| Author |
 Topic Search  Topic Options
|
CrestonM 
Orange Level
Joined: 08 Sep 2014
Location: Oklahoma
Points: 8408
|
 Post Options
 Thanks(0)
 Quote  Reply
 Topic: Cotton Stripping
Posted: 28 Dec 2018 at 9:48pm |
Hey guys, haven't been on in a while...been tied up with a bunch of strippers. (Could be a direct quote from Shameless, eh?) In the link below are a few photos of my 1975 860, and the three 880s which belong to the guy I'm working for doing custom cotton stripping. Also in the link are photos of a pretty rare cotton stripper called a Ben Pearson. (Yes, the same guy who makes archery equipment). The Ben Pearson machines are quite rare, and this is the first I've ever seen up close. A little story on the Ben Pearson...even though they're not Allis, they have ties....Allis supplied the headers and a few other parts to build these machines, but only about 200 were built according to the very few sources of information I've found. I've tried looking for information about them on the internet for years, with little success. They have the same Continental lint cleaner as an Allis, but the Allis unit is 3' wide, whereas the Ben Pearson has a full-width extractor 6' wide. It is also relocated under the basket, whereas the Allis unit (And all other strippers) is mounted right behind the cab. The Ben Pearson's major components are all roughly twice the size as the Allis components, and I've heard several stories of those machines ingesting rather large tree branches with no ill effect on the machine...they just kept going. A few custom harvesters had them in the 1970s, but with a poor dealer network coupled with overall bad cotton stripper market, production ceased and the production facility was supposedly moved to Argentina in the late 1970s. A Ford inline 6 diesel provides the power, and each drive wheel is coupled to a hydraulic motor, much like a swather. Cabs were built by Ansel. Hopefully I'll be able to find out more about these machines in the future, because right now everything's kinda gray....they're obviously a well built, high capacity machine, but there's just not much information around about them.
Anyway, back to Allis, I'm helping a friend custom strip cotton with my 860. His clients are farmers who initially hired new Deere strippers and pickers, but then ran them off after the sorry job they were doing and all the cotton they were leaving in the field.
Here's the link below. Not many photos this year, but the season isn't over either. Fun fact...the 880 with the swamp cooler on the cab roof has over 6,500 hours on the working hour meter in the cab. It's still a fine running machine, though. Nowhere near as complicated as any combine, so they tend to age well when well maintained, and maintenance on a cotton stripper is relatively low. Cotton pickers are the total opposite.
Edited by CrestonM - 28 Dec 2018 at 9:50pm
|
 |
|
Sponsored Links
|
|
|
SteveM C/IL
Orange Level Access
Joined: 12 Sep 2009
Location: Shelbyville IL
Points: 8353
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 28 Dec 2018 at 10:08pm |
|
that's pretty neat Creston! That off breed is one ugly,clumsy looking machine.
|
|
CrestonM
Orange Level
Joined: 08 Sep 2014
Location: Oklahoma
Points: 8408
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 28 Dec 2018 at 10:18pm |
|
Yeah, they do look quite a bit different from any other cotton stripper I've ever seen...especially with the drive wheels so far back and the extractor under the basket. Perhaps part of why so few were built.
|
|
injpumpEd
Orange Level Access
Joined: 13 Sep 2009
Location: Walnut IL
Points: 4958
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 29 Dec 2018 at 11:07am |
|
WOW! Thanks for sharing! I knew Ben Pearson built pickers, also using the Rust Design like the AC pickers. But in S. Texas we didn't have cotton strippers, just low drum pickers for the most part. I can hardly find any info on the pearson pickers either. I still have a magnetic dash clip from Ben Pearson Cotton Pickers dealer in Mercedes Tx from the 70's. I think dad and grandpa got parts for our AC pickers there, since AC had discontinued all the picker parts.
