Every job requires the right tool. When it comes to picking ripe fruit from the top of a tree, a fruit picker is exactly the tool you need. With plenty of options on the market, it's a daunting task knowing which is truly the right one.
If you're new to harvesting fruit or are an experienced picker looking for a blazing new tool, today we're bringing you a selection of our top picks to help you find the best fruit picker for you.
Backyard Boss Top 5 Fruit Picker Tools in 2021
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Why You Can Trust Us
Picking fruit is a delightful activity. You get to be outside, get some Vitamin D from the sun, breathe in fresh air, and do some physical activity. In the end, all that hard work pays its fruits (pun intended) with a delicious and healthy snack that you can share with your loved ones. This has been exactly our personal experience through many years of fruit picking. We have tried all sorts of utensils trying to find the best one for the job. We've been through the good, the bad, and the ugly, and we have boiled down all of our knowledge to these top five picks.
Pro Tip: Did you know that pruning fruit trees can actually help stimulate growth and improve the quality of the fruit? I know it's off-topic, but since you're already looking for the best fruit picker, why not help your tree bear more fruits?
Best for Large Trees
Standing tall amongst all other fruit pickers on our list, the Eversprout has all the reach you need to tackle large trees.
- Long reach (20 foot)
- Lightweight
- Good handling
- Comes pre-assembled
- Springy when fully extended
- Its large basket can knock off leaves and branches"
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Why We Like It: This 12-foot picker features a 20-foot reach that'll get you that sweet and tasty fruit resting at the top. It's easy to use even when fully extended and has a spacious basket that covers a wide range of fruit while having a foam pad at the bottom to prevent bruising.
This fruit picker comes pre-assembled for quick use right out the box, sparing your frustration while trying to figure out assembly instructions. The twist-on basket adds to the no-frustrations experience. Not to mention the already stated long reach that allows you to collect even the farthest fruit.
Who Should Buy It: People with tall trees that need that extra-long reach without sacrificing much in terms of weight and handling should probably invest in one of these to make fruit picking as effortless as possible.
Best for Large Fruit
It's a simple and straightforward picker offering good value and a nicely constructed picking basket.
- Large and sturdy basket.
- Lightweight
- Includes a string bag
- Difficult to handle around dense trees
- Pole segments might come loose"
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Why We Like It: Papayas, soursops, and mangoes are sweet and juicy fruits that are also quite large. For such hefty payloads, this fruit picker has an eight-foot reach and a roomy and sturdy basket that can easily accommodate such a big and tasty loot. It has a large volume without being top-heavy and that's something we can get behind.
Who Should Buy It: If you're dealing with extra-large fruits then this is surely a no-brainer, as it can fit where many other pickers can't. Also, if your fruit isn't that large but you'd like to save on trips and collect as much as you can on a single pass, this can also be your tool.
Best for Delicate Fruit
If your trees don't grow that tall and don't yield fruit the size of bowling balls, but bruise easily, then this is the right picker for you.
- Firm and precise grip
- Can be locked into three different extensions
- Light and sturdy
- Relatively short reach at six feet
- Costly
- Can only pick one fruit at a time"
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Why We Like It: Contrary to our other picks, this tool doesn't feature a picking basket, but rather picking claws lined with rubber. This allows it to offer a soft but firm grip that can grasp fruit with precision while being gentle with the tree. It features an ingenious and thoughtful design that sets it apart from other more conventional pickers. This, paired with solid construction and quality materials, makes it one formidable picker.
Who Should Buy It: People looking for precision and care rather than volume, speed, or reach. This is a more specialized tool that suits situations where bruising and damage to the tree need to be avoided at all costs.
Best Apple Picker
The Ohuhu fruit picker has the right size, length, and combination of features to make it especially good at collecting apples.
- Easy assembly
- Can fit several apples in one trip
- Designed to pick fruit without damaging the tree
- Flexy when used at maximum length"
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Why We Like It: From apple pie to the big apple, this is the one quintessential American fruit. If you're blessed enough to have apple trees in your orchard, you might as well get a picker that's just perfect to collect them. The slotted design of the picker does a good job pulling the apples from the tree without damaging it, while the holding basket can hold plenty of apples within a single trip around the tree.
Who Should Buy It: Pickers whose fruit and trees are mid-sized. Apples, oranges, and pears also work wonderfully with this picker.
Looking for a different model to pick your apples? Have a look at these apple picker tools.
Best for Small Fruit
This picker's design allows the user to comb the tree and collect a large quantity of fruit without damaging the tree itself.
