Mounted corn pickers

[JWinIndiana]

When I first bought our farm, an old farmer knew I was the new Ag teacher and he offered to sell me his Super M with a mounted picker on it for $1,000.00. I wanted it bad but couldn't afford it. Went to his farm sale after he died and watched it bring $4,000.00. It was sitting in the same place in the barn and was still all together and that M had excellent paint under the dirt making me wonder if it wore that picker its entire life.

 

[Hoenes]

Really not that bad of a job IF you blocked the picker carefully when you took it off. Have had an AC picker on a WC ALLIS. It was the easiest to mount as we just reversed the rear wheels and backed over the picker with the elevator attached. Hooked up the PTO and brackets and the put the center snout on the tractor and attached the outer shields/snouts on each side. JD 227 was harder. JD 237 with the universal mounting frame was pretty easy. Biggest job was getting the wheels moved out. They were always stuck tight (JD 630). Took longer to prep the tractor than it did to mount the picker. I used the big shield over the radiator and you have to take the nose section off to put it on.

We had a WD 45 mounted picker. I remember the elevator being tough to bolt up. Also, seems like the belt pulley had to come out, and something similar went in to run the dual fans. Been a while. 60 plus years ! I see on other sites, the engine side shields are worth quite a bit now days.

 

[Richard Nixon]

Been watching some corn picking videos on you tube. Some of the pickers were mounted pickers. Were those things as miserable to mount as they look like they would be? Looks like they would have to come off just to do a tune up on the tractor. I'm happy with my pull type picker. I leave enough room on the outside of the field so I don't waste corn on the first round by driving over it. Guess it wouldn't work so well on a big field. I like picking corn a nice fall day and not muddy. I wish some of the videos I see about combining small grain, picking corn and other things would happen around here where I could participate. Best I can do around here is hit a plow day. I guess its one reason why I grow some wheat and ear corn for my animals instead of buying them- so I can play with the toys.

 

[Brownie450]

Talking about working on the tractor with a picker on it.
We had a 2MH on the 450D & cold weather arrived & one
morning Dad started the tractor & tried to raise the picker.
Wouldn't raise.
Well, on that series tractor there is a screen in the hydraulic
reservoir on a level with the platform. That screen had plugged /
collapsed & of course had to be replaced. Talk about standing
on your head to work on something---that was it.
Jim

 

[Roy Shields]

In the 50's Dad and I would mount a picker on his Farmall H. Took a while and I was always glad when it was done. A couple years ago a neighbor saw a picture of Dad on the picker and asked if he still had both hands. Guys would reach behind them to pull out a stalk or an ear of corn without shutting things down and get a hand caught.

 

[560Dennis]

Duane had MM picker . He’s just drove the Fordson right inside and it attached . Been awhile since I seen it .

 

[hoghollow]

Been watching some corn picking videos on you tube. Some of the pickers were mounted pickers. Were those things as miserable to mount as they look like they would be? Looks like they would have to come off just to do a tune up on the tractor. I'm happy with my pull type picker. I leave enough room on the outside of the field so I don't waste corn on the first round by driving over it. Guess it wouldn't work so well on a big field. I like picking corn a nice fall day and not muddy. I wish some of the videos I see about combining small grain, picking corn and other things would happen around here where I could participate. Best I can do around here is hit a plow day. I guess its one reason why I grow some wheat and ear corn for my animals instead of buying them- so I can play with the toys.

Ran oliver super 88 with New Idea picker on it in late 70s. One year corn had a lot of smut in it. That was a longggg fall season

 

[Richard Nixon]

When I was a kid (1950s) we had a farmer in the vicinity with a Massey-Harris 44 with a mounted two row picker. It stayed on the tractor all year, I can't remember if he used it for any other work. I guess it was a pain to remove.

Here's a really good one!

 

[ss55]

Here's a really good one!

Although ear corn is not as heavy as shelled corn, I would be wary of taking that picker with an overhead bin onto a steep contour rowed hillside.

