Walnut harvest 3

A 1979 Ramacher pickup machine operated by Charlene Love.

Walnut harvest for us is winding down. We are almost done with the first time through the orchard. Our children even came to help out a couple of days. Extra help is always nice.

Last week we wrote about sweeping walnuts into rows. After that we go over the rows with the stick picker described in our Sept. 28, 2007 blog.

Then the walnuts are finally ready to be picked up. This is done with a pickup machine.

There are two main styles of pickup machines. One is pulled by a tractor that also provides power to the pickup machine. The other is self-propelled, having its own engine. Both types are still made today.

The choice to purchase one or the other depends on mostly how much money a buyer wants to spend, as well as their particular farming conditions.

Before there were pickup machines, walnuts had to be picked up by hand. That was a backbreaking job that required huge amounts of labor for even a small acreage. Mechanical harvesting was an obvious need. The first pickup machines began to be constructed in the late 1950s.

One of our relatives had a very early pickup machine. It was built on a large frame, had six wheels and two small one-cylinder engines. Everything was powered with long vee-belts and pulleys. It would creep down a row getting about one hour between breakdowns. But it did pick up walnuts and that was a major feat for the day.

Today, pickup machines are more powerful and reliable. Most of them come equipped with diesel engines. Some even come with enclosed cabs for the operator. They are efficient at picking up the nuts and separating them from leaves and other debris.

The walnuts drop into a nut cart that is pulled behind the pickup machine as it goes down the rows. When the cart is full, it is changed out for an empty one and the pickup machine can then continue on down the row. The full cart is taken to a truck trailer and loaded onto it with a field elevator.

Many larger farms now use the bank-out type of pickup machine. In that case, the picked up nuts are stored in a permanently attached bin. When the bin is full, a transfer truck pulls up behind the pickup machine and a conveyer belt loads the stored nuts into the transfer truck. All this is done without stopping the pickup machine. The transfer truck then drives to the field elevator, loads the nuts into a truck trailer and then drives back to the pickup machine for another load.

Our pickup machine was manufactured in 1979 by the Ramacher Company, now located in Chico. It is self-propelled with a gas engine. We usually have to harvest our orchard at least twice each season, so this is a good machine for us.