PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF A TIPPING DEVICE FOR FRESH FRUIT BUNCH (FFB) LOADING

Manual loading of oil palm fresh fruit bunches (FFB) involves picking up the bunches with an iron spike and dropping them into a bin or tractor-trailer. Workers need to repetitively lift a load above their shoulders hence, giving extreme strain to the muscle. To overcome this issue, a prototype was designed and developed to directly transfer FFB. The device is equipped with a hydraulic system and powered by a battery. There is a need to assess the overall performance of the device compared with the manual. The time taken to transfer a different number of bunches, time taken for total FFB evacuation, productivity and battery depletion rate was evaluated. Three-wheel transporters were used and a plot with medium-size FFB was selected. The study indicated that the device was able to handle 400 kg of loads in 38.1 s. It was found that by using the device, unloading activity will only consume about 4% of the total FFB collection time. The study showed that the machine helped the workers by reducing their time to complete the task by 35% more than the manual. In conclusion, the device functioned and performed as it is designed. Workers can now directly transfer the FFB into a bin at a reduced time.