Pneumatic harvesting of jojoba seeds

A pneumatic harvesting method for jojoba seed was investigated. By constructing a stationary experimental unit, the motion of jojoba seeds and stones, which were close in size and weight to seeds, were examined under the effect of positive, negative, and a combination of both pressures. It was determined that there was a reasonable difference in the motion depending upon test conditions and head design. A vacuum head was designed based on the observations and data obtained from the experiments. Using this head it was possible to pick up jojoba seed without picking up stones. A nonstationary unit was constructed to examine the effect of ground speed on picking efficiency. Results showed that a cleaner harvest using a normal ground speed can be obtained with the new head than with conventional equipment. A blowing head was added to windrow seeds and increase the capacity of the machine. It was determined that when the two heads were used together harvesting field capacity increased, however reduced efficiency was found