The Story

First he invented and patented a hand operated cotton picker with a car battery, went to Texas early in the season to test it, dragged battery and all through the fields. Finally realized the tractor cotton pickers invented by John D. Rustmade made this a fruitless effort. Ray went on to develop a gatherer to pick up tung nuts which was a rake configration. It worked fine....On a carpet floor. After field testing, unfortunately, we had to discard truck loads of these untested tools. It was a leason learned and his second failure. Nuts fall with leaves, tree limbs, in the dirt and in different directions.

A Mrs. Weathersby from Hattiesburg, Mississippi came in the door of Ray's Shop and presented a patented idea of a potato masher with cloth sides, which is now the basic idea of the Ray Griffith pecan gatherer today. The real story was in the development of the process and the marketing of this tool.

This one tool enable the family to educate two sons. One, Tom, a mechanical engineer, went on to service the drilling industry, employing people for forty years. Harry, studied manufacturing, business and law and went on to develop as an artist and entreneur. Harry evolved the company into the powder coating and steel fabrication industry as it stands today.

This tool is directional and can work in all terrains.

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