Silas’ Chestnut Harvesting Guide

How to Harvest Chestnuts: Tips from Bag-A-Nut President Silas Dudley

One of the most rewarding parts of Silas Dudley’s role as president of Bag-A-Nut is managing the company’s testing grounds in Georgia. There, he puts Bag-A-Nut products to work in real-world conditions, looking for ways to improve their performance and better meet customers’ needs.

By approaching every test from the customer’s perspective, Silas gains firsthand insight into the challenges growers face. Most recently, he put Bag-A-Nut harvesters to the test in a chestnut orchard. Based on that experience, he created this practical guide to help make harvesting chestnuts as smooth and efficient as possible.

Silas’s Chestnut Harvesting Guide

After spending time in the chestnut orchard last fall, I identified several strategies for harvesting chestnuts successfully with Bag-A-Nut products. I’m sharing what I learned in the hope that these tips will help you save time, protect your harvest, and simplify the process.

Understanding the Chestnut Harvest

Harvesting chestnuts is different from harvesting many of the other nuts our equipment is designed to collect.

Unlike pecans, chestnuts cannot be shaken from the tree and harvested all at once. Shaking them down too early may result in underdeveloped nuts, and the bright green outer burrs will be extremely difficult to open.

Chestnuts also do not hold up well when left on the ground. They can spoil quickly, and squirrels, deer, and other wildlife will readily eat any nuts that have fallen out of their burrs.

Because of this, growers commonly harvest every other day once the chestnuts begin to mature One of my contacts in Georgia—a grower and Bag-A-Nut customer—runs his harvesters through the orchard every other day from September through mid-October.

Chestnuts also come with an additional challenge: their large, sharp burrs. These burrs must be collected and handled carefully, especially because some nuts remain trapped inside them after falling from the tree.

Sorting and Storing Chestnuts

Although Bag-A-Nut does not currently offer equipment for every stage of chestnut processing, it is helpful to understand what happens after the nuts are collected. The exact process will depend on whether you are harvesting chestnuts for personal use or preparing them for retail sale.

After harvesting, the chestnuts must be sorted and separated from leaves, sticks, burrs, and other debris. This can be done by hand or with a Bag-A-Nut Sorting Table. However, sorting chestnuts is more challenging than sorting pecans because the burrs are sharp and often need to be pried open to release the nuts inside.

One of our customers uses a machine imported from China to separate chestnuts from their burrs. It can be difficult to determine exactly when mechanical processing becomes necessary, but burr removal is possibly the most labor-intensive part of working with chestnuts. Once harvest volume increases, a machine for this step can become essential.

The Water-Bath Process

After the chestnuts have been separated from the burrs, retail growers typically soak them in water heated to approximately 120°F for about 10 minutes. Rotten chestnuts will float, making them easier to identify and remove. The warm-water treatment can also kill any worms that may be present.

I have not encountered worms in my Georgia chestnuts, but I’m told they are more common in northern orchards.

I did not use the full hot-water treatment on my harvest. Instead, I soaked my chestnuts in lukewarm water to identify any rotten nuts. John tells me that growers preparing chestnuts for retail generally use the 120°F treatment.

Preparing Chestnuts for Storage

Following the water bath, chestnuts should be placed in cold storage unless you plan to eat them within approximately one month.

Because one of our customers sells his chestnuts directly to consumers, he takes several extra steps to ensure a high-quality product. Before placing the chestnuts in cold storage, he sorts them by size, checks each batch for good color, and removes any nuts that appear damaged or unhealthy. This additional effort is worthwhile because large, attractive chestnuts can command a premium price.

Tips for Harvesting Chestnuts with a Bag-A-Nut

Based on my experience in the orchard, I recommend the following steps:

• Plan for sorting and storage before harvesting begins. Your process will depend on whether the chestnuts are for personal use or retail sale.
• Mow the orchard before harvest season. Remove fallen limbs, sticks, and other debris from the orchard floor so the harvester can operate effectively.
• Trim trees during the winter. Maintain enough clearance beneath low-hanging limbs to work safely. Chestnut burrs are extremely sharp, and being struck in the face by one can cause a serious injury.
• Skip the backpack blower. In my experience, it is not worth the trouble because the leaves do not typically fall at the same time as the chestnuts.
• Choose the largest harvester your budget allows. A larger model will help you cover more ground and manage the frequent harvesting schedule more efficiently.

Consider Using Separate Harvesters for Burrs and Nuts

For the most efficient setup, I recommend using two harvesters: one designed to collect burrs and another designed to collect loose chestnuts.

I do not recommend purchasing one frame and repeatedly changing between a burr head and a nut head. Switching the heads can slow down the harvesting process and become inconvenient during a busy season.

When the budget allows for only one harvester, I recommend choosing the burr harvester. Removing the burrs makes it much easier to see and collect the loose chestnuts, whether you are harvesting by hand, using a stabber, or returning with another rolling harvester.

Leaving the burrs on the orchard floor can make a nut-only rolling harvester difficult to use. Burrs also need to be collected because chestnuts frequently remain trapped inside them. Gathering the burrs helps ensure you do not leave part of your crop behind.

Make the Most of Your Chestnut Harvest

Chestnut harvesting requires frequent collection, careful sorting, and proper storage, but the right preparation and equipment can make the process much more manageable. By keeping the orchard floor clear, collecting both burrs and loose nuts, and planning your post-harvest process in advance, you can protect more of your crop and work more efficiently.

I hope these tips help you enjoy a safe, productive, and successful chestnut harvest this fall!