Abstract: A soil sample taker includes a sample-taking probe, a support frame, a removable sample-collecting receptacle having an open side and partitions hingedly disposed inside the receptacle and capable of pivoting to define essentially equally-sized compartments and to substantially close two of the compartments. An actuator having a motor, a tubular housing, a screw mechanism, an shaft, and a partition mover is used to pivot the partitions for the purpose of separating and collecting the soil samples. A control unit switch is used to energize the motor which actuates the screw mechanism which moves the shaft which moves the partition mover which moves the partitions. An air evacuator is mounted to the support frame and includes an elongate nozzle support, a nozzle housing, and a air nozzle for effectively and conveniently blowing out the bottom end of the probe where a small amount of soil sample may be engaged.