Bosco: advanced technologies for olive harvesting

The Pavia manufacturer, one of the first to enter the the sector of machinery for olive harvesting, has built on the success of these applications to consolidate the company's standing on the market and diversify in the segment of self-propelled machines

The management of Bosco in Garlasco, near Pavia, specializing in the manufacture of olive harvesting machinery, is convinced that the company's ambitious goal to become the leading player on the Australia and South American market is within reach. The Lombardy firm, on the other hand, has in the meantime been making highly effective moves on international markets to claim a consolidated presence in Spain and a lineup of strong commercial relations in Tunisia, Turkey and Hungary as well as in Australia. Down under, Bosco has begun marketing the Olivspeed, a versatile umbrella designed for the harvest of hanging fruit. This umbrella-type machine controlled by a single operator standing on the ground for conveying the olives toward the container was given a honorable mention at the 2013 Agrilevante technological innovation competition. The machine makes it possible to collect the olives harvested directly into crates to eliminate the labor involved in laying nets on the ground. Marco Bosco, the company owner, told Mondo Macchina/Machinery World, “Strengthening ourselves in the southern hemisphere would allow us to avoid the pause due to the seasonable nature of the harvest because the peak of work where we are comes in the months of October and November and in Australia and South America these months are April and May. In substance, we could work with greater continuity.” The great attention the Lombardy manufacturer is focusing on areas outside Italy is not of course hampering the company's investments and energy directed to the home market. “On the one hand, there are small agricultural and agritourism enterprises and family farms where we are trying to be competitive, especially in price. On the other, there are more structured conditions for which we are studying wide scale mechanization solutions designed in relation to their production needs,” Bosco explained. Beyond company strategy, the manufacturer's real strong point  for making a difference at home as well as abroad is the technologies built into the machines which are always in the avant-garde. This is a factor Bosco has taken an advantage of to gain a competitive edge by becoming the first enterprise to mechanize olive picking with a model capable of replacing the manual labor of as many as twenty workers. Though forty years have gone by since the introduction of this fabulous F802, modernized versions are still welcomed on the market for their versatility, to work as a tool carrier with the picker removed, and their precision performance on uneven terrain. In the wake of market approval of their harvesting machinery the company scored further success with the introduction with their BVM 701 windrower and further consolidated their markets. In 2008, Bosco opened new quarters extending over 2,000 m² and diversified production further by bringing in self-propelled shakers for olive and hanging fruit harvesting. Owner Bosco said, “The plus factor for these machines comes from a device for shaking with variable frequency vibration which guarantees that the trunk is given sensitive treatment while a high percentage of fruit is dropped.” Among these self-propelled models the F803 is the bestseller. This machine, which provides intuitive management, is equipped with a Mac series Vibranti shaker head built with a new technique to make it lighter, with the use of special steel, and located for maximum vibration. This patented (MI2011A000942) solution transmits vibration directly to the trunk without torsional strain on the bark to better protect the integrity of the tree. As opposed to traditional clamps, the new Mac series head creates high frequency vibrations through the reversal of rotation to transform customary shaking into vibrations which results in greater efficiency for shaking the fruit free with minimum loss of foliage. The F803 is also equipped with speed hitch assembly for quickly replacing harvesting implements with such equipment as shredders or forks. Planned for the coming months is a further extension of the Bosco range beginning with the Olivrobot, a self-powered tracked machine with radio remote control and a vibrating head at work ahead of a multifunctional self-propelled platform enabling the operator to reach heights of up to some three meters for pruning and picking operations. The official debut of Bosco's new entry is scheduled for next November at EIMA International.