I am going to shake the pecans off some trees locally that are just loaded.
I have them sold already.

I have a vibrator that makes a 960# impact 4,000 times a minute. Used to
shake railroad cars so they will dump. Get silos moving. That sort of
thing.

Anyway, I'm going to rig it up to trees with cables to the branches, and see
how much vibration it will induce into the trees, and what it will take to
shake the pecans off a tree.

Anyone ever try this? I know that sometimes, a good wind will cause them to
fall, and hope this works.

Has anyone ever worked in that field, or had experience harvesting pecans
this way?

Steve

Steve B wrote:
I am going to shake the pecans off some trees locally that are just
loaded. I have them sold already.

I have a vibrator that makes a 960# impact 4,000 times a minute. Used to
shake railroad cars so they will dump. Get silos moving. That sort of
thing.

Anyway, I'm going to rig it up to trees with cables to the branches,
and see how much vibration it will induce into the trees, and what it
will take to shake the pecans off a tree.

Anyone ever try this? I know that sometimes, a good wind will cause
them to fall, and hope this works.

Has anyone ever worked in that field, or had experience harvesting
pecans this way?

Steve

I have no idea so this is just a guess but I would think that a slower rate
of vibration might to be less damped and get the branches moving better.

D

"David Hare-Scott" wrote

I have no idea so this is just a guess but I would think that a slower
rate of vibration might to be less damped and get the branches moving
better.

D

I have done a lot of rigging in my life. Heavy stuff. 350 ton picks.

I'm going to hook it up all with either hard cable or chain so as not to
lose much of the action to the elasticity ropes or synthetic slings. This
is going to be interesting, and I do want to do a youtube, so that I can
send to prospective customers. There are literally tons and tons sitting on
trees here that go to waste.

Now, I'm brainstorming and daydreaming on cracking and cleaning them, as the
price raises sharply. But I am going to try to sell all I can that are in
the shell, just cleaned a little.

I'm going to do it Monday if the wind is calm. First order is to drop about
a 60' tall tree. Lucky me, no clean up at all.

Steve

Steve

"Steve B" wrote in message

I have done a lot of rigging in my life. Heavy stuff. 350 ton picks.

I'm going to hook it up all with either hard cable or chain so as not to
lose much of the action to the elasticity ropes or synthetic slings.

Your words describing the use of "hard cable" or "chain" has given me a
mental image of ringbarked trunks. I'm sure you wouldn't be so silly so I'm
no closer to understanding what a pecan vibrator might work.

Guess I'll have to wait to see the youtube clip to see if it operates
anything like an olive tree shaker or other nut tree shakers.

Farm1 wrote:
"Steve B" wrote in message

I have done a lot of rigging in my life. Heavy stuff. 350 ton picks.

I'm going to hook it up all with either hard cable or chain so as not to
lose much of the action to the elasticity ropes or synthetic slings.

Your words describing the use of "hard cable" or "chain" has given me a
mental image of ringbarked trunks.

yeah, i was thinking that too. at least you need
a strap or padding or you will get a partially
ringed tree. and i would not attach it to branches
but to the main trunk.


I'm sure you wouldn't be so silly so I'm
no closer to understanding what a pecan vibrator might work.

this is usenet. silly is to be expected.


Guess I'll have to wait to see the youtube clip to see if it operates
anything like an olive tree shaker or other nut tree shakers.

i'm unlikely to see a vid, but the frequency
sounds very high, but if it gets the tree to
vibrate that is likely to be enough.

if anything, flicking the on/off switch should
add enough chaos for it to be effective.


songbird

songbird wrote:
Farm1 wrote:
"Steve B" wrote in message

I have done a lot of rigging in my life. Heavy stuff. 350 ton
picks.

I'm going to hook it up all with either hard cable or chain so as
not to lose much of the action to the elasticity ropes or synthetic
slings.

Your words describing the use of "hard cable" or "chain" has given
me a mental image of ringbarked trunks.

yeah, i was thinking that too. at least you need
a strap or padding or you will get a partially
ringed tree. and i would not attach it to branches
but to the main trunk.

Me three. Sounds like an excellent way to trash the bark. A tree's resonance to
get the branches moving will be way slower than you're talking.

Derald wrote:

...anything...

welcome back to the funny farm.

thanks for the interesting glimpses of the
peacan grower's life.


songbird

"Derald" wrote in message
...
songbird wrote:


welcome back to the funny farm.
Gee, thanks. Just kinda been lurking around, lately.

thanks for the interesting glimpses of the
peacan grower's life.
Hee; you spell it the way Southereners pronounce it ;-)
--
Derald
USDA9b
Peninsular FL, USA

We were in a different south. In Louisiana, they say either puh-cahns or
pwah-cahns.

