Preparing for Pecan Harvest

In just a short few weeks pecan harvest will begin at Little Eva Plantation. There are many tasks to be completed prior to the familiar site of our orange Savage pecan harvesters circling around and under the pecan trees.

Our workers are continually picking up limbs throughout the growing season and taking them to what we call "master piles". At the beginning of each growing season, we try and locate an empty area to start a limb pile as we know that this pile will continue to enlarge as limbs that have fell from wind damage, lightning, or pruning practices are added to it throughout the spring and summer months.

These piles will be burned after the harvesting is done and after the trees have shed all their leaves from fall frosts. If the piles were burned before the trees have lost their leaves, it would be a high probability that the heat from the burning limb piles could damage the leaves of the surrounding trees. It is important to maintain healthy foliage well into fall as the trees are storing energy for the next years pecan crop. After the large limbs are moved, a limb rake is pulled up each row of trees to gather up small limbs and debris. Guess this is like "sweeping" the floor - the orchard floor. This completed brings on the mowing with the bush hog. Once bush hogging is finished the orchard floor looks perfectly clean, neat, and tidy. 

Now it's time for the pecan harvesting equipment to be inspected and serviced so as to try and prevent unnecessary breakdowns as it is very critical that harvest be completed as quickly as possible. The tractors, pecan harvesters, and the pecan shaker are gone over with a fine tooth comb. Tires are checked on the pecan wagons and any dry rotted or flat tires are replaced or repaired

On to the warehouse to check out all the dump pits, elevators, dirt machine, stick machine, various electric motors, air compressors, the Savage In-Shell sorter, pecan cracker, and pecan sheller. As one can see it is much preparation that goes into getting prepared for each year's pecan harvest.