
We collect cranberries with a tractor
What do we know about picking cranberries? Most of us imagine a picture of a person wandering through the forest, bending down and picking the coveted berry. Sometimes a lover of compotes and jam holds a “combine harvester” in his hands – a simple device in the form of a basket with long “teeth” and a “visor” that opens when bending.
However, even during the Soviet Union in Belarus since 1985 there was an organization (something like a state farm) that was engaged in growing and harvesting berries on an industrial scale. Today it is "Poleskie Zhuraviny" - a company that supplies large-fruited cranberries to everyone who wants them. The total area of the fields is 85 hectares.
Cranberries can only be grown and harvested on a large scale using specialized equipment. However, the manual method has not been cancelled either: the “output” will be a premium product – class “A”, which is more expensive than berries grown mechanically. However, cranberries and tractor somehow poorly combined.
Let's start with the last one, when specially prepared fields are flooded with water before harvesting. They are called, as in China or Japan, where rice is grown - checks. Each of them has its own number (a few dozen in total).
Harvesting cranberries is hard work. Photo: youtube.com
The berry is planted manually: a hole is made in the ground and a seedling is stuck into it. The harvest is poured in about a day before mechanized harvesting. This gives time for the cranberries, which are almost hollow inside, to float to the surface. Then the machinery comes into play: mini-tractors with special attachments. As for the "dry" technology, this means manual harvesting, without using water.
In appearance, this is an ordinary small agricultural machine of traction class 0,6. The front-wheel drive tractor is adapted to use a large number of attachments. Why did they give preference to this model for harvesting cranberries? It's simple - the mini-tractor has a small weight, which guarantees low pressure (320 kPa - probably, the tractor index is associated with this number) on the soil.
MTZ-320 is better suited for harvesting berries. Photo: youtube.com
This means that such equipment will cause minimal damage to the berries and soil. The second point is cross-country ability: the machine will have to work on fields flooded with water. If necessary, the farm purchases a modification on a caterpillar track with "triangular" propellers. Some main characteristics of the MTZ-320:
✅ weight - 1,72 tons
✅ length, width, height - 3,1, 1,55 and 2,15 m
✅ engine – LDW 1503 NR (36 "horses")
✅ transmission – 16 forward gears and 8 reverse
✅ clearance - 32 cm
✅ turning radius – 3,7m
If necessary, the track width can be changed. However, when collecting cranberries, the above parameters are of greater importance than special attachments. After filling the checks, not all the berries float to the top - they need to be lifted somehow. In one season lasting a month, the farm collects up to 500 tons of valuable product.
For this purpose, a reel is used, like those installed on grain harvesters, only with smaller dimensions. The tractor goes along the bottom and with the rotating elements of the front hitch lifts the cranberries that "did not want" to float. As a result, all the berries end up on top.
The final stage of harvesting is loading into the conveyor. Photo: youtube.com
Next, the pickers in fishing boots get to work. Their task is to "drive" the cranberries with nets to one place, closer to the shore. There, another tractor with a mounted conveyor is already waiting for the harvest. The berries are fed into it.
There are also farms in the Russian Federation that grow and harvest cranberries. One of them, the largest in the country, is located in the Kostroma region and occupies an area of 300 hectares. However, the place is remote, and you can only get there on a powerful tractor or all-terrain vehicle.
It's good when there's a hard-surfaced road nearby. Photo: youtube.com
This is in contrast to Belarus, where the asphalt road runs literally meters from the cranberry fields. And the harvesting technology is the same - except that the tractors used are more passable.
However, even during the Soviet Union in Belarus since 1985 there was an organization (something like a state farm) that was engaged in growing and harvesting berries on an industrial scale. Today it is "Poleskie Zhuraviny" - a company that supplies large-fruited cranberries to everyone who wants them. The total area of the fields is 85 hectares.
How the harvest is collected
Cranberries can only be grown and harvested on a large scale using specialized equipment. However, the manual method has not been cancelled either: the “output” will be a premium product – class “A”, which is more expensive than berries grown mechanically. However, cranberries and tractor somehow poorly combined.
"Dry" and "wet" technologies
Let's start with the last one, when specially prepared fields are flooded with water before harvesting. They are called, as in China or Japan, where rice is grown - checks. Each of them has its own number (a few dozen in total).

The berry is planted manually: a hole is made in the ground and a seedling is stuck into it. The harvest is poured in about a day before mechanized harvesting. This gives time for the cranberries, which are almost hollow inside, to float to the surface. Then the machinery comes into play: mini-tractors with special attachments. As for the "dry" technology, this means manual harvesting, without using water.
MTZ-320
In appearance, this is an ordinary small agricultural machine of traction class 0,6. The front-wheel drive tractor is adapted to use a large number of attachments. Why did they give preference to this model for harvesting cranberries? It's simple - the mini-tractor has a small weight, which guarantees low pressure (320 kPa - probably, the tractor index is associated with this number) on the soil.

This means that such equipment will cause minimal damage to the berries and soil. The second point is cross-country ability: the machine will have to work on fields flooded with water. If necessary, the farm purchases a modification on a caterpillar track with "triangular" propellers. Some main characteristics of the MTZ-320:
✅ weight - 1,72 tons
✅ length, width, height - 3,1, 1,55 and 2,15 m
✅ engine – LDW 1503 NR (36 "horses")
✅ transmission – 16 forward gears and 8 reverse
✅ clearance - 32 cm
✅ turning radius – 3,7m
If necessary, the track width can be changed. However, when collecting cranberries, the above parameters are of greater importance than special attachments. After filling the checks, not all the berries float to the top - they need to be lifted somehow. In one season lasting a month, the farm collects up to 500 tons of valuable product.
For this purpose, a reel is used, like those installed on grain harvesters, only with smaller dimensions. The tractor goes along the bottom and with the rotating elements of the front hitch lifts the cranberries that "did not want" to float. As a result, all the berries end up on top.

Next, the pickers in fishing boots get to work. Their task is to "drive" the cranberries with nets to one place, closer to the shore. There, another tractor with a mounted conveyor is already waiting for the harvest. The berries are fed into it.
In Russia
There are also farms in the Russian Federation that grow and harvest cranberries. One of them, the largest in the country, is located in the Kostroma region and occupies an area of 300 hectares. However, the place is remote, and you can only get there on a powerful tractor or all-terrain vehicle.

This is in contrast to Belarus, where the asphalt road runs literally meters from the cranberry fields. And the harvesting technology is the same - except that the tractors used are more passable.
- Sergey Mileshkin
- youtube.com
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