Pruning pears

Hello all. I planted this pear tree five years ago and got some nice fruit recently. With all of my trees I try to minimize pruning. This one hasn’t had any yet but will this fall. The fruit is so far up I cannot reach most of it. The limbs are now to plentiful to attempt just spreading them out. I haven’t looked into it because permies is usually my first stop. Having not looked into it my plan is to take the top off by at least half and clear away a great deal of the newer limbs.
Last month I had to do this to my other pear tree because it was inundated by cedar rust. I look forward to your suggestions. Scott

That's a beautiful pear tree Scott. If it's healthy and producing pears, I personally wouldn't worry about pruning it, which could possibly open the tree to disease and pests, and my pear sent out an army of watersprouts when I did a similar prune a few years ago.

Instead you could just get one of these and start raking in the pears! I got one recently and have really enjoyed it.

What variety of pear is it?

Get one of what? I’d love to see what you’re talking about.
That’s a good question about the variety. I’ll have to find my notebook with my stuff.

The pictured pear is an Ayers.

A fruit picker, kinda like this one in the video. Mine has a pole that extends out to be about twice as long as the one in the video though, which I really like.

This thread has some neat and potentially free DIY fruit picker designs.

https://permies.com/t/116581/Easy-DIY-fruit-picker

pears are so vigorous with watersprouts from dormant pruning that by the time they're growing well, june/summer pruning will keep it more in control. dormant pruning encourages strong regrowth. pruning after the first flush of growth in the summer discourages strong regrowth.

Thanks Steve and Greg! I really hadn’t thought about getting a fruit grabber. Thanks again!

I had time to check out the DIY fruit picker link. I have very long pieces of bamboo that would work pretty well. Thanks again.

Hey Greg and Steve, check this mess out! I made my granddaughter a fruit harvesting/butterfly net. She’s only interested in fruit until a bug flys by.
Then I made myself one. Twelve feet of bamboo, old grass rake and a small planter’s pot. It’s a bit unwieldy with fruit in the bucket but I’m happy overall.

Looks great Scott!

I told a Canadian friend of mine about my fruit grabber and she sent me this. The plucker is a coat hanger! I’m glad I didn’t go out and buy one.

how much crunch do those pears have, scott? they look more like a kieffer than an ayers.

Interesting you bring that up. I also planted a Keifer the same day. In my notes I could have reversed the trees.

If it's delicious I doubt it's a Kieffer.

Mine was tasteless, and I've heard Kieffers have a reputation for that.

Well, here’s the thing. I have MS so my smell and taste have suffered greatly. It’s not always a bad thing 😂. The pear was juicy and refreshing. That’s why I enjoyed it so much. I’m willing to overlook the fact that the peel was a bit tough. It’s more of a back to earth thing than the best fruit I’ve ever tasted thing. As a fellow Permie you definitely understand. It’s a real source of pride that everything I’ve grown has been done so without chemicals or off-farm additions.

tough skin, too? yeah, that's probably a kieffer. kieffers have some sugar to them, but not a lot of other flavor. they're alright for what they are, though. they never quite lose their crispiness - it's from the asian side of their family tree.  ayers should have a 'melting' texture, like the best euro pears. juice from kieffers boiled down makes a pretty awesome syrup though.

You have a lot of pear knowledge Greg. I wish I could get my Ayers to produce but it’s taken a beating from cedar rust the past two years. I really didn’t know you shouldn’t plant them close to cedars. The few that are close all suffer as well. I will be keeping a closer check on things next year.

a friend of mine has a pear orchard and has been collecting and experimenting with them for quite a while, so i've picked a few things up.

and yeah, cedar apple rust is a pain.

All your help has been greatly appreciated. Your knowledge is beyond com-pear 🍐😂. I have already pruned away as much rust as I can find. I plan on pruning back the nearby infected cedar as well. If you have any more tips on dealing with this problem please pass along. Scott