Abstract
Harvesting and transportation represent a substantial proportion of the labor cost of a plantation. Additionally, it involves continuous production of fresh fruit bunches (FFB) by oil palm to the difficulty in mechanizing process that depends very much on skilled observations. Moreover, it entails relatively long travelling distances between palms and the need to transverse terrain within the field. Although various methods are used to collect and transport FFB after harvesting, the physical shape, size, and operating characteristics of a machine/transporter should enable an operator to perform the necessary cultural task in an oil palm plantation. Thus, this project proposed a six-wheel drive with four-wheel steering (6WD with 4WS) transporter machine equipped with a grabber to assist an operator in loading FFB into the bucket, and the elevated discharge mechanism could optimize the use of labor. Based on the maximum 6WD with 4WS transporter capacity of 5.8 tons h−1 and the prototype cost rounded up to the nearest number (i.e., RM 72500.00), the expected in-field collection-transportation operating cost using the machine was RM 4.83 ton−1. As a result, the cost saving of RM 1.03 ton−1 was obtained with the 6WD with 4WS transporter compared to a mini tractor-trailer.
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