Mounted Corn Pickers

 

that has got to be the best corn pickin story I have ever read! Thanks!

 

And dipstick, the dog is always on full throttle, never runs his batteries down! LOL

 

IH was number 1 in tractor sales so they were probably number one in picker sales too. I don't think any pickers were cheap and the concept of disposable equipment hadn't arrived yet. The self propelled combine and shelled corn drying killed pickers in general and pull type pickers were the nails in the mounted picker coffin.

  Higher the protein and more pushing for production, the more the vet is out too. - Neighbor quit feeding for top production from his cows and went back to feeding more dry hay and grazing. The vet asked him one day in town if everything was alright since he hadn't been called in a long time.  Modern day ideas sometimes don't pay in the long run...LOL

Only mounted picker we had was a deere #226 on a 36 A tractor. Not bad cept no muddin with it, had 1" between tires and picker!  Didnt shuck the best.

Later Dad got into the Massey sp jobbers. At that point not 6 shucks per wagon.

One of dads shelling customers had a 33 on a wd, brought in everything in the field, Stalks roots, and of course the rocks! ---I always hated shelling for him. work your butt off for 2 loads of shelled out of a crib that should have had 12 loads in it.

I started reading the old thread and sadly I seen at least 3 forum members are now on the permanent missing list. Jim Lindemood, Mark- 427435,  Dipstick in Indiana,

 and several that haven't posted for awhile.

Don, here is a pic of the old WD from several years back, thought I had a better one. We have a vcr tape of it picking corn but need to someday figure out how to get it transferred to computer...  I haven't had it out in several years now, but think I need to take it out and pull the picker off so I can use the old tractor when I want to. and put the picker on a different WD. Was the main tractor on the farm for several years back in the 50's and early 60's then in the 70's got the picker on for the last time and been on ever since.

 Yes Pat, that was me. Still remember that time, but now I think I wouldn't be able to do that again even if I had to. I would be frozen to death in that cold... You got a little heat off the engine when you were hiding behind the corn rows, but get on the side the wind was on... you wouldn't get any heat.  And the fans really didn't blow any cold on you ... or at least I don't remember that. I remember them being noisy. Usually we shut them off when running down the road.

 Those were the good old days.

 Got other stories too, Like the first 2 row NI old pulltype picker we got, had more trouble with that than did with the 33...  I thought we were really going to pick some corn, what a dissapointment when the 190XT in cab warmth comfort didn't pick anymore corn than the old 33 picker did. Later we got a 324 and yet we used the 33 picker quite a bit.

Back in '98 we had 32 acres of corn 5 miles from home... and the weatherman was forecasting lots of snow heading our way. I wanted to pick 2 more loads of corn from up there and I hustled through evening chores early and got up there about dark with the picker tractor and wagons... I picked the first load and started picking the second load and broke a gathering chain, I crawled under and clamped the tightener back and fixed the chain and layed down on the husks under the picker. was warm under there with the heat of the engine blowin down in there... took a little nap and I woke up and crawled out and it was starting to snow... I finished the load and hooked up the second wagon and pulled out of the field and got on the road Got a mile down the road and the tractor started heating up and had to get off and wipe the radiator off of the snow buildup, another mile, had to wipe the snow off, I was headed straight into the snow storm... next mile I wiped it off... and had 2 miles to go and here came my father to see where I was... He wasn't suppose to be out in weather like this with his poor health... snow was already about 6" on the ground and told him I would wait for him to get turned around and he said he would follow. Got a half mile from the farm and I turned into my field and unhooked the back wagon because I figured I wouldn't make the hill with both wagons and was glad I did, had to spin my way up the hill.  Think it was around midnight when I got home,  unhooked the wagon by the edge of the driveway and parked the tractor in the shed. Glad the night was over with.

 Couple weeks later I took the XT and 324 picker up there to finish the rest of the field... and hit a rock under the snow and tore the center snoot off... arrgh! Glad it wasn't the old 33 picker... See how wore it is in the pic from the mud on the front tires rubbing on it...

  Those kind of days are over with for the old man and the young ones will never experiance that in their lives either, but then again it will be with the more modern machines in cab comfort they will have their 'unique times to remember.

Dad had talked about picking corn by hand in the moonlight to get their fields picked back in his youth... and having a husking peg in their hand to assist in taking the husk off the cob as they picked it... if you were really fast, you could have one cob hitting the bang board and one cob in the air... and reaching for the next. LOL  Don't know how long it took them to pick a load, nor how big a load they picked either, but he talked about a triple box wagon for picking into.

Don, I spent many hours on that old tractor picking corn... but also for raking hay, baling hay, cultivating, plowing and disking... it was always unique to me to have it on Propane. Dad had it converted in 59-60 winter. The hoses are getting old and I need to get a new filler hose now if I start using it any amount.

To take off the old 33 picker, Dad parked our picker behind the granary and had a special board nailed up on the wall there to rest the elevator on. He would have the snoots off the front and sides and then back up until the elevator would start raising and then stop. Placed cement blocks under rear corners front frames. set the picker down and wedge boards between the rear blocks and frame, Pull the pins and disconnect the lift and drive away from it.  Then take off the front half of PTO and hang it in the shed.  and whatever was on the tractor went in the shed too. Then bolted the bell assembly back up, turned the lift cylinder backwards and put lift arms and tail plate back on and the fenders too Slam the hitch on and go to work. If it was going to be used for cultivating, then the side brackets and shields came off too.