One of the methods to be utilized in the shelling of peanut is fatigue. It is well-known that fatigue results when a point of a material is subjected to varying stress. In this research the pressure applied on a peanut in the static sense is exercised while the peanut rolls or is made to move in a predetermined fashion. In this case, an apparatus which will apply controllable pressure on a peanut while moving it with constant velocity has been designed. Peanuts which are used in this research are measured with respect to some physical properties. Furthermore, the surface material in contact with the peanut hull was selected as sheet iron, iron grate, wood, wire screen and tyre rubber, which are likely to be used in a peanut shelling machine. With the resulting data correlation between the shelling pressure and the number of cycles has been determined assuming linear and logarithmic models. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.