Go BottomSomething to pick up walnuts
 | Duane Pearl
Join Date: Posts: 1 
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2000-09-17 19850
I was wondering if there is any type of lawn sweep that would pick up black walnuts, as my yard is plagued by several large black walnut trees. I do not wish to cut them down because they are the only trees around, but they make a horrible mess, not to mention they are hard on the mower blades of my new Kubota B7500 HST (which I LOVE by the way). Picking them up by hand is like pissing into the wind, they just keep falling for like a month in the fall, and there is just simply too many of them. Is there anything on the market that would help me out? Is there a way to modify a lawn sweep so that it will pick them up? ( I am a tool and die maker, and can make just about anything) Any and all help would be appreciated.
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| Bird Senter
Join Date: Jun 1999 Posts: 962 
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2000-09-17 19852
Duane, I'll sure be interested in any answers to this one. I have a dozen pecan trees and haven't found a good way to pick them up, except by hand, since I can't afford the big equipment that's used by the commercial orchards. I've often wondered about a PTO powered rotary broom similar to the brooms used on some street sweepers, but if they exist, that too might be too expensive. ....
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| Duane Pearl
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2000-09-17 19856
I too was looking at commercial nut picker-uppers, or whatever you call them. They are far too expensive. Then I looked at golf ball picker-uppers. They too are very expensive, but I think their design is easy to build. They basically have plastic discs that spin on a shaft which press down over the golf balls, picking them up to be scraped out from between the discs by a little metal finger, and deposited in a bin. This would work for walnuts too I think, but maybe not pecans. Walnuts have that green thick outer husk type thingy on them that would help. You see, golf balls are all the same size, but walnuts vary. However, if those plastic discs were rugged enough, they could slice right down into the husk, allowing for some variance in the size of the nut. I am thinking if I bought a lawn sweep and retrofitted a shaft full of discs on it instead of brushes, I could possibly solve my dilemma. Not sure though, and any input on my idea or anyone elses idea would be great. ....
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| Bird Senter
Join Date: Jun 1999 Posts: 962
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2000-09-17 19858
Duane, I'm familiar with the equipment for picking up golf balls, but of course, that won't work for the pecans for a number of reasons. One being the different sizes and another being the fact that the golf balls are picked up off manicured grass for the most part. I'd like something to not only gather the pecans in one pile, but also to sweep or clean the ground under the trees before the nuts fall. I mow it very short first and I've raked, used a leaf blower, etc., and I've tried about 3 of the manual rollers for picking them up, but nothing that I really liked yet. When I was a kid, we had a black walnut tree and we put a concrete watering trough in the ground under that tree for a little fish pond. We learned very quickly that black walnuts falling in the water kill fish! ....
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| charlie
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2000-09-17 19860
i tried out a york rake a couple years ago.i wasn't to impressed with it(doesn't hold a candle to a pulvillizer),but it did a good job cleaning up my walnuts.i set the top link to where the teeth didn't tear the grass to bad and went to town.i just left them in piles and picked them up with the front loader.good luck ....
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| Duane Pearl
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2000-09-17 19863
what is a york rake? and where can I find one? ....
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| Jim Youtz
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2000-09-18 19865
You guys might try a 3 pt rake called a pinestraw rake. Its like a comb (leaf rake) with fine tines which they say works well for raking pine needles and dethatching lawns. Since I have lots of pine needles, I plan to buy one someday. They are fairly cheap (5' model = $150) and not all that heavy to ship.
They are made by Leinbach Manufacturing (Winston-Salem N. Carolina). I have to run now, but if anyone need a phone no. or address, I can dig up the literature that I received on these implements. ....
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| Richard
Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 0 ky
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2000-09-18 19871
Please post thier phone number and address ....
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| Phil Serre
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2000-09-18 19873
Duane
I am doing the same search that you are. Here are a few products that I have found. "Steinerturf.com" a steiner LS340 lawn sweeper - its made to jam grass, leaves, sticks and other debris into it's hopper. It's a two stage system, I had a demo and the unit worked great. It picked up rocks sticks apples etc. It cost around $2400.00. " Wickco.com" has a model 136 estate groom sweeper - Heavy duty and they say "The brush has the power to pickup leaves, pine needles, wet or dry grass clippings, and other similar debris" it cost $795.00. The really nice units are made by "Trilo.com" but are pretty expensive. I am trying to find out the actual price and were I can get one. If you get any information on units like these please let me know.
Happy Tractoring
Phil ....
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 | Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999 Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada 
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2000-09-18 19879
Duane, I regularly have the same chore to perform (albeit with acorns and other nuts also) the only thing I have found that will do the job is an older "Olathe Sweeper" that I purchased at a 'surplus equipment' auction, they used to be very common amongst municipalities, etc. They were made by the Olathe Equipment Company, in Olathe, Kansas. I'm not sure if they are still around, but lots of their equipment still is. It works on the basis of two counter-rotating rows of rubber 'fingers' that just barely mesh together, causing a combination of vacuum and physical lifting action, this causes the debris to be blown up into the bin above. In my case the 'bin' is about 8' wide, 8' long & 5' high, and is able to dump high enough (by a cable and pulley actuated hydraulic system) to load directly into a dump truck. It rides on a series of 5 wheels, 4 below, and one steering caster whell in front, it is pulled with the draw-bar, and self-powered (including hydraulics) by a 16hp Kohler gas engine. It will also clean up twigs, etc., and de-thatch as you go. Best of luck. ....