|
|
210 "too hot to farm" puller, part of the "insane pumpkin posse". Owner of Guenther Heritage Diesel, specializing in fuel injection systems on heritage era tractors. stock rebuilds to all out pullers!
|
|
Ray54
Orange Level Access
Joined: 22 Nov 2009
Location: Paso Robles, Ca
Points: 4613
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 29 Dec 2018 at 2:16pm |
|
I know nothing about cotton harvesting other than cotton strippers where not used in California. But the Ben Pearson name is familiar and the blue color also. Do you know of any other equipment they built.
|
|
Sugarmaker
Orange Level
Joined: 12 Jul 2013
Location: Albion PA
Points: 8331
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 29 Dec 2018 at 3:50pm |
Creston, Good pictures. We want to see the rope burns!:) Regards, Chris
|
|
D17 1958 (NFE), WD45 1954 (NFE), WD 1952 (NFE), WD 1950 (WFE), Allis F-40 forklift, Allis CA, Allis D14, Ford Jubilee, Many IH Cub Cadets, 32 Ford Dump, 65 Comet.
|
|
CrestonM
Orange Level
Joined: 08 Sep 2014
Location: Oklahoma
Points: 8408
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 29 Dec 2018 at 6:05pm |
 Ray54 wrote:
I know nothing about cotton harvesting other than cotton strippers where not used in California. But the Ben Pearson name is familiar and the blue color also. Do you know of any other equipment they built.
|
Aside from cotton pickers/strippers and archery equipment, I don't know if they built anything else.
|
|
JohnCO
Orange Level
Joined: 11 Sep 2009
Location: Niwot Colo
Points: 8992
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 29 Dec 2018 at 8:16pm |
Darn Creston, you sure got me excited when you mentioned being tied up with strippers, I haven't seen a post from Shameless yet, you may have given him a heart attack! Why am I not surprised that JD cotton machinery isn't any better then the rest of their junk?
Maybe I better call Mrs. Shameless and make sure Dale isn't in the ICU!
Those AC units still look modern to me, something that can go through the field and get the job done. I thought from your post the Pearsons unit was running, hopefully someone will resurrect it.
Edited by JohnCO - 29 Dec 2018 at 8:24pm
|
|
"If at first you don't succeed, get a bigger hammer"
Allis Express participant
|
|
AC7060IL
Orange Level
Joined: 19 Aug 2012
Location: central IL
Points: 3430
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 30 Dec 2018 at 4:55am |
|
Creation, thanks for sharing your pictures & video. Seems like you have many night photos. I guess cotton strips better after dark? Those stripper reels really rotate fast, eh? Are all four Allis diesels? Ever see or pickup any rattlesnakes in the cotton fields?
Edited by AC7060IL - 30 Dec 2018 at 5:00am
|
|
ac hunter
Orange Level
Joined: 05 Jan 2011
Location: OHIO
Points: 1013
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 30 Dec 2018 at 8:18am |
|
Is there a simple explanation of the difference between a cotton stripper and a cotton picker? We don't know much about cotton up here in Ohio.
|
|
injpumpEd
Orange Level Access
Joined: 13 Sep 2009
Location: Walnut IL
Points: 4958
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 30 Dec 2018 at 10:29am |
|
Ben Pearson also made exhaust tubing benders.
|
|
210 "too hot to farm" puller, part of the "insane pumpkin posse". Owner of Guenther Heritage Diesel, specializing in fuel injection systems on heritage era tractors. stock rebuilds to all out pullers!
|
|
CrestonM
Orange Level
Joined: 08 Sep 2014
Location: Oklahoma
Points: 8408
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 30 Dec 2018 at 9:32pm |
ac hunter wrote:
Is there a simple explanation of the difference between a cotton stripper and a cotton picker? We don't know much about cotton up here in Ohio. |
Well, it's kinda hard to explain without photos, so I'll let Allis-Chalmers explain the differences. You will benefit greatly from watching the two videos in the hyperlinks below.
