A self-stacking sod harvester is changing the game on farms across Alabama. The machine requires just one operator compared to three needed on traditional machines.
Self-Stacking Sod Harvester A Game-Changer Automated sod harvesters neatly cut and stack sod with help from just one operator. Slabs are cut every 24 inches, fed onto a conveyor and stacked.
By Marlee Moore he first time Matt Smith saw T an automated sod harvester demonstrated on his Dixie Sod Farm, he believed it could never stack up to his then-familiar system — one man in the cab, two on the back loading pallets. “I said, ‘We’ll be hand-stacking forever,’” he remembered, noting how the rough mechanism tore the sod as it stacked, reducing quality. Fast forward to 2021, and an automated bright-blue FireFly ProSlab 155B cuts a sharp figure across Smith’s third-generation farm in Pell City east of Birmingham. alfafarmers.org
The new harvester, a different brand from the years-ago demo, simultaneously cuts and neatly stacks sod with just one operator. It’s an essential advancement in technology that reduces inputs while delivering symmetrical slabs of sod with limited damage. That’s critical when labor is hard to find. The summer Smith invested in the FireFly, it was rare to have workers who lasted more than a few days manually moving sod in the blistering Alabama heat. “Sure, you can cut labor, but that’s not a selling point for me,” said Smith, 39. “Now, instead of guys hanging on the back of a machine stacking sod on pallets, they’re working somewhere else on the farm. My dad’s rule of thumb was one man per 40 acres of grass. With new equipment, we need one man for 75-80 acres.” Today, an operator climbs into the
cab and hits the fields armed with a joystick and keypad. The cutter slides under the grass while chopping slabs every 24 inches. The cutting mechanism feeds sod onto a conveyor, positioning turf for stacking. A simple hook system driven by electric servo motors places the sod on pallets, completing a
Matt Smith is a third-generation sod farmer in St. Clair County and serves on the State Greenhouse, Nursery & Sod Committee. October 2021
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