Our team in Haiti grew a great crop of vining non-itchy velvet bean. Because of the hard pods, they have had difficulty shelling them by hand. We have come up with a sheller made from a bicycle powered towel wringer that can shell peanuts and black beans but we won’t be able to deliver it until April. Any suggestions on how to prepare the pods for easier shelling
I usually put them on a tarp in the sun for a few days and they eventually pop open on their own. Then you just have to separate the pods from the seeds.
Thanks, that’s what happened though it still took some beating with a stick.
How about sharing some details on the sheller machine? Photos of even a prototype, might be helpful for others.
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I second that one about sharing details about the sheller 
Re Sheller prototype: I’ve used it on soybeans and peanuts and it works well in my shop. It will get a real world test in April, so it will probably take some adjustments then. Give me a couple of days and I will share the details on it.
I’ve attached a sketch of the sheller as an attachment but am unsure if the ECHO communications takes attachments. Anyhow, the main component is a towel wringer made by Cailliger. It consists of 2 rollers that the bean pods are fed into.The tension between the two rollers can be adjusted with a thumbscrew on the top. Nuts or beans get squeezed out and pods go one way seeds another. (in theory, not always). The cookie sheet with sides acts as the feed tray. Cut the corners of one end so that it fits close to the rollers and is positioned so that the beans are fed between the rollers. I mounted 2 tool magnets from Harbor Freight on the top of the box that raises the cookie sheet to the right height. It assures that the tray doesn’t move but can be lifted off for cleaning or repositioned. The magnets are strong so it takes some muscle to separate it from the steel cookie sheet but does the trick nicely. The handle unbolts so in our case we can add another shaft so it attaches to a bicycle power set up. Could also be handcranked. Again, I stress that this is a prototype and will take some adjusting once I deliver it to the team and get their feedback in the middle of April. I made it so that it easily disassembles. Costs: Wringer from Amazon $149. Steel cookie sheet $20. Two magnets from Harbor Freight $4.99 each. You can email directly at Gordon.Harvesting4Haiti@gmail.com.
(Attachment Scanner.docx is missing)
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I’ve attached a sketch of the sheller as an attachment as a PDF . Anyhow, the main component is a towel wringer made by Cailliger. It consists of 2 rollers that the bean pods are fed into.The tension between the two rollers can be adjusted with a thumbscrew on the top. Nuts or beans get squeezed out and pods go one way seeds another. (in theory, not always). The cookie sheet with sides acts as the feed tray. Cut the corners of one end so that it fits close to the rollers and is positioned so that the beans are fed between the rollers. I mounted 2 tool magnets from Harbor Freight on the top of the box that raises the cookie sheet to the right height. It assures that the tray doesn’t move but can be lifted off for cleaning or repositioned. The magnets are strong so it takes some muscle to separate it from the steel cookie sheet but does the trick nicely. The handle unbolts so in our case we can add another shaft so it attaches to a bicycle power set up. Could also be handcranked. Again, I stress that this is a prototype and will take some adjusting once I deliver it to the team and get their feedback in the middle of April. I made it so that it easily disassembles. Costs: Wringer from Amazon $149. Steel cookie sheet $20. Two magnets from Harbor Freight $4.99 each. You can email directly at Gordon.Harvesting4Haiti@gmail.com.
Scanner.pdf (564 KB)
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Thanks much Gordon
The cookie sheet is referred to as a 20inch x 14inch extra large sheet pan.
Thanks, looks straightforward to build.