The efficiency of four transport means most common in fruit production intended for post-harvest apple transport in boxes (cap. 330 kg) were compared on two road surfaces. The following equipment was tested: front and rear tractor forklifts (load cap. 4 boxes), self-loading and unloading straddle trailer (Pyro-s, 8 boxes), self unloading roller bottom trailer (4 boxes) and regular tractor trailers (12 boxes). The best transport efficiency was achieved by using a straddle trailer (11,72 t·h⁻¹ on orchard road and 12.62 t·h⁻¹ on asphalt) while the forklifts and tractor trailers achieved an efficiency of only 5.13 to 5.56 t·h⁻¹.
The newly settled intensive orchards at 2500-3500 dwarf fruit trees of small crowns per ha, require for their cultivation specialists machinery and equipment. Narrow (1.3 m width ) orchard tractors of 30-50 kW, directed air-jet sprayers, tunnel sprayers, rotary weeder-cultivators, shielded herbicide booms and brush wipers, pneumatic shares, branch rakes and rotary mowers combined with the sprayers are to be mentioned as the basic technical means necessary for orchard fruit growers in Poland.