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| Duane Pearl
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2000-09-18 19888
These are all good ideas, but I think that many of them are a little out of my price reange. I just spent 14,000 on my Kubota with a mower and loader, and I really don't want to spend a whole lot more... probably no more than a couple of hundred dollars. I am thinking that some sort of rake would be good enough. It would not be as nice as something that would actually pick the nuts up and into a bin, but it would be better than walking around for hours picking them up one at a time. If any one can give me some more info on the rakes mentioned in this thread it would be appreciated. My father has a rock rake for a small tractor, but it would rip the grass right out of the ground, and that is where my knowledge of rakes ends. ....
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| turfman
Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 97 midwest
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2000-09-18 19892
Olathe is now a div. of Toro. They bought them a few years back. I have found the best thing for picking up nuts,acorns, apples and the like is a shindawa power broom and a loader bucket. This works like a charm. I have picked up a lot of these in a small amount of time. Depends on how much you have to do. ....
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| moj
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2000-09-18 19893
Duane, See link for info on a York rake...I have the budget version , a 6' "modern implements" unit made my York Modern Corporation...It has no wheels. and does a decent job of raking rock on newly graded dirt into neat rows which can then be easily picked up...Just might work for the Walnuts also...I paid about $400 for the rake 10 years ago...the officil "York" version sells for a bit more...hope this helps - MOJ ....
Link: York Rake homepage/photo
Picture Link
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| Greg franklin
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2000-09-18 19895
No suggestions here, just a memory. Back around 1975 or so, I picked up walnuts (by hand) and sold them to buy my first rifle, a Winchester 9422 for squirrels. At that time, they were buying them for 5 cents a pound, green, after being hulled. ....
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| Paul Fox
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2000-09-19 19907
Dunno if it would work or not, but it might be interesting to look at the site below. It's a commercial duty vacuum rig, has a special plastic impeller that is alledgedly bullet-proof. Runs about $1000, but would be generally useful. I kinda want one myself, for collecting and composting leaves, just ain't got the spare grand... ....
Link: Cyclone Rakes
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| Frank R Taylor
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2000-09-21 19959
I don't know if it will help but years ago I saw a home made contraption called a "pecan picker". It was built a little like a childs push toy with a metal handle and at the end was a wire drum about the size of a coffee can that looked a lot like a slinky toy with the wires spaced further apart. The weight and downward pressure forced the pecans to pass through the wires and retained them in the inside of the wire drum for emptying when the drum was full. The guy said it worked pretty well and was a lot easier on his back than hand picking. I hope I have explained it well enough to make sense but at least I may have given you an idea to develop. ....
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| Bird Senter
Join Date: Jun 1999 Posts: 962
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2000-09-21 19960
Frank, a number of companies make the contraption you mentioned, with very slight variations. I think every hardware store in this part of the country has them. And I have one; even use it occasionally. A neighbor also has a contraption that looks a great deal like the old manually pushed reel type lawn mowers with a grass catcher, except the reel is larger with lots of rubber "fingers" that the nuts stick between, then fixed fingers knock them off into the catcher. Both types work great on CLEAN, SMOOTH, HARD SURFACES. In other words, practically useless in real life conditions. ....
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| Duane Pearl
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2000-09-22 20001
All Walnut picking and no play makes Duane a dull boy. I hate walnuts. If it wasn't for the fact that all 13 trees in my yard were walnut trees, I would cut them all down. I spent hundreds of hours this summer grading and planting my 4 acres. Now it seems like wherever a walnut falls, the grass dies. I hate walnuts. I bought a york rake today, but it simply tears up the grass... maybe if it were completely dry it would work better, but my land is somewhat damp. Also, I wonder if because the grass is so new, that the roots are just too weak to resist being pulled out by the rake. At any rate, I spent alot of money for something that probably won't ever work as well as I'd like it too. I will never use it for anything else, so I hope they will take it back. I think I am going to look for a used steiner lawn sweep. Too bad Kubota doesn't make one. ....
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| Jim Youtz
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2000-09-23 20010
Guys, I have been out of town. Here is the info on the 3 pt. pinestraw rakes. Made by: Leinbach Machinery Co., 5000 Reynolds Rd. (HWY 67W), PO Box 11786 Winston-Salem, NC, 27116. (336)924-4115. Their latest info lists a 5' rake (PSR-5) for $149 and a 6' model (PSR-6) for $169. They say it works good on pine needles, grass, and to dethatch lawn. I bet it would work for raking nuts. ....
