Corn Picker

I know this question is better suited for another forum but some of you folks may remember using a 1PR IH corn picker. Mine seems to be in fair condition but it leaves a lot of shuck on the ear. The husking rolls don't look too worn. Is there a good place to start in fixing this problem?

Big part of your problem is that the corn ear itself has changed it is smaller and there are more of them. Your picker was designed for 60 pluss bu and those ears were largenow you are pushing lots of small round ears and the husking rolls cannot grab all the husks.

Thanks Gene, I guess there is nothing much I can do about it this year. I may have to pick some by hand. I don't look forward to that.

Pick early in the morning when the stalks and shucks have more moisture.
In the afternoon when the shucks are drier, you will not pick as clean.

Thank you sir I will give that a try.

1. Those old IH pickers were known for picking "dirty corn" back in the late 1940s to the early 1960s before combines became the dominant harvester; corn cribs had a lot of husks sticking out of the sides during storage.

The heavier pickers (2ME and 2MH) built for the M Farmall were much better pickers. The light-weight #24 for the H was a real "dirty" picker.

2. I remember that farmers had a remedy when the rollers got so worn and smooth and started picking dirty....they would literally weld a "bead" lengthwise on the rollers and that made for cleaner picking...for that season, maybe.

For the farmers who did not know how to weld, or were too cheap to pay for the welding, they would wind "chicken wire" around the rollers but that was basically a 15-minute solution.

3. I grew up on mostly IH equipment in the 1950s and drove several models of IH mounted pickers on both the H and M, but it was grudgingly acknowledged by "IH lovers" at that time that JD made a better picker. They did.



However, the New Idea pickers, both mounted and pull-type, were really the best for picking clean and for pure performance. If I recall correctly (at 77 that is questionable), NI made two models; one had 8 husking rollers and the other model had 12, and the latter model was very popular. It got to the point in Iowa those days that NI pickers on all brands of tractors were the most popular in some areas.

4. What Gene Bender says is also true. Seed companies abandoned traits for corn picking years ago. I remember the seed company I worked for had a very high yielding hybrid in the 1970s and owners of combines loved that hybrid. I got a call from a farmer about that hybrid so I went to his farm. He was trying to pick it with an old worn out Woods 1-row pull-type picker and he had to drive in low gear and that was still too much volume for that old machine to handle.



Dave, sorry, but it is what it is. Maybe try the welder? Or look for a NI picker?
LA in WI

Big thing here is choosen a corn variety that has big girthy ears a loose husk and don't plant much over 26000ppa. Most corn today is bred for max population and either for chopping-silage or shelling . Finding a good silage corn is even getting harder . For ten years i sold seed corn and it was hard to find one that was a good picker but we did have several that were extra tall and set a nice big ear. also chooose a verity that will dry down well and depending on where you live how many days it that to reach maturity . Also depending on your corn crib to keep for shelling start picking at around 20-24 % moisture .

Picked many acres with a 1 PR. Early morning when damp, picked clean. Dry sunny afternoon, lots of ribbons. Dampish day, pick all day clean. Seems when you pushed it and ears were rolling down on the husking rolls two-deep, that's when you had more husks left on.

I never heard anyone say that deere made a better picker than ih before. a 227 was a glorified #24.

(quoted from post at 16:02:11 01/12/14) I never heard anyone say that deere made a better picker than ih before. a 227 was a glorified #24.

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Where did you get that idea? Dad used to do a lot of custom picking, and I ran it on weekends as a HS kid. We always got a lot of complements on how clean the 227 was compared to other brands. Have actually picked in the same field with a 2MH on a 400 and the 227 did a much cleaner job. IH 24 was a "snapper" and not clean at all. 2ME and 2MH were better than a 24, but not close to the 227. 226 was junk... Dad had one on an A before his first 227.

Thanks LA, your right about the NI pickers. All my Amish neighbors use NI pickers. I want to buy one but I want a 30 or 32 inch 2 row. I haven't found one yet. In the mean time I'm determined to find a way to make this one work better. What do you think about belt dressing? Think it would help the rubber rolls?

Thanks Wolfman, I have been doing it wrong. I will slow down and pick in the morning. I am making a lot of rooky mistakes, but I am just a tinder child of 62. When I grow up I want to be a farmer. This is my 2nd year in the field. Got a lot to learn. Dave

You"ll have to have a husking bee.

Randy,
I know it rankles to hear anything real nice about those old green machines, but IHFan knows his history also. I think I recall seeing years ago a mounted JD 227 on a 400 or 450...the best of both worlds!
LA in WI

We had both of our 227s on JD 60s and they didn't do bad either, but the 60 is about a small as you can go to run one. A 70 or bigger would have been better. Dad would like to have added the shelling attachment, but a 60 would not handle it. Nothing wrong with a 400 or 450... I had a lot of hours on a 450 one summer and other than a gas hog, it was a great tractor in it's day.

I still use my 1PR every year, and the guys are right, if the corn is moist/damp it will do a great job. Think of how you sometimes cannot grasp a page in a book til you lick your finger. Also correct to go slow. There is the chain/belt type arrangement that rides above the husking rollers in the opposite direction, I adjust mine as low as possible, and sharpen the teeth on it , this helps a bunch. Above all though, you have to hit the moisture just right, which I did this year, and there are almost no husks in my crib. I have had times where it was awfull though, til I learned the tricks too.