A fruit is arranged to be held upon a plurality of impaling pins with its top surface at a predetermined elevation regardless of the size of the fruit by means of a support for the lowermost surface of the fruit which support is slidably mounted with respect to the pins and is hydraulically controlled. Valve means are provided to permit the support to move vertically with the fruit when the fruit is placed in the proper position upon the pins and to prevent further movement of the support during subsequent processing operations performed upon the fruit.
