A sod harvester cuts several side-by-side strips of sod, preferably of total width equal to the width of a pallet, and directs the strips up three sets of conveyors arranged in sequence. The first conveyor set runs at or near ground speed; the second conveyor set runs at about double ground speed, and the third conveyor set runs at about triple ground speed. This creates a spatial and time gap between the trailing edges of a set of sod strips on the third conveyor and the leading edges of the next set of sod strips behind them on the second conveyor. The time gap is sufficient to stop the sod strips on the third conveyor and then pick them up and stack them on a pallet.