I found a New Idea 323 in St. Louis Missouri (on Craigslist). I was the first to call and worked out a deal over the phone/email. Between Monday and Friday of last week he had over 20 people call to try and buy it.
I bought it from the second owner that used it to pick 10-15 acres a year to grind for his cows. It had always been barn kept and he even had the original owners manual.
We left Alabama on Friday Morning @ 4:00 AM and drove 10 hours to St. Louis pulling a 30' x 102" gooseneck. We arrived in St. Louise @ 2:00 PM (after a couple stops for fuel/food and to let our butts rest). 1250 mile round trip.
We stood around and shot the bull and loaded the picker. We started back home about 4:00 PM and arrived back in Alabama @ 2:00 AM on Saturday. OMG was I tired. 22 hours on the road. At least I got to swap up driving with my Father In Law.
Here are a few pictures. I'll post more if you guys want.
That picker sure looks to be in nice shape. The tinwork looks great too. Plus it's not all covered in fresh paint. That always should be a red flag. I bet you were relieved to be finally home after all that driving.
That picker sure looks to be in nice shape. The tinwork looks great too. Plus it's not all covered in fresh paint. That always should be a red flag. I bet you were relieved to be finally home after all that driving.
It is in very good shape. No rusted out spots. The elevator has some surface rust that I plan to brush off and repaint this summer. The thing that really impressed me about this picker is the tin work. There is one small wrinkle in the inner snout where they guy said that he turned too deep and caught it on the tractor tire. Nothing that couldn't be tapped out if I feel like it. None of the chains are rusted and all the rollers in the husking bed look great too. All the sprockets look good. There is a small drip in the gear box, but nothing bad enough to warrant replacement of the seal.
The trip up wasn't too bad, we ran into some rain in Arkansas and Missouri. On the trip home the wind was H*ll in Missouri. Then it got to be nighttime and my internal clock wanted me to go to sleep. I think I've finally recovered.
Thanks to you guys I didn't buy one of the earlier pickers I was looking at, but waited until I found one that was in good shape.
Oh yeah, can you get a sheller to go no the 323??? If not, anyone know where I can get a John Deere PTO sheller???
Nice picker! Now the only "problem" is that you have to wait 5-6 months to try it out!
Yeah, I know. We did actually hook it to the tractor and throw some ear corn in that I had that still had the shucks on. You should have seen the driveway, shucks everywhere and ears of corn flying. My wife thought I was crazy. Maybe so.....
I do have a friend that planted a few acres last year for the deer. There is still a good bit of corn on the stalks. I thought about going over and picking it just for fun. What do you guys think??? Has it been too long, or would it be too hard to pick???
What's funny is I was talking to a friend in our Sunday School Class on Sunday about the trip. He's a chicken farmer. He asked how many acres of corn I was going to plant. I told him 2 to 4 this year. He said, "Man you could pull that by hand". His wife told him, "It's a toy, Wes". I told him to be quiet before my wife heard him.
It's ALWAYS corn picking time if you have the corn that can be picked. Yesterday I was picking a couple of acres of corn with a picker/sheller. This is in Western NY. The geese have been in it pretty heavy and quite a bit was down but it is still worth it to me. I needed to get it off so I can start plowing. I would try picking that corn in a heartbeat. You have nothing to lose plus you'll be able to use the new toy... errr... much needed piece of machinery. Good luck and we will be waiting for a report.
I didnt realize geese at the seeds. i was under the impression green leaves was what they liked. learn something new every day.i have seen several fields still out. Nothing like plenty of tile in a field. wish i had some. lol