{{unreferenced, date=March 2013 Ploeger BP 2000 bean harvester

A bean harvester, also known as a bean thresher or bean

combine Combine may refer to: Machinery * Combine harvester, or combine, a machine to harvest grain crops * Combine seeder, or combine, a machine to plant seeds Company structure * Corporate group, an industrial business group in Western democracie ...

, is a threshing machine which is used to

harvest Harvesting is the process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. On smaller farms with minimal mechanization, harvesting is the most labor-i ...

beans. It mainly consists of a pickup, several beaters, shakers, one or several fans, elevators, conveyor belts, a storage bin, and usually a spreader at the rear. Until recently, the only practical manufacturer of bean harvesters was

The Bidwell Bean Thresher Company The Bidwell Bean Thresher Company was a manufacturer of bean threshing machines used to harvest edible beans. The company was founded by Charles H. Bidwell (born September 10, 1848) of Albion, New York, who, at the age of 10 had already made a ...

Process

The pickup lifts the beans, which are arranged into windrows by

rake Rake may refer to: * Rake (stock character), a man habituated to immoral conduct * Rake (theatre), the artificial slope of a theatre stage Science and technology * Rake receiver, a radio receiver * Rake (geology), the angle between a feature on a ...

s and pullers, off the ground and onto the main conveyor belt which feeds them into the first beater, which has many metal teeth, turns high

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

s, and does a significant portion of the threshing. From there the process varies from machine to machine. Basically the beans go through a series of more beaters and shakers.

Process

See also