I have a 323 that I'm having problems with. Last year everything worked fine.
Over the summer I replaced 2 of the rubber finger wheels and worked on a bent snout. We took the gathering chains off to straighten a bracket that holds the inboard snout. I think I got them adjusted right. The book just says to run on the slack side. ?
Yesterday I tried to pick the 6 acres of field corn that I have planted. The stalks are really dry and were jamming the picker. BAD. Really Bad
I had the tractor in 1st gear about 1500-2000 RPM. 2200 RPM is 540 PTO speed. I actually tried all RPM's.
I worked about 3 hours and only picked about 1/2 an acre. My wife and I were constantly digging stalks out of the picker.
Here's the problem. The stalks would sometimes pull up. They would also break and then clog the area above the snapping rolls. This wasn't too hard to clear, but got aggravating. Also under the picker where the stalks discharge that area I had to keep lying on the ground and digging the stalks out. I tried every adjust on the snapping rolls. All the way apart to closest together. Closest together seemed to work the best.
The conveyor under the husking bed kept clogging with debris and the clutch would start slipping and stop moving the conveyor that gets rid of the husk. We would have to stop and take off the chain (on the front of the husking bed) that turns the conveyor and rubber fingers. Then move the conveyor backwards by hand to clear it. How do you tighten this slip clutch and how should it be adjusted? I couldn't find it in the book.
There is one bent slat on the conveyor that would let some debris fall into the corn saver that I am going to repair this week. If I have to I would cover the corn saver with a piece of sheet metal and cut my losses on any shelled corn that didn't make it to the corn saver.
I need suggestions. Short of pulling the 6 acres by hand.
You may have snapping rolls that are completely worn down. How smooth are they? Also, drive faster. Your ground speed should roughly match the speed the stalks are being pulled through the snapping rolls. I often drove in 2nd with a JD 60 or 3rd with a 530. In addition, I think everything works better if the stalk is a little damp, like early in the morning. Those corn savers made me learn new words! Hopefully if the snapping goes good the saver won't give you problems. One thing helped me. I would take a rod and clean out the slot into the elevator every so often as it would get a stalk or silk in there and want to plug it up. You've never had fun until you tried to unravel one of those drag chains! I don't remember where the slip clutch is on those but I would caution against tightening it too much. I now use a 324 with a 327 husking bed. The whole corn saver setup on those is much better. Hope I was some help. There is a place in Lancaster PA that rebuilds the snapping rolls as well as the husking rolls.
Is it better to have the the snapping rollers closer on dry corn or farther apart??? When I bought the picker the guy told me he set the snapping rollers in the 4th slot from the left (closer).
It also seemed to work better when I ran the snout about 1' off the ground. Should the snout be closer to the ground or just make sure that the snapping rollers are below the ears of corn?
Last year I ran in 3rd gear (about 3 mph) and everything worked fine. Sunday I ran in 1st gear (about 1 mph).
Chris
-- Edited by firefighter9208 on Monday 4th of October 2010 09:32:18 PM
-- Edited by firefighter9208 on Monday 4th of October 2010 09:36:25 PM
Last year at the Harvest Days show we tried to pick some triple stack corn. It simply would not pick. What you are experiencing is exactly what happened to us. The stalks were so hard (they are designed to be) that they would not push down but instead would just cut off. We finally had to park the pickers because they just wouldn't work unless you slowed to an absolute crawl. A friend of mine picked with an E-3 Co-op tractor that had a super low and it would pick if you went as slow as it would go which was less than 1 mph. Otherwise all the pickers would just cut off the stalk and run the whole mess through. Mike
My corn was all triple stack with very tough stalks, excellent yield, but I had no trouble last year with my 324. This year I don't have to worry.......with very little rain in July and August.
I am in Alabama. I bought Southern States seed. Roundup Ready, but not sure if triple stack.
I think I can handle the problem if I can get the conveyor and corn saver from jamming. I'm going to fix the bend in the slat this afternoon and try it when the corn is wet from dew on Saturday morning. If that doesn't stop the conveyor from jamming I'm going to cover the corn saver with a sheet of aluminum that has some small holes drilled in it to let the corn drop through. Do you think this will work????
I have about 3 acres of white field corn that I'm going to try and pick with the picker if I still have problems with the yellow. Just to see it it's a stalk problem.
You must have had a variety that would pick. There were several brands of pickers of all ages last year and not a one would pick that corn. Glad your luck was better. Mike
I bought the same variety this year. At least I thought I did.
How high should the lobes be on the snapping rollers. I spoke with the guy in Pennsylvania that rebuilds the snapping rollers. He said that he welds them up and then grinds them down using a jig. I thought about adding a little weld to the area between the lobes and see if that would help pull the stalks through. What do you think????
We use 324s with 327 husking beds, and had no trouble last year with triple stack corn. We had planted on 30 inch rows for the combine, and tried the 324s to see if they worked on the narrow rows. They worked well. We set our snoots about 1 foot off the ground with a fixed rod in place of the lift cylinder. The corn stalks leaned right around the center snoot on their way into the gathering chains, and we lost very little corn. We pulled the picker with an AC D17 Ser IV Gas, in low or high 1st gear, depending where we were on the side hill. Our setup picked the corn as clean as I have ever seen it, cleaner than our old NI mounted picker and cleaner than the neighbor's Uni. According to the combine on the rest of our fields, the yield was between 175-210, depending on just where we were. We have a side hill farm in southwest Iowa with terraces and some flat top ground. The moisture of the corn was 17-20% when we were picking, and we worked from mid-morning until just after sundown. Hope the comparison helps.
