PEPPER HARVESTER FROM MODIFIED COTTON STRIPPER

A John Deere Model 482 cotton stripper was converted to a machine suitable for harvesting paprika peppers. Modifications included gathering devices to lift and guide the pepper plants into the stripping rolls. Several different stripper rolls were tested and the conveying system was redesigned. Stripping efficiency was about the same for the stripper rolls tested but the helix rolls uprooted plants more than the other types. Powered brush and rubber disc gathering devices received and moved plants into the strippers adequately. The original air-conveyor could not lift some of the wet peppers to the basket but the forage blower, added to the header, conveyed all of the material well.