A cotton picker is super high maintenance, lots of wear parts. Gotta keep an on-board water tank for moistening the picking spindles, and I've heard you go through a 55 gallon drum of picking spindle grease every week, per the local Deere dealer. Pickers are most common in the deep south where it doesn't get cold enough to freeze and defoliate the plants. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wVgpPFu9rc
A cotton stripper is a lot simpler machine. Originally they were frowned upon because they just stripped everything off the stalk (leaves, burrs, sticks, etc.) and blew it into the basket. (This would be equivalent to leaving the sieves on your combine wide open) In the 1960s Allis teamed with the Continental Gin company of Lubbock, TX and began installing burr extractors on the machines, which cleans the cotton quite well before blowing it into the basket. By the 1970s they were standard equipment, which is why Allis-Chalmers cotton strippers ruled the cotton fields in SW Oklahoma and west Texas. Other manufacturers didn't catch on with burr extractors till the late 1980s.
|
|
CrestonM
Orange Level
Joined: 08 Sep 2014
Location: Oklahoma
Points: 8408
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 30 Dec 2018 at 9:42pm |
AC7060IL wrote:
Creation, thanks for sharing your pictures & video. Seems like you have many night photos. I guess cotton strips better after dark? Those stripper reels really rotate fast, eh? Are all four Allis diesels? Ever see or pickup any rattlesnakes in the cotton fields? |
Yes, they are all diesels. The 860 has a 2800 engine, and the 880 has the 433I. Actually, we don't usually strip at night unless the humidity stays below about 55%. When it gets higher than that the cotton doesn't flow through the machine as easily and causes plugs. Another reason is if cotton is packed into modules while damp, the seeds will sprout and the cotton gin won't take the cotton. One night though, the humidity was 38% at 11:30 pm when we quite, so we could've gone longer. I see what you mean about the reels rotating fast, but in reality they aren't. Not sure why the video makes it look that way. Also, kind of a "no-no" but the stripper was on "autopilot" while I filmed that, which is why it's such a short clip. No, never seen any rattlers in the cotton fields, but then again I don't have many years of experience either.
Here's a much better video from last year that most of you have probably seen, but in case you haven't, here it is.
Edited by CrestonM - 30 Dec 2018 at 10:05pm
|
|
ac hunter
Orange Level
Joined: 05 Jan 2011
Location: OHIO
Points: 1013
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 31 Dec 2018 at 9:26am |
Creston, Thank you for the cotton info and videos. Now I know the difference between the two types of machines. Are cotton growing areas typically as flat as those in the pictures or is it just coincidental? That is a quite a machine that compresses the cotton. What comes to haul it away? It seems late in the year for you to still be harvesting cotton or is your season that much different than ours? Does Oklahoma raise a lot of cotton. Thanks again.
|
|
injpumpEd
Orange Level Access
Joined: 13 Sep 2009
Location: Walnut IL
Points: 4958
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 31 Dec 2018 at 9:33am |
|
Cool picker video! I like they even show a Ben Pearson picker for a few seconds. They really are laid out weird! When seeing them as a kid from the freeway at the dealer, I always thought they resembled the old AC pickers, but in reality the vertical radiator screen is probably the only similarity lol!
|
|
210 "too hot to farm" puller, part of the "insane pumpkin posse". Owner of Guenther Heritage Diesel, specializing in fuel injection systems on heritage era tractors. stock rebuilds to all out pullers!
|
|
Ted J
Orange Level
Joined: 05 Jul 2010
Location: La Crosse, WI
Points: 18853
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 31 Dec 2018 at 1:38pm |
|
My day wasn't wasted Creston, I learned something! Thanks!!