Some of the rollers on our various 324s have welding build-up on the lobes. We didn't have the welding done, but bought the unit that way. I'd say it wouldn't hurt, but maybe someone else on this forum has had trouble with that.
We use 324s with 327 husking beds, and had no trouble last year with triple stack corn. We had planted on 30 inch rows for the combine, and tried the 324s to see if they worked on the narrow rows. They worked well. We set our snoots about 1 foot off the ground with a fixed rod in place of the lift cylinder. The corn stalks leaned right around the center snoot on their way into the gathering chains, and we lost very little corn. We pulled the picker with an AC D17 Ser IV Gas, in low or high 1st gear, depending where we were on the side hill. Our setup picked the corn as clean as I have ever seen it, cleaner than our old NI mounted picker and cleaner than the neighbor's Uni. According to the combine on the rest of our fields, the yield was between 175-210, depending on just where we were. We have a side hill farm in southwest Iowa with terraces and some flat top ground. The moisture of the corn was 17-20% when we were picking, and we worked from mid-morning until just after sundown. Hope the comparison helps.
Sounds just like my situation. Hillside terraces. It was very dry and hot here this year. 100 days in a row over 90* in May - Early Sept. The stalks are very dry, but standing. My corn was planted pretty early and made very good. Now I just need to get it picked. I'm not sure what the moisture is.....
With my 323 I picked one year without the cornsaver as it was gigving me too much trouble. Lots of real small ears and cobs were going down through and plugging it up. I removed the screen at the bottom and let most everything fall through. You may want to try that. About 8 small bolts to remove it . If you put a sheet in how will you clear the beater?
On our 324, my dad would weld a small bead where it gets worn down in the pocket of the lobe. If you want to compare how worn your lobes are from new, compare the ones lower down on the roll to the ones near the top (where they don't get much use). You can see on the top ones how "square" they were when they were new.
With my 323 I picked one year without the cornsaver as it was gigving me too much trouble. Lots of real small ears and cobs were going down through and plugging it up. I removed the screen at the bottom and let most everything fall through. You may want to try that. About 8 small bolts to remove it . If you put a sheet in how will you clear the beater?
Going to remove that screen today. Then I'm going to straighten the bent slats adn give it a try. If that doesn't work, I'm going to leave the screen off the cornsaver.
Ended up pulling more pumpkins yesterday afternoon. Thought I had them all pulled and when I got to the patch I pulled a small trailer load that had "appeared" as the vines went down.
We then worked on the Haban PTO sheller that I bought last winter replacing the belts. We're going to shell what corn we picked on Saturday to get ready to give it another try this weekend.
I don't know if the lobes are too worn, but with them all the way together most of them are almost touching. I just wondered about adding weld between the lobes to help pull the corn through. The guy in Pennsylvania that rebuilds them said that this would increase shelling though.
Thanks for all the help and keep the ideas coming.
On our 324, my dad would weld a small bead where it gets worn down in the pocket of the lobe. If you want to compare how worn your lobes are from new, compare the ones lower down on the roll to the ones near the top (where they don't get much use). You can see on the top ones how "square" they were when they were new.
I'll check the top ones vs. the bottom ones. Also, did he add weld to the raised up part (lobes?) or between them on the smooth surface???
Well I took the cornsaver screen off the bottom and cleaned it out real good. There were a lot of shucks caught between one of the sprockets and chains. That was causing the chain to be too tight on one side and bind.
I went this afternoon and picked about 20 or 30 bushels before it got dark. The cornsaver is no longer jamming. Now the only problem I have is with the snapping rollers not pulling the stalks through. The area under the picker where the snapping rollers pull the stalks through keeps packing full of stalks and husk.
I'm going to Tractor Supply tomorrow to buy some of the dry lube that you spray on to spray the bottom of the picker to see if this will keep the picker from clogging. When you first clear the area under the picker it does real well pulling the stalks through, but after a few minutes you can tell that the area under the rollers is starting to jam, because the stalks start to build up above the rollers.
Well I finally figured out the problem. Last year after I used the picker I changed the wheels and tires so we could pull it on the road to my FIL's house. I replaced the 7.50x20 implement tires with 7.50x16 trailer tires to tow it on the road, but never took it to his house. He just hand picked the 2 acres he had.
I added a little weld to the snapping rollers between the lobes and the picker was working great. Still had to travel in 1st gear to keep the area under the picker from jamming. This area jammed and I was lying on the ground digging the fodder out when my wife walked up. She said, "It looks like you wouldn't have as much trouble if the picker was higher off the ground". I thought, hum.....
We went back to the house with the picker and I rolled one of the implement tires up beside the picker. About 4" taller. I put the implement tires back on and went back to the field.
I started at the end of one row in 1st gear and everything was working great. Shifted to 2nd gear and the picker was working like a charm. I got brave and put it in third gear and let it roll. The picker was grabbing the stalks and slamming them out the bottom. Corn was flying up the elevator and into the wagon.
I only had to stop 2 times in the last 2 acres to clear jams in the picker.
Thanks to everyone for all the help with my picker. I ended up with a barn full of corn to feed the pigs.
Now I just need to go pick the 3 acres of white field corn that I planted to grind for corn meal.....
Chris
-- Edited by firefighter9208 on Tuesday 2nd of November 2010 08:57:33 AM
