I love the brochures. I would assume it was printed in 1962? If you have the information, I would find it interesting if you would post manufacturing dates and approximately how many were produced when you post the sales brochures. But just putting up the brochure makes my week. Thanks a bunch.
Yes, it was printed in August of 1962. I don't have any of the information you are looking for as far as build dates and production numbers. You may be able to find production years of a particular picker (or whatever) out there somewhere, but I think most companies didn't keep track of production numbers on implements. Or if they did, that info has disappeared. But if someone out there knows something about any of this and I'm wrong, please feel free to correct me!
This is a great piece of literature. I have this one and a few others. If you want any other A-C picker literature jdtom let me know, I can scan some for you. I think I have everything but the sweet corn harvester lit.
As I said before we had used a New Idea from 1978 til about 2005 when it wore out. I bought my 190 fourteen years ago when I was 16 for my A-C collection. We have had it mounted a half dozen times in that period including this last fall. It is actually still on the tractor, we decided to wait til spring to take it off. Of course the New Idea was a far better machine in capacity and husking. This 190 however is way better at loosing less shelled corn, seems to be a little safer as chains and shafts are more out of reach and this unit is narrower. With the New Idea you would run over some corn on the sharp turns of the contour. The A-C is narrow enough to work better in this area. When were not picking our own corn we have our neighbor with his IH 234 pick it for us.
A few unique facts about the A-C over the axle pickers. The 170 got 1st place at the 1963 world corn picking contest. I think they also got 2nd and 3rd. I do know there was some cheating as they put wood screws in the husking pegs to grab the husks more effectively. These pickers were owned by private owners and were assisted at the contest by A-C blockmen.
These pickers had detachable link gathering chains where the later 33s had roller gathering chains. I have no idea why they went backwards.
There were 250 model 150s built(D14 and D15 tractors) 750 model 170s(D17) and 1000 model 190s(D19, WD, WD45 and D17). Very poor production records considering the near 56000 corn harvesters and 33s that were built.
As you notice there is just one beater behind the snapping rolls, the 150s and 170s had none. All of the 150s, 170s, and 190s I have seen where they had the the both beaters attached or the second beater attached if it already had the first.(see the picture I attached)
I'm really proud of my A-C corn pickers although they never really had a machine that would husk well or had a high capacity. I think the A-C did more for the modern day corn head with their snapping roll and stripper plate designs. The engineers at the LaPorte Indiana plant walked to the beat of their own drum and very little outside influence is noticed in their machines. Who else had a side discharge combine, a round baler, a curved blade fan blower and a picker that went under the axles? lol
Hope you dont mind my ramblings. Jim
-- Edited by JimIa on Tuesday 29th of December 2009 12:02:37 AM
I don't mind the ramblin' one bit, Jim! I'm sure I'm not the only one who learned something from it today!
I'm a Deere man myself but I appreciate any color of vintage equipment when someone takes the time to collect and use it. I always thought that the AC D-series of tractors were a sharp looking line of tractors. AC was a reasonably popular brand around here years ago - there used to be a good Allis-Chalmers dealer right here in Luverne. I don't ever remember seeing one around here with a mounted picker on it (of any brand) though. I did find out this past spring that there was a mounted picker like yours in our neighborhood 15 or 20 years ago. When he quit using it, he was going to sell it for junk. But luckily someone that was looking for one to collect had stopped at that local AC dealer right before that asking if he knew of any pickers like that in the area. The dealer knew this farmer had one he wanted to get rid of so he sent him out there, they struck a deal and that picker stayed out of the scrap yard.
Ramble on!! This is why we're here. I love to hear about the differences in pickers and all the little tricks from people who have actually run them.I only remember one neighbor using a mounted picker. But i know a few had them.. I remember most using pull types.Oh if the people had made notes,etc,I remember one hguy in the next county had a new idea picker with the trailing husking bed on the only 65 massey i ever seen. THen the next year, him, the tractor and picker were gone.One farmer in the next county had the sheller that fit on the old #20 pickers.
Love the ramblings and pictures Jim. I really appreciate jdtom sharing his literature with us!
My exposure to AC pickers is very slim. My only direct experiance was with a 35 snapper one row pull type, which wasn't a good one. Loved the header, as it wouldn't shell a grain - but couldn't get the corn out of the header at all.
A local farmer at the time said the Allis 2-row mounted was a good picker, probably talking about the 33.
I appreciate all the kind remarks about my literature postings! I've always enjoyed collecting and looking at this stuff since I was a kid and I get just as much enjoyment sharing it with others.
Does anyone have any pictures of a late-model MF picker? I'm not familiar with them. I always thought the later-model MM and Oliver mounted pickers looked suspiciously similar to the New Idea mounted picker (especially the universal sub-frame) and that New Idea built them for Oliver/MM to their specifications. But then I talked to a guy last year who was a retired Oliver block man and he said that wasn't the case - Oliver built their own mounted pickers.
I have only seen 1 MF mounted picker on a 65 diesel narrow front. I was told that MM built them for MF . . . supposedly there was a MM-built 1-row pull type offered by MF, too, but I have never seen one.
