Bidwell and Keck-Gonnerman built the early edible bean combines. These combines were more gentle on the beans and were designed to handle a lot of ground. I grew large edible beans (dark red kidney, cranberry, otebo, kintoki, etc) for 20 years. Some years we had up to 600 acres. The beans were grown in 30" rows and were cultivated twice for weed control and to form a hill (job for D-17iv diesel). Beans were pulled at night and windrowed with the dew still on to prevent shelling. We started with a Lilliston combine (modified peanut combine) and ended with a BOB which was a sucessor to the Bidwell.
The BOB 666 was 42' long without the tractor, had two spike tooth cylinders and two sets of straw walkers. The bin lifted hydraulicly and poured the beans into the truck.
Beans were never moved by an auger. The best quality beans were canned and the lower quality ended up on the salad bars. We now grow ADUKI beans under contract for the Japanese market. ADUKI's are a small red bean that can be harvested with a conventional combine, are soaked in a sugar solution and are consumed as a candy in Japan.
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