In order to achieve the automatically seedling pick-up of duck-billed transplanter, a geared five-bar linkage seedling pick-up device was introduced. The ideal pick-up trajectory was obtained by simulation and optimization of structural parameters. The dynamic characteristics of the proposed device were also optimized. On the basis of theoretical studies, a seedling pick-up bench was designed. Experiment results showed that geared five-bar linkage seedling pick-up device was feasible and rational. 