Lettuce harvester, a novelty by Ortomec

Specialized for almost twenty years now in the mechanized harvesting of leaf products, Ortomec of Cona (Venice) presents at Agritechnica its full range of lettuce harvesting machines. In particular, an innovative fresh lettuce harvesting machine stands out among the Venetian company’s product range. We are talking about model 9700, recently tested California, which has all it takes to deeply innovate work in the field. “Until today”, explains Mirco Elmotti, export manager of Ortomec, “harvesting was entrusted to helper machines, which require a large number of employees to operate, with significant consequences from the point of view of labour cost. The Ortomec 9700 Lattuga, on the other hand, is inspired by the operating principles of leaf vegetable harvesting machines, reducing the staff time involved in harvesting, as well as the working time.” The 9700 is equipped with a swinging blade that cuts the product at the root, while the heads are picked up by a conveyor belt that transfers them in the same position on the main platform of the machine, where they are processed (the Venetian company offers various technical solutions for handling, washing, cleaning and packing the product). An evolution of the tried and true model 9000, the great harvester 9700 is equipped with a four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine, capable of delivering 74 horsepower. The model features a galvanized steel frame, stainless steel hoods, large tracks (30x365 centimetres, rubber or steel) that mean the open field is the ideal working environment for this harvester. The work platform has a surface area of 23 square metres (in the largest version produced) and can carry up to 3000 kilogrammes.