The machine digging the peanuts is called an inverter. It digs the peanuts, rolls them over a conveyor
type device, shakes the dirt off the nuts, and leaves the nuts straight up, or "inverted," so the sun
can dry them. In weather like we are having now, over 90* and dry, they will be able to combine those
about the second or third day after digging. They will be dumped on wagons holding five or six tons,
then hauled to the farm or a buying point, where they will be dried using forced heated air.
Many years ago peanuts were dug by simply lifting them out of the ground with smaller tractors and simple
diggers. They were loaded on wagons, and stacked around poles to dry. A stationary combine, usually driven
by a belt pulley mounted on a tractor. The stacks were loaded on wagons and hauled to the combine, or "picker"
as it was often called.
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Georgia On My Mind
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