Fruit is handled multiple times from the moment it is harvested until it is stored in cold rooms. As a result, farmers must continuously find ways to minimise bruising and ensure they deliver the highest quality produce to market.

Aware of the challenges faced by its agricultural customers, CFAO Equipment approached Dutoit Agri, a major farming establishment in Ceres, to find out how it could help address the issue of bruised fruit. After exploring various options, CFAO Equipment suggested Dutoit Agri trial an 8FBE forklift fitted with fork vibration dampers in an effort to minimise bruising.

CFAO Equipment Sales Executive, Candice Steer, says Dutoit Agri had already implemented several changes to reduce bruising. “Some of these included fitting shock absorbers to tractors, tackling driver behaviour and reducing the speed of the trucks that transport the fruit from farms to cold rooms,” she says.

Despite the changes implemented, some bruising still occurred. “This is problematic, because fruit bruising changes the category of the fruit, for example, one mark will lead to fruit being downgraded from a Class 1 to a Class 2 and so on,” notes Steer.

“In the first quarter of 2024, we began piloting the 8FBE forklift with fork vibration dampers at Dutoit Agri to see if it would make a significant difference during the various fruit-handling processes,” she adds.

Using the fork vibration dampers resulted in a substantial 40% decrease in bruising. This positive outcome prompted Dutoit Agri to ask if the fork vibration dampers could be retro-fitted to its existing forklifts, as well as to the forklifts it rented from CFAO Equipment during peak season.

Steer says Dutoit Agri’s operational equipment included four-wheel 8FBN forklifts as opposed to the 8FBE forklifts. “This meant we had to approach Toyota Industries Corporation in Japan to ascertain the possibility of designing, manufacturing and retrofitting vibration dampers to the 8FBN’s. Toyota Industries Corporation rose to the challenge, taking an estimated seven months to produce forklift vibration dampers that could specifically be retro-fitted to the 8FBN model.

After retrofitting 14 owned forklifts and ordering another 101 forklifts for the Cape Town rental fleet, Dutoit Agri then requested that CFAO Equipment gradually start replacing its forklifts with factory-fitted 8FBN forklifts, incorporating fork vibration dampers as a standard feature. 

Steer says the entire process was a collaborative effort involving several players and technical experts. “Dutoit Agri also presented the outcomes at a recent HortGro Symposium, a gathering of farmers who share helpful technologies and practices aimed at keeping South Africa’s stone fruit growers internationally competitive and economically sustainable.”

She says the symposium generated heightened interest in fork vibration dampers amongst the agricultural community. “Innovation is at the core of what we do. Whether it’s a new safety feature, an advanced fleet management system or our System of Active Stability (SAS), we are committed to listening to our customers and empowering them with advanced equipment to help them meet their productivity goals.”