Steve

"Derald" wrote in message
...
"Steve B" wrote:

We were in a different south. In Louisiana, they say either puh-cahns or
pwah-cahns.
Could be. I've heard variously pee-can, puh-cahn, p'cahn. Only been
to LA twice and never made it past N.O. and Algiers. Tree nuts were not
discussed on either occasion.
How you coming on your rig? I'm looking forward to the
photos/video. How you gonna get the nuts off the ground, just spread
drop cloths?
--
Derald
USDA9b
Peninsular FL, USA

I tied it to a tree today, then took a strain with the loader to tighten up
the chain. Not much vibration through the tree at all. Next, I think I'll
try just strapping it to the trunk, and seeing how it goes.

It appears that it is going to be difficult to shake the trees so they
vibrate much on the ends, and rigging it high up in the branches is very
difficult, and pecan trees are notoriously unsafe to climb. Sthil does sell
a vibrator, SP200 that is a long pole with a chain saw engine on the bottom.
Just depends on your reach, your strength, and your youth. Mine are all
very low at this time in my life.

I have a 2.5" vacuum that I shall test soon that I think a whole shell will
pass through, hull and all. By tumbling, I hope that any with the hulls on
them will be de-hulled by the time they reach the holding area of the
vacuum. Maybe have to put in a metal plate where they shoot into the vacuum
hopper to give the hulls a rap to dislodge the hulls.

There is a lot of money in shelled pecans, but the cleaning machinery costs
upwards to $15,000. I believe that I can go around now and get a lot of
free or cheap pecans to practice on, and build a cleaner of some sorts. I
can always sell them unshelled, and a lot of people buy them that way, as
they run about $1.50 unshelled, and $6 shelled. More in some areas.

It is a challenge, and I like challenges. And the good thing is that this
happens every year, so I will have lots of time to arrange yards to clean up
next year, and find buyers for the nuts. And putter making some machinery.

It just bugs me to drive by and see all that money hanging on trees.

Steve

"Derald" wrote

How you coming on your rig? I'm looking forward to the
photos/video. How you gonna get the nuts off the ground, just spread
drop cloths?

Sorry, didn't even answer question. I think I'll use tarps or a vacuum. If
my vacuum idea works, it will take off the outer husks, too. It is
difficult to reach most pecan trees on people's properties because of a lawn
or the like. So, things that are portable, and have to be rigged up on site
at the tree are the order of the day. At the orchards, they strategically
planted the trees so a very large tractor can back up to the trees, attach
itself, and shake, shake, shake. Got one person I'm cutting down a tree for
that will let me play with the pecan trees to experiment on the real deal.
No, the tree I'm cutting is not a pecan.

Steve

Steve B wrote:
"Derald" wrote in message
...
songbird wrote:

welcome back to the funny farm.
Gee, thanks. Just kinda been lurking around, lately.
thanks for the interesting glimpses of the
peacan grower's life.
Hee; you spell it the way Southereners pronounce it ;-)
--
Derald
USDA9b
Peninsular FL, USA

We were in a different south. In Louisiana, they say either puh-cahns or
pwah-cahns.

Steve




A pee-can is something totally different.

Bob

"zxcvbob" wrote

A pee-can is something totally different.

Bob

And it identifies the person as clueless.

Steve

"Steve B" wrote in message
...

"zxcvbob" wrote

A pee-can is something totally different.

Bob

And it identifies the person as clueless.

I disagree. Anyone who can't spot the difference between a peecan and a
pecan should be in an institution where they can receive guided help to get
to the toilet or the table.

Farm1 wrote:
"Steve B" wrote in message
...

"zxcvbob" wrote

A pee-can is something totally different.

Bob

And it identifies the person as clueless.

I disagree. Anyone who can't spot the difference between a peecan
and a pecan should be in an institution where they can receive guided
help to get to the toilet or the table.

this conversation is getting more and more piquant

D

Derald wrote:
David Hare-Scott wrote:
....
this conversation is getting more and more piquant

oooow; still groaning here

peek quant, what certain types of physicists do
when firing up the LHC.

as this is a gardening group i much prefer to
give peas a chance.

oh, and is chimp change banana peels? i give those
to the worms and they are happy.


songbird