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| Duane Pearl
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2000-09-26 20093
Just figured out that even if there was an implement that would pick these things up, it wouldn't be good to use it with a tractor as heavy as my B7500. When you drive over walnuts, they get pressed into the soil, where their husk rots off and kills the grass due to their acidity. After they are pressed into the soil, the only way to get them out is to dig them out with a hand rake or something of the sort. Therefore, unless you have an attachment that goes on the front of the tractor, you're going to smash at least a few nuts right into the ground. To put it simple, I give up. There's just nothing on the market that will pick these things up. At least not something that is reasonably priced. I have resigned myself to just picking them up by hand. ....
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| turfman
Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 97 midwest
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2000-09-26 20097
On a lighter note. was at the driving range today and the owner was complaining that the walnuts were getting in the baskets!!!! There you go, problem solved!!!!!! LMAO!! good luck ....
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| RegL
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2000-09-26 20098
try putting an add in your local paper.Might find someone who bakes who will pick up those nuts for you. ....
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| Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999 Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2000-09-27 20114
Maybe the problem is not too many walnuts.....maybe you just don't have enough squirrels???? Then again, maybe I'm too nuts and you have walnuts.... ....
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| Michigander
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2000-09-27 20119
I also have a couple of walnut trees. I use a "Estate Rake" that I bought at Quality Farm & Fleet. ($300) It's looks like a minature hayrake but is only 48" wide. I pull it with my riding mower and it puts the walnuts in a windrow. Then I nailed tarp to a 2x4 with a rope hooked to the rider and just push them on to the tarp with a garden rake as my 8 yr old drives. It does pick up some thatch from the lawn but seems to work well otherwise. It is the same process I use on the lawn when it grows faster than I can keep it mowed. Beats all the dead spots in the grass. ....
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| Phil Serre
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2000-09-28 20138
Duane
A few postings back I mentioned the steiner LS340 sweeper. I don't know if you had time to look at it but you can off set it to the left, right or set it to follow the tractor. If you off set it you wouldn't have to drive over the walnuts to pick them up. I think they will come out to demo it at you loacation. Steinerturf.com" ....
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| mywolflover
Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 1 Arlington,IA
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2007-10-06 146601
I asked around my town and I found a website that has what you need it is not a lawn sweep, it is hand held but ONLY $45-$50 USD please check it out at www.nutwizard.com :-) So have fun they even have a video clip of it being used by kids to show how easy it is!!!!! ....
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| FrogLick
Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 14 Kentucky
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2007-10-07 146614
Probably the least expensive and lowest tech solution would be something like what they use in Italy to harvest olives. They use olive nets which are layed on the ground under the trees; these are nothing more than tarp sized nets with mesh sized to prevent the olives from falling through. Similar nets with slightly bigger mesh are sold through various gardening catalogs as bird netting to place over trees to keep birds out of fruit. I certainly know what you mean about how messy these trees are, but black walnuts in particular are a valuable crop that might help pay off that tractor. Netting wouldn't kill the grass and you could harvest once a week or so before you mowed. ....
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| 8x56mn
Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 167 Watkins Glen NY
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2007-10-09 146658
Well, not for nothing, but I just run over them with my Ferris and let the squirrels take care of them, problem solved. ....
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| Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999 Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2007-10-09 146661
Other than the fact that this thread is now 7 years old....
How exactly are Black Walnuts a valuable crop?
We've got lots of Black Walnut trees and more walnuts than we know what to do with.
Best of luck. ....
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| FrogLick
Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 14 Kentucky
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2007-10-09 146665
Yep Murf, some threads just keep popping up, especially on a site that has lower participation.
As to the value of black walnut, obvioulsy you'd have to find a buyer. When we lived in Arkansas our local feed store bought them every fall presumably to resell to a processor. Or you could sell them at a farmers market yourself, or just put an ad in the local paper offering them for free to anyone wanting to pick them up. Thay make a mighty fine pie! ....
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 | auerbach
Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 2168 West of Toronto
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2007-10-09 146666
Let them lie. If squirrels don't move in and work for you, eventually your mower wheels will push them into the ground. Set your blades a couple inches up. ....
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 | DennisCTB
Join Date: Nov 1998 Posts: 2707 NorthWest NJ
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2007-10-09 146669
I was wondering how this old thread came up and I goggled for "Something to pick up walnuts" and Tractorpoint is Number one for that topic ;-) Ain't that great!
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| davitk
Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 3 Southern Wisconsin
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2007-10-10 146778
If we don't pick up our walnuts, the yard ends up 3" deep. If they weren't such beautiful trees 10 months of the year I'd say "chop 'em down!"
(Hiring the kids at 1 penny per walnut you would THINK would work, but turns out that's not enough money........) ....
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| auerbach
Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 2168 West of Toronto
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2007-10-11 146797
Well, you could just rake them toward the trunk where they'll serve as mulch, and mow only the raked area.
Here, some people worship them -- there's a Black Walnut Restaurant, a Black Walnut Dance Troup, a Black Walnut Drive, etc, so when I moved here I planted a grove, but the only use of mine has been by the squirrels. I'm told they taste good, once you get them shelled, but I differ with the squirrels on that point. ....
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