Bacterial wilt (Ralstonia solanacearum) is an extremely damaging disease of flue-cured tobacco in North and South Carolina. It is generally believed that infection of tobacco in the field occurs through the root system. The rapid spread of bacterial wilt within South Carolina suggests that the organism is being spread in a more rapid and efficient manner than would be expected solely by the movement of soil on equipment. Field trials conducted at the Pee Dee Research and Education Center and confirmed in large-scale on-farm trials have shown that if R. solanacearum is applied to toppers or simulated harvesting equipment the pathogen can easily be spread to healthy plants during mechanical flower and leaf removal. A survey was conducted to determine if R. solanacearum is a common contaminate on harvesting equipment in South Carolina. Harvesting equipment was sampled for R. solanacearum by streaking sterile cotton swabs first on the harvester surface, then transferring the swab to SM3 media (TZC based). R. solanacearum like colonies that developed on the SM3 media were bioassayed on Rutgers tomato. Pathogenic populations of R. solanacearum were recovered from steel defoliator knives, rubber defoliators and steel guides (51, 50 and 50% of sampled harvesters respectively). The survival of R. solanacearum on a mechanical topper was determined by running the topper through infected plants and sequentially sampling the steel knives for viable populations of R. solanacearum over time as described previously. Pathogenic populations of R. solanacearum could be recovered from 3-6 hours after topping R. solanacearum infected tobacco. The implications for mechanical transmission of R. solanacearum in the south-eastern USA will be discussed.