Macadamia Nuts are picked off the ground using plastic finger wheels on the front of an orchard tractor, specially designed for operating on steep slopes. The finger wheels roll over the ground in front of the tractor tyres. When they roll over a macadamia nut it becomes wedged in the plastic “fingers”. The nut is then picked up and rolled around further until it hits an ejector, which forces the nut free of the fingers and it drops into an enclosed space below. From here a series of augers carry the nut up to a receival bin at the back of the tractor. The receival bin can be tilted to empty the nuts into a hopper at the start of the dehusking line.

The biggest difficulty with harvesting is collecting nuts from a narrow strip in line with the tree trunks - the harvester is not manoeuvrable enough to weave in and out of the gaps between trees. Sweeping arms have been developed and the harvester pictured has a blower fitted, both of which aim to relocate nuts to the side of the trees, where they can be easily collected. However, both sweepers and blowers have the downside of relocating most of the organic matter and topsoil as well as the nuts. This is detrimental to soil and tree health. The method used in the Ecodamia orchard is to rake and hand pick nuts out of this area, so as to minimise soil disturbance. While tedious, this is much better for the health of the orchard.