1,068. Labor That Would Incur a Loss if Neglected

Shvisas Yom Tov 7:3

One may turn olives on chol hamoed, grind and press them, fill jugs with their oil and seal those jugs, all as one does on weekdays. Whenever failure to perform an act of labor would cause one to incur a loss, the labor may be performed in its usual manner without any deviation being necessary. Similarly, one may bring his produce inside so that it shouldn’t be stolen as long as he acts discreetly. One may remove flax from soaking to prevent it from being ruined and one may harvest his vineyard during chol hamoed if it’s the appropriate time to do so.

Shvisas Yom Tov 7:4

One is not permitted to intentionally delay labors such as these so that they may be performed on chol hamoed when one has free time. If someone ignores work and leaves it to be performed on chol hamoed, and then he actually does the work, the court must destroy the result or declare it ownerless. If one delayed work until chol hamoed but then he died, we do not penalize his son by preventing him from performing the work, which would cause him to incur a loss.