Studies on the Mechanical Harvesting of Peanuts (Part 2)

Trial Manufacture and Performance Test of the Self Propelled Digger Screw Type Peanut Harvester

Abstract

A self propelled peanut harvester having a pair of digger screws for digging the soil was designed and manufactured to harvest peanuts in a sandy field. The performance test of the harvester in a sandy field, the harvesting rates of stumps or stubs and peanut pods were achieved at 100% and 90-92% respectively under the working speed range of 0.81-1.2km/h and the digger screw peripheral speed range of 0.82-0.88m/sec. The loss of peanut pods was 4.5% on average by the harvester and about 4% of the pods already separated from the stems inside the soil before harvesting.