Adaptation and testing of the Agleader cotton yield sensor on a peanut combine

An Agleader cotton yield monitor was modified for use as a peanut yield monitor for harvest during the 2000, 2001, and 2002 seasons. A single pair of optical sensors was mounted on the vertical portion of the delivery chute between the air fan and basket. The first season's harvest resulted in severe pitting and scarring of a glass plate used to protect the sensors from peanut and foreign material abrasion. Even so, mean load absolute error was only 11.6% for 25 loads of peanuts harvested. For the second and third seasons, a deflection baffle and a small air circulation opening at the bottom of each sensor were made to prevent abrasion from peanuts and foreign material and to reduce dust build-up, respectively. Inspection of the sensors showed that the modifications did prevent pitting and scarring on the sensor covering and that the dust build-up was reduced significantly. Absolute mean load error for three different fields harvested was 9.4%, 3.2%, and 4.9%. It was determined that adjustments to the combine at the beginning of the harvest season created the larger error in the first field. Once the machine was adjusted and the yield monitor calibrated to that setting, the Agleader yield monitor results were comparable to the results when used to monitor cotton yield.