Some cotton pickers also used overhead bins, is cotton ever grown on steep hillsides or only on flat river bottom land?

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

Many falls around here you would die of old age waiting for a dry day to harvest corn. Even if the sun was shining, it was after a solid week of rain so you were still operating in the mud.

I think farmers abandoned ear corn here in Western NY earlier than most. I know virtually nobody was harvesting ear corn by 1980. My Dad's attitude about corn pickers was, "a good way to lose a hand." I don't think they had a corn picker on my grandfather's farm. Any corn that didn't fit in the silo got combined and trucked to one of the local feed mills.

You very rarely see a corn picker here. Once in a while a New Idea 1 or 2 row will pop up. I've seen one 2PR McCormick. No mounted pickers.

 

[300jk]

Many falls around here you would die of old age waiting for a dry day to harvest corn. Even if the sun was shining, it was after a solid week of rain so you were still operating in the mud.

I think farmers abandoned ear corn here in Western NY earlier than most. I know virtually nobody was harvesting ear corn by 1980. My Dad's attitude about corn pickers was, "a good way to lose a hand." I don't think they had a corn picker on my grandfather's farm. Any corn that didn't fit in the silo got combined and trucked to one of the local feed mills.

You very rarely see a corn picker here. Once in a while a New Idea 1 or 2 row will pop up. I've seen one 2PR McCormick. No mounted pickers.

I found this mounted picker thread interesting. I honestly don’t know that I’ve ever seen a mounted picker in our area of Ny. There were many 1 and 2 row pickers though. Like you stated it always seemed muddy when picking and probably why mounted pickers weren’t popular. Pickers here were still around here in the 80’s. Most were on smaller beef and pig farms where they still ground their own feed.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

I found this mounted picker thread interesting. I honestly don’t know that I’ve ever seen a mounted picker in our area of Ny. There were many 1 and 2 row pickers though. Like you stated it always seemed muddy when picking and probably why mounted pickers weren’t popular. Pickers here were still around here in the 80’s. Most were on smaller beef and pig farms where they still ground their own feed.

Seems to me the pull types were worse in mud. They were so light that when a wagon started pulling hard, the picker would want to "stringline" between the tractor and wagon. The same thing was a problem chopping corn with the 50 and 650 choppers in a wet fall because the wagon was hitched directly behind the cutterhead, offset from the tractor. It was less of an issue with the 830 and 881 which had the hood directly behind the tractor, so it was a straighter pull on the wagon.

Maybe that's why picking corn fell out of favor... There just wasn't a good way to do it when the going got tough, and more often than not, the going was TOUGH. You could get the corn chopped earlier, maybe beat the bad mud.

 

[steve wi]

Never mounted a two row but it looks like it would be a pretty big job
Been mounting and using Ford one row side mounts since dad purchased our first one new in 64
We have two tractors with the picker brackets mounted on the axles, takes about 30 minutes to mount on either tractor
View attachment 100197
View attachment 100198

 

[steve wi]

Really not that bad of a job IF you blocked the picker carefully when you took it off. Have had an AC picker on a WC ALLIS. It was the easiest to mount as we just reversed the rear wheels and backed over the picker with the elevator attached. Hooked up the PTO and brackets and the put the center snout on the tractor and attached the outer shields/snouts on each side. JD 227 was harder. JD 237 with the universal mounting frame was pretty easy. Biggest job was getting the wheels moved out. They were always stuck tight (JD 630). Took longer to prep the tractor than it did to mount the picker. I used the big shield over the radiator and you have to take the nose section off to put it on.

I run a Ford 602 2row on my 961 for many years.It took two of us about 4 hours to mount but this was a early red one. the later blue ones were a little better.

