The first prototype that we came up with was this one shown above. This prototype was to be constructed using a durable tarp that measured 12’x18’ to cover up as much ground to collect mesquite beans. On the ends we would use a 1” PVC pipe, but on one side we would cut the PVC pipe in half to be able to wrap a mesquite tree. After laying it under the mesquite tree, we could use our product to knock down mesquite trees and they would fall on the tarp. Our idea was to then remove tarp from the tree and fold it together like a taco and tilt one end over into a container to gather the mesquite beans. After thinking about it carefully, we realized that it would work for certain trees only due to the fact that mesquite trees don’t grow uniformly.
So that changed our idea and created our 2nd prototype. The above images show an idea of what our prototype would look like and work. We will be using a Yescom 18x24’ tarp, 2 1’x20’ PVC 450 psi, 2 1” PVC cap, and heavy duty zip ties 120 lb tensile strength. This tarp will be laid out under a certain area of the tree that we will be working on to harvest mesquite beans. After all the beans have fallen on the tarp, we will then fold the tarp like the picture above, but using two people, and tilt it into a container where the beans are collected. The size of tarp will help the family gather more mesquite beans efficiently and quickly to collect. Below you will see how our final Mesquite Bean Harvest product turned out.