You must be working nights and goin to school during the day? You need your sleep, you're a young man and you GOTTA have your sleep..Take care and HAPPY New Year to you and yours! See ya in 7..........
|
|
"Allis-Express"
19?? WC / 1941 C / 1952 CA / 1956 WD45 / 1957 WD45 / 1958 D-17
|
|
JohnCO
Orange Level
Joined: 11 Sep 2009
Location: Niwot Colo
Points: 8992
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 31 Dec 2018 at 2:52pm |
|
He is probably off on winter/holiday break, making money so he can buy more AC's!
|
|
"If at first you don't succeed, get a bigger hammer"
Allis Express participant
|
|
JohnCO
Orange Level
Joined: 11 Sep 2009
Location: Niwot Colo
Points: 8992
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 31 Dec 2018 at 3:11pm |
Thanks for all the information, Creston! I remember watching a video somewhere showing a JD picker that made round bales. Is that the new way of doing things? I imagine the round bales can be denser and easier to cover at the gin but it also seems like more potential problems/breakdowns, not to mention cost!
|
|
"If at first you don't succeed, get a bigger hammer"
Allis Express participant
|
|
Ray54
Orange Level Access
Joined: 22 Nov 2009
Location: Paso Robles, Ca
Points: 4613
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 31 Dec 2018 at 10:24pm |
John the idea of the round bale of cotton is you do away with having the module building machine and operator.
I am close (less than 100 miles) to cotton growing,but don't really follow it. But Deere had one way and Case has another. I don't know just how many pickers they will ever sell here,almonds,walnuts,pistachios,and even raisins with the new dried on the vine system have been more profitable lately. But many will keep some cotton because as annual crop unlike the trees and vines,if there is no water you just don't plant and put all water to keep trees alive.
|
|
CrestonM
Orange Level
Joined: 08 Sep 2014
Location: Oklahoma
Points: 8408
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 01 Jan 2019 at 3:36pm |
AC hunter, most of the cotton ground in western Oklahoma is pretty flat, as well as the panhandle of Texas where quite a bit more cotton is grown. A special truck with a tilting bed comes to pick the modules up. An apron chain runs on the floor and the truck just backs up, and the module is loaded. Most people are finished with harvest by now. Usually harvest spans from late September-early December, depending on the crop and weather. My relatives are all done, I'm just working for a guy doing custom stripping for farmers who haven't got theirs out yet. Rain recently has slowed us down some.
Ted, I'm still on Christmas break, will be until the 14th. After that my cotton stripping days are over for this season, unfortunately.
Ray, I don't know much about California cotton, but I've heard most high-quality "Pima" cotton is grown out there....the kind of long-staple lint that fancy sheets and things are made of.
|
|
kenjar
Bronze Level
Joined: 02 Jan 2019
Location: mid tex
Points: 1
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 02 Jan 2019 at 12:13pm |
Nice pictures , thanks for posting. The 860 and 880 cotton strippers were very popular in my area. I think the 880 shared some components with the Gleaner F combines. I remember seeing some of the prior 707 and 760 XTB models around the Lubbock area in the early seventies. There were several Ben Pearson strippers in the area also, I think they were sold by the local Massey dealer. Your 860 is very sharp, especially with the shields around the fan and extractor. Normally those items were removed and never put back.
|
|
CrestonM
Orange Level
Joined: 08 Sep 2014
Location: Oklahoma
Points: 8408
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 02 Jan 2019 at 1:51pm |
Kenjar, welcome to the forum! Thanks for the kind words regarding the 860. I believe you are correct about the 880, as they were built on an F2 cab and chassis. The 860 is built on the K/K2 cab and chassis. Someday I would like to see a 707/707 XTB, as well as the 760 XTB. While there are lots of 860s and 880s in southwest Oklahoma, I've never seen any of the 700 series machines. I know Lubbock is a real cotton hot point, I just wish I could've been there in the '70s/'80s when the Allis machines were there in full force.
|
|
JohnCO
Orange Level
Joined: 11 Sep 2009
Location: Niwot Colo
Points: 8992
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 02 Jan 2019 at 7:28pm |
|
Creston, it's good to see your family's 880 as the October picture in the Allis Connection calendar. You should drive one up to Hutch so we all can see it. Maybe someone in the neighborhood could plant some short season cotton so you could harvest it, or get stuck trying! LOL
|
|
"If at first you don't succeed, get a bigger hammer"
Allis Express participant
|
|
Michael V (NM)
Orange Level Access
Joined: 12 Sep 2009
Location: NM
Points: 2423
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 02 Jan 2019 at 10:25pm |
|
Gots a q for ya, Creston.. Were the 700 series before the 800's?
