Being a farm worker is no easy job. Not only is the work itself physically demanding, typically the days are long during harvest season, and exposure to the elements are largely beyond the worker’s control. In part, this explains why much of farm labor involves using an immigrant workforce; most Americans will seek alternative work than labor in the fields.

That’s what makes Bill Zimmerman’s century-old Bi-Zi Farms mechanical picker an interesting device. The picker holds up to 4 individuals at a time – lying stretched out, face down – they can pick a variety of food crops: green beans, strawberries, and pickling cucumbers. It makes hand picking during farm harvest a little easier without having to hunch over, and carry the hand picked crops back and forth to their temporary storage containers, and by offering protection from the direct sun and rain.

Check out this related story about his farm during the harvest season: Corn Maze and Pumpkins at Harvest Time