Have any of you used this fruit picking device? Obviously, it’s made of bamboo and a 2 liter plastic bottle. I find I can reach a lot of fruit on the ladder, on the ground, or even from my deck that I wouldn’t reach otherwise. I saw a you tube on it so I figured it was worth a try. I have used it most on Asian plums so far. The stick I’m using is about 5-6 feet long.
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I’d put a towel or something in the bottom of the soda bottle. Be a bit gentler on the fruit.
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A piece of foam rubber in the bottom.
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The plastic is thin and flexible. I haven’t noticed it damaging any of the fruit. No one seemed to need that in the videos I watched. Could help, though.
John S
PDX OR
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Probably depends what you are picking.
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I would see the sharp protruding end of the stick inside of the bottle as problematic. If you used this for example to pick Bartlett/Williams pears they would get nicked and you’d have to eat or process them within 3 days. The designs I’ve seen so far made sure to push the pole inside only the neck of the bottle. Hence the suggestions for cushioning. 
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If you wanted to forgo DIY, I use this picker with an aluminum telescopic handle (up to 3m) and a cutting blade between the teeth of the basket’s rim and you can adjust the angle of the basket. I’m not allowed on ladders or to put too much strain on my back and this is very neat, even when our apples weigh 400g each.
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There’s a blade? do you have a link?
I got this type of picker this year. I am going to try on my pears 
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I only found this closeup. See the blow-up on the left. It is marketed here under Strend Pro, Aquacraft and Cellfast brands. Made in Taiwan.
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I have two that are metal with a piece of foam rubber in the bottom part. They have metal poles and are expandable to degree. I cannot remember where I bought them though.
Here is a link for what it looks like. I bought some item from A.M.Leonard but I know they were not this expensive when I bought them. It was some years back though. You know how prices have gotten out of control for certain things.
Still, it is a well made fruit picker and I know they were probably $60+ each at that time. I am not sure if they are on sale at the end of the fruit season.
Thanks for mentioning that, Tana. I just made it and used it. It won’t be hard to unscrew it, cut it off even and prevent that problem. I didn’t think about that.
JohN S
PDX OR
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We have a Gardena picker that looks just like that. It had a detachable basket as it appears on the photo and extendable pole… It worked really well…the biggest we used it on were apple-sized fruits and the smallest being cumquats. Someone thought they were being smart though when they thought they could use the baskets fingers to snag and pull whole branches lower to reach all the fruits on that branch by hand. It didn’t take long til one day, the basket’s neck broke so we had to buy a new basket.
If I remember correctly, there’s a blade in either the top or bottom gap which helped cut the fruits stem as you pulled (or pushed?) it.
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