 

[flying belgian]

Seems to me the pull types were worse in mud. They were so light that when a wagon started pulling hard, the picker would want to "stringline" between the tractor and wagon. The same thing was a problem chopping corn with the 50 and 650 choppers in a wet fall because the wagon was hitched directly behind the cutterhead, offset from the tractor. It was less of an issue with the 830 and 881 which had the hood directly behind the tractor, so it was a straighter pull on the wagon.

Maybe that's why picking corn fell out of favor... There just wasn't a good way to do it when the going got tough, and more often than not, the going was TOUGH. You could get the corn chopped earlier, maybe beat the bad mud.

Yep. Fall of 68 so muddy in so. Mn. Pa actually took the pull type New Idea and went in without wagon. Elevator off he would pick until hopper full then run corn to top of elevator and pick a few feet more. Then backup to wagon sitting on solid ground and run picker empty. Repeat, repeat. Slow job but faster then picking by hand. We actually got the stalks plowed that fall if you could call it that. Two tractors on plow and kinda shove the mud over.

 

[NY 986]

I found this mounted picker thread interesting. I honestly don’t know that I’ve ever seen a mounted picker in our area of Ny. There were many 1 and 2 row pickers though. Like you stated it always seemed muddy when picking and probably why mounted pickers weren’t popular. Pickers here were still around here in the 80’s. Most were on smaller beef and pig farms where they still ground their own feed.

Mounted pickers have always interested me. The best that my less than scientific research will tell me is that very few mounted pickers were sold in NY and most were sold during the late 1950's. The fact was most farms had less than 10 acres to do annually and a 2 row mounted picker would have been a luxury versus a pull type one row picker. Also, if you had a wet fall you could reach for your largest tractor to pull without worrying about getting it mounted. Also, just undoing the PTO and pulling the hitch pin meant that same tractor could go spread manure within 10 minutes. Corn picking fell off greatly after 1975 here but there were devotees doing it into the 1990's. Most NI 325 and JD 300 pickers by that time. There was a JD 237 corn picker down the road from us when I was a kid but never got to see it used. The owner was semi-retired by that time. Still wish I had a 2 row mounted picker just so I could take it to a show.

 

[2090]

After picker was mounted batteries would always go dead-pull started Case 400 diesel!

 

[buickanddeere]

Tractor mounted pickers mandated wide row spacing .

Very rare to see a tractor mounted picker here . However pull type two row New Idea corn pickers were a common sight .

 

[Donald in MN]

Been watching some corn picking videos on you tube. Some of the pickers were mounted pickers. Were those things as miserable to mount as they look like they would be? Looks like they would have to come off just to do a tune up on the tractor. I'm happy with my pull type picker. I leave enough room on the outside of the field so I don't waste corn on the first round by driving over it. Guess it wouldn't work so well on a big field. I like picking corn a nice fall day and not muddy. I wish some of the videos I see about combining small grain, picking corn and other things would happen around here where I could participate. Best I can do around here is hit a plow day. I guess its one reason why I grow some wheat and ear corn for my animals instead of buying them- so I can play with the toys.

my dad had an IH 234 mounted on a 706D . we had to take off the fast hitch and widen out the rear wheels. then we put on the front mounting bracket and the rear axle brackets . we left the subframe attached to the husking unit. we then backed the tractor over the subframe and hooked up the lift arms to the fast hitch lifting arms. when we raised the arms the front bracket snapped in to place and the rear mounts came up and were locked in place on the axle mounts by 2 levers. then we turned around and lowered the fast hitch arms and drove into the gathering unit . we locked down the gathering unit with 2 levers lifted the gathering unit with the fast hitch arms hooked up the two drive shafts and put up the stands .turned on the pto and a snap coupler engaged the drive on the picker. you could change from the husking unit to the shelling unit in under 10 minutes . and have the whole thing off in under 15 minutes. the tractor did all the heavy lifting

 

[Hoenes]

Tractor mounted pickers mandated wide row spacing .

Very rare to see a tractor mounted picker here . However pull type two row New Idea corn pickers were a common sight .

36 inch rows, come to mind with the WD 45 mounted picker.