- Fine bristles act as a comb and collect lots of small fruit at a time.
- The reservoir is sealed so the fruit doesn't fall off.
- Simple and sturdy design
- Works with short trees, shrubs, and bushes.
- Can't be extended for taller trees."
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Why We Like It: Small fruit can be tricky to pick, the minute dimensions require precision from the picker. While some designs simply don't work due to the fruit falling through the holes in the basket, this berry picker is your best bet for collecting plentiful amounts of small fruit.
Who Should Buy It: Those with small trees that yield tiny fruit should get this picker. This is a specialized tool that isn't meant to be used outside its scope.
What to Consider Before Buying a Fruit Picker
As you have just seen, fruit pickers come in lots of different materials, shapes, and sizes. Central amongst most is the presence of a collecting device such as a bag or basket and a pole to extend the user's reach. However, these two seemingly simple features encompass a wide array of different features that you should pay attention to when deciding which one is best for you.
Baskets/Bags
The principle here is simple, the fruit you pick falls into the collection space and it's kept there until you unload it. The best fit depends on the fruit you're dealing with. For big fruit, a spacious and sturdy enclosure is needed since it has to have a wide enough opening to fit the fruit and be able to withstand its weight.
Medium-sized fruit on the other hand presents a crossroads. In this case, a larger basket can be preferred since it can hold several fruits within a single trip around the tree, lessening the times it needs to be unloaded. On the other hand, if fewer fruits are to be picked, the larger reservoir can be complicated to maneuver and for such reasons, a single or double fruit capacity might be more useful.
Image credits: Ohuhu via Amazon
Small fruit presents a challenge of its own and usually requires an altogether different type of picker to perform the task well.
Speaking of which, the size and sturdiness of the fruit will also determine if the container is full or semi-enclosed. The latter offers the benefit of being lightweight and hardy, as it's usually made out of a metal cage structure. This however can pose a higher risk of bruising and will let smaller fruit slip through. In such cases a fully enclosed collector, like a cotton bag or plastic container, is ideal.
Poles
A pole enables you to reach fruit that's too far away from you. The longer the pole and the heavier the payload at the tip, the more bendy and difficult to handle the picker will be. For this reason, it's important to take into consideration the type of tree and fruit you'll be dealing with. Many poles will offer length adjustment to allow for different degrees of reach. In this case, the type of connection is also important to notice.
Image credits: Zenport via Amazon
Telescopic poles offer great adjustability but require good manufacturing quality to work properly and withstand abuse. Meanwhile, modular poles that offer extension via the addition of more segments should also be inspected for build quality as low-quality versions will simply snap and unlink under load while picking fruit.
How to Pick a Fruit Picker
The type of tree and fruit you have are the determining factors when choosing the fruit picker that's best for you. Mismatching both will lead to even the best of them underperforming and at a disadvantage. Select pole length, basket size, and picking mechanism according to the size of your tree and fruit, as well as the specific handling requirements of both.
How We Picked
Fruit picking can be a fun experience if you're working with the right tool, and a torturous long process if you're using the wrong tool. Depending on the different kinds of fruits you want to pick, you'll need to pick the right tool for the job. If you're going to spend money on something you intend on using for months, or even years down the line, we recommend that you pay close attention to the build and take into consideration the kind of fruits you'd like to pick.
While some fruit picker tools work great when picking hard fruits, others are built only for delicate fruits, as you've seen above. Narrowing down wasn't easy, but to pick the best fruit picker tool, we focused on consumer ratings, the versatility of the product, and the heights it can reach without damaging the tree. Keeping all this in mind, we were able to trim the list down to five of what we believe are the best on the market.
Our Top Pick for Picking Fruit
With this in mind, we selected the Eversprout Fruit Picker for the number one spot on our list. We did so for various reasons--overall we think this picker is a solid performer that can tackle a wide range of use scenarios. With the build quality being excellent, the long pole, which can be telescopically adjusted, offers great reach and adjustability for almost any type of tree.
On the other hand, the holding basket is big enough to be used for most large fruit or hold several medium-sized ones. The metal cage construction is durable and sturdy, with several hooks on the tip to aid at grasping fruit. To top things up, the picker comes pre-assembled so you don't have to waste time figuring out instructions or gathering tools, and can simply jump into the action!
To sum things up, if you haven't already used a fruit picker you're missing out on a game-changing experience. Forget about carrying and setting up staircases to reach far-off fruit and discover a simple yet versatile new tool that will make picking any fruit much more fun.
Let us know in the comments what types of fruit you usually pick and if you agree with our overall selection.