mecvhanical green bean picker?

I got a call this morning, from our local produce stand, in reguards to an inquery I made in may, about green beans to put in the freezer. They had a bushel, that was from a local farmer in the Puallup valley, waiting for me to pick up. Today ,and this evening, I have been snapping beans, and may get done sometime tomarrow, if I work late enough to night. I keep noticing little indentations on the beans, and strongly suspect that they were left by a mechanical bean picker. Is there such a machine? I never have heard of one, and google could not verify it for me. It sure would save a lot of aching backs, picking bush bean rows, and would replace quite a few south of the border people. I am planning to get ahold of the grower in Puallup, and ask if I can come over and see his operation. Maybe I will find out then. OH YES, the first 3 quarts of beans I snapped, came in off the deck, and was dropped in a pot , with 2 onions cut up, 4 red potatoes, and a half lb. of bacon, and slow cooked till 6:30. FANTASTIC EATING.

search for green bean harvesters.

Yes, there are mechanical pickers. Allen Canning Company has contract growers in southwest MO and northwest AR. They own their picking equipment. It strips the plant completely and seperates the leaves out and leaves them on the ground. The beans go up a conveyer into a semi traveling alongside. Google "pixall". There are some listings on tractorhouse as well.

Google spring bean pickers. In our area the first mechanical pickers came out in the early 1960s. Today, they are huge and five machines run around clock when string bean are in fields around my house. Looks to me they go about 1&1/2 to 2 miles an hour. Rarely break down. Stop once a day to get steam cleaned to keep sanitary. Have seen Latinos driving them and a few of them drive some of the tractor trailer with hydraulic dump. I do not know the people in the canning factory. I have been by one of the rooms where they are flash frozen after packaging. Room is huge.
The neighbors always pickup a few bushels when the picker dumps into trucks and spills a few bushels. They do not miss that often. Some of the machines have side conveyors to unload. It is interested to watch.
The dents in the bean are from the 2 counter rolling shafts with brushes and or rubber like fingers.
I see on u-tube Pixall makes a one row bagger too.
If you are into organic beans, these string beans probably would not be for you. They are sprayed quite a few times. I have been eating them for years and I am 66 years old. They have not caused any health problems yet.

I guess I am not looking for UFO's afterall! I suspected that was what the indentations were caused by, sounds like there is no second picking. Thanks guys.

About 20 years ago, I saw them mechanically picking green beans along Route 1 in Gallatin County Illinois. It was a big operation. After the harvester went through, they opened it up to the home canners in the neighborhood.

Yup, tonite's crock pot supper is gonna be green beans, baby carrots thinned fron the garden, fresh onions and a hill of baby taters, plus cured pig knuckles, since I'm out of salt pork right now. Had summer squash fried in butter and lightly peppered last night.

Canned 23 pints of beans last night. Doing peas as I write this.

Life is good.