Abstract
Harvesting of peanuts (Arachis hypogaea) in developing countries commonly depends upon manual harvesting, which is time-consuming and also requires many workers during harvest season. In this paper, a digger screw type peanut harvester was designed and made as a walking tractor attachment, for introduction in developing countries for the purpose of mechanically harvesting peanuts. In this study, peanuts were cultivated in a sandy field after which, a harvester field test and an investigation of the physical properties of peanuts were carried out.
The harvester was able to harvest peanuts with a harvesting rate of pods roughly equal to manual harvesting of 94%. The harvester performance proved adequate for harvesting peanuts in sandy fields; however it still needs improvements in the front part of the conveyor for overcoming sand accumulation in the wet field conditions. Therefore, the harvester will continue to be developed in order to achieve a higher performance.
