Anyone ever see any of em for sale anymore?

 

 

But, of course, you've got a tractor sitting inside that machine; you either let it sit in there all the time and not earn its keep, or you go through taking that think off.. I'm sure that's no easy task.

 

We did our WD 2 years ago, here are the pictures. Also, did a little engine work before putting picker on, so that took longer. Whatever AC advertised to put them on for time, was highly underestimated. enjoy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Actually, Allis Chalmers moved to that design also :

 

 

 

Would seem to be hard to put on and take off --- 20 years of practice would probably help, LOL..

I would think the 33 would be dirtier? Seems low, and the fans are blowin down right under your feet, might have a back draft up on the driver?

 

 

The 190 looks like its even tighter to get on!

 

Check out that picker picture in the link below!! A pickin and a grinnin!!

 

For those interested, this link below is to a forum for old corn pickers. Good stuff!

 

http://cornpickers.activeboard.com/t49809433/walnut-corn-pickers-reunion-2012/" rel="nofollow - http://cornpickers.activeboard.com/t49809433/walnut-corn-pickers-reunion-2012/

 

  Dad picked while I was doin morning chores and he filled the wagons. When I got done, I went and unloaded the wagons and about noon I crawled on the tractor and Dad unloaded wagons till chore time. Then we switched while I milked the cows and fed. After dark, must of been around 7:30 I got back to the field and back on the tractor. Nephews came and helped dad unload wagons for awhile.  No longer was it just damp, it was misting and longer into the night the more mist we we had ...and more mud on the tires.

  I remember picking the last two rows with the old LP gas WD  and 33 picker watching the stalks dissappear in the head lights while I was huddled over the steering wheel and shivering, wet prenuir clear thru and two miles from home.

 At around 2-2:30AM Dad had come back to see how I was doing. They had stopped unloading 4 wagons earlier...  cuzz what was left would fit on the last wagon...and it was full too. He asked if we should leave the outfit since we were two miles from home and I said no, and he handed me his warm jacket and I crawled on the picker and headed out while he crawled into the pickup where there was heat.   Pulled into the yard and unhooked the wagon and put the old picker tractor into the shed and shut it off, Gauge on the tank read 10%... any longer in the field, I wouldn't have made it home. Nice and quiet even with the heavier drizzle, which was almost a rain.  Went to the house and got the wet clothes off and into dry ones and stood in front of the heater for awhile and finally crawled into bed, it was 3 AM... Awoke at 6:30 and looked out... EGADS! There was 2 ft of snow on the ground ...WET snow..  and the snow stayed the rest of the winter.    We sure were glad that we got done picken, and beating the weather... And the picker didn't break down somewhere during the day making it possible.

 

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

 

[TUBE]http://youtu.be/zNbV2JuUEzE[/TUBE]

 

[TUBE]http://youtu.be/F4F_5ky4_q8[/TUBE]

 

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

 

My Grandfather started picking with flat top WC and mounted corn harvestor he was able to get during the war.  When the WC was traded in the picker was put on the new WD.  In the early 60s he got a late 33 that was painted persian #2 and had the roller chain gathering chains.  We still have this unit.  In the late 70s we bought a New Idea and put that on the D17.  What a picker that was!  We finally wore that out a few years ago about the same time we quit milking.  We have had our neighbor pick for us with his IH 234.  That unit does a good job as well.  We did use my 190 for a few years and the video posted earlier is my video of my Dad runing the 190.  You dont loose any shelled corn with this one but doesnt have near the capacity of the New Idea.  I have picked some with my pull type corn harvestor as well.  One thing I noticed with the older pickers is if you pick in a light mist they do husk better!

 

Notice the A-C flare boards on the wagon

 

 

 

 

 

Last year I bought a pull type New Idea.  Hoping to get some pictures soon.

Jim

 

Thanks for the memories !! I diligently helped dad remove fenders, headlights(series 2), wide front end to narrow, and swapping rear wheels to get the elevator clearance. Really miss the "bonding" time with dad

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.

Great stories! Like some others we had 2 pull types at home, morning  and afternoon pickers for wet and dry stalks. A Wood Brothers and an International, both 1 row but can't remember which was used when.

In 1962, I believe, parents bought a 195 acre farm 20 miles from home for $180 an acre.

We planted over 100 acres of corn there the first year and hired a neighbor with a Farmall M and mounted picker to take it off. Averaged 119 bushel per acre and with corn at around $2.00 grossed over what he paid for those acres. I was in FFA at the time and had taken soil samples and discovered previous tenant farmer had been been putting on way to much fertilizer. So we raised that 119 bu. with no fertilizer and using Ebberts seed corn I got thru FFA at $6 a bag. Ah for the good old days.

Man I just realized this is an old thread..... still fun to read a second time!

I still remember going up the road when my uncles did the annual task of mounting the picker.  It used special pedal set, single front wheel, and a lot fo fenders and stuff had to be removed.

My brother and I always played on it when it was sitting in the barnyard.   It had the husking attachment behind the tractor so it was especially interesting, and we pretended it was a rocket ship. 

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.

Regards,

 Chris

and seen towards the end a corn crib that is something like what I dreamed about building back when we were picking corn.  This crib really is neat.

http://youtu.be/zNbV2JuUEzE" rel="nofollow - http://youtu.be/zNbV2JuUEzE

  Combining season around the corner... and be here before we know it.

One of the things that led to a few picker fires beside trash on the manifold was the sediment bowl. When installing the picker you were also supposed to replace the glass bowl with a metal one. Even in the 1990's I was selling a few metal bowls yet. I bought a very nice Allis 35 pull type last year and hope this fall to try it out. All the husking pins are gone so it will be a dirty pick but still fun.

They could crack with the added heat. If you go to a threshing be and see a tractor with a metal bowl, it was a corn picker tractor. I did have a customer who's 706 burned under a picker from stupidity. The 706 Farmalls used a short battery under the fuel tank. The taller 806 battery was cheaper but the terminals would hit the tank. He bought a taller battery and wedged a piece of lumber between the battery and the tank. The board fell out at one point and the battery welded itself to the tank. It turned out to be an expensive battery.