Kathirvel, K.Kishore, T.G.Ananthakrishnan, D.Divaler Durairaj, C.2014-10-042014-10-042014Agricultural Mechanization in Asia, Africa and Latin America, Vol.45, No.3, Summer 2014http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/5990Skilled workers are engaged in climbing palmyrah tree for harvesting nuts, crown cleaning and neera collection. Difficult in getting the services of skilled palmyrah climbers in time and their high wages, accident risk factors are perceived as important constraints in profitable palmyrah cultivation, For ensuring safety in tree climbing and to encourage even unskilled palm workers into climbing the tall tree, a palmyrah tree climber with safety features has been developed. The device has a set of upper and lower frames, which are alternately used to grip the tree for climbing up or down. The upper frame of tubular construction has a seat, side rails and a back support. The safety features viz., adjustable and pivotable seating arrangement, improved configuration of tree holding section, side support in any direction, safety rope and turn buckIe mechanism enhance safety and comfort of the user. The performance of palmyrah tree climbing device was evaluated in terms of safety, comfort, output, saving in cost and time of operation and compared with conventional method. The use of palmyrah tree climbing device enhanced the comfort of the workers with 28-29, 36-43 and 36-37 percent reduction in energy expenditure, overaII discomfort rating (ODR) and body part discomfort score (BPDS) respectively. Also it resulted in three and four fold increase in the safety and ease of operation respectively when compared with conventional method for neera tapping and fruit harvesting operations. Though the capacity of palmyrah tree climbing device with safety features for harvesting fruit bunches and tapping neera was neera than the conventional method, it resulted in alleviation of acute skilled labour constraints in palmyrah cultivation with enhanced safety and comfort. The cost of fruit bunch harvesting and neera tapping operation using palmyrah tree climbing device with safety features is comparable.enArticle