A donated piece of equipment will help Michigan State University fruit research stations plant more trees faster. Gillison’s Variety Fabrication donated the mechanical planter to the Michigan Tree Fruit Commission, which in turn gave it to MSU. The planter was designed to plant 300 to 500 trees per hour, which reduces labor costs and total time spent planting. The machine is also designed to use less horsepower than other designs, which will also lower operating costs.