When I was at Las cruces back in the late 70'early 80's there was a difference in "picker" cotton and the "stripper" cotton varieties....the picker variety was grown mostly in the Rio Grande valley, while the stripper kind was mostly on the hi/southern plains...
In the Las Cruces area the pickers would run over s field 2 or 3 times or more as the bolls opened through the harvest season..
Oh... I forgot...supposedly a lot of the Rust pickers in the LC/ El Paso area
Edited by Michael V (NM) - 02 Jan 2019 at 10:27pm
|
|
injpumpEd
Orange Level Access
Joined: 13 Sep 2009
Location: Walnut IL
Points: 4958
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 03 Jan 2019 at 8:43am |
|
The strippers went 707, then 760, then 860, then finally the last 880. Cool to know the rust pickers are still around different areas like LC/EP. Our old stuff in the Rio Grande Valley rusted out so bad that there's none left down there I'd bet.
|
|
210 "too hot to farm" puller, part of the "insane pumpkin posse". Owner of Guenther Heritage Diesel, specializing in fuel injection systems on heritage era tractors. stock rebuilds to all out pullers!
|
|
CrestonM
Orange Level
Joined: 08 Sep 2014
Location: Oklahoma
Points: 8408
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 03 Jan 2019 at 10:08am |
Ed's right, the 880 was the last, but it wasn't supposed to be. Allis was in the works of developing a new "Super Stripper" in '83/'84 that was (depending on who you talk to) about double the size of an 880. One dealer reported it looked vaguely similar to an N-series Gleaner. Since it was a prototype, it was painted white. I've talked to a few dealers in western Texas who saw the machine in action, and said it really zipped along in 1,500 lb/acre cotton, which the 880 was only designed for 500 lb/acre from what I've heard.
That being said, my grandpa and I did a few hyper-mods to the pair of 880s he has, and we stripped 1,200 lb/acre cotton with them last year at 4.6 mph. Not bad at all. I need to do the same mods to the 860 I guess, because it just kinda creeps along in 1st gear, low range on the variable speed in 750 lb/acre cotton. Just has trouble feeding the higher volume of material through the machine with the stock fan and extractor speeds. The fans move the cotton through the machine and into the basket, and stock I believe they run +/- 2,000 RPM, but we sped them up to around 3,500. That alone provides the most capacity increase out of anything.
Edited by CrestonM - 03 Jan 2019 at 10:21am
|
|
GM Guy
Orange Level
Joined: 31 Jul 2012
Location: NW KS / S.C. ID
Points: 1985
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 07 Jan 2019 at 6:20pm |
|
Thanks for the pics Creston, very cool!
Does anyone know what happened to those 880s on Craigslist that the guy threatened to scrap if not sold?
I have long thought I needed to buy a Allis 880 and leave it at a buddies place in OK and go do a little small time custom work. But that takes $ I really cant spare... :)
|
|
Gleaner: the properly engineered and built combine.
If you need parts for your Gleaner, we are parting out A's through L2's, so we may be able to help.
|
|
ac hunter
Orange Level
Joined: 05 Jan 2011
Location: OHIO
Points: 1013
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 07 Jan 2019 at 6:37pm |
Creston, Thanks for the module info. They look pretty large, what are the dimensions and weight? Does the truck that picks them up have sides? Are the modules a better way to handle the cotton than the round bales that the Deeres use?
|
|
