A sod harvester and a method for maintaining the integrity of a sod roll during sod roll transfer with the sod harvester having a first power assist rotatable sod roll cradle containing a set of spokes with opposed faces that laterally engage and dynamically cradle a sod roll as the sod roll falls from an upper conveyor to a lower conveyor so that a further set of opposed faces on the rotatable spokes laterally engage a further sod roll on an upper conveyor through a torque applied to the sod cradle by a low power hydraulic motor as the sod roll falls from the upper conveyor to the lower conveyor with the cycle repeated with each sod roll that is discharged from the upper conveyor to thereby maintain the integrity of the sod rolls within the sod harvester.