Really enjoyed reading the "dream picker"posts and wondered what are some of the "oddities" out there? There has to be some. What about an 830 or 930 Comfort King with a New Idea? Can it be done with those big fenders on?Or a 444 Massey with a Massey or New Idea picker? In my neck of the woods, the picker era was coming to an end as I was just getting old enough to be more than a shovel handle extension() .The only pickers I truly remember by this time in the neighborhood(mid 60s)was an Oliver 73 and a Ford mounted on a 701. My Dad and uncles quit using the Massey picker mounted on the 44 and traded the New Idea 324 with the sheller unit in on their first 300 Massey in 1963.
I have some original sales literature for a John Deere 237 picker. One of the tractors that is listed to mount the picker on is a John Deere 2020 which is a utility tractor. I have seen pictures of an experimental narrow front 2020 but the tractor never made it to production. It must have gotten very, very close, though, to be listed in this brochure. That would be a very interesting combination. Mike
well i would have to say a 806 or 1206 under a new idea 319 being as i think the new ideas are alot lighter u could go through alot of mud with it mounted on on of them two tractors
I worked for a implement dealer after High School. We mounted a IH 2 M on a MM U. We must have gotten mounting brackets from somewhere. Seem to remember it was a bolt up deal. Had trouble with the elevator rods that were hooked to the picker and the weight of the elevator would pull the snoots off the ground. We made brackets to hook to the tractor so you could control the height of the picker Gene
I must have ran everybody away with my previous post. Dad bought a new Oliver pulltype side elevator picker in Wisconsin on the "Black Market" in 1945 or so. In 47 we moved to a farm owned by a Massey Harris dealer. We usally had a new combine every year to do the oats and for a year or two had a Massey self propelled picker to use. The Massey was under powered and was not good in the hills. Grandpa had a sale in52 or 53 and my uncle bought the Oliver picker. He picked one fall with it and left it set in the field. Dad bought the picker from him and rebuilt the side elevator to the rear. In 54 we moved again and we used the Oliver behind Dads1944 JD A untill 1961 Dad bought a year old JD 227 picker and we mounted it on a WD45 Allis Chalmers. I started farming in 1966 and we bought a JD 60 and eventually mounted the 227 on it. I used it up untill the late 80s then traded labor with a neighbor who had a NEW IDEA Super Picker, Capacity of that thing was tremendous. We bought a combine in 73 but I would still pick 3000 bushel or more every year. Still have the JD A, jd 60 and the WD 45. Gene
WHat was it like picking with the wd45? and the self propelled. THese stories of someone actually getting to use these things for a living and having lots of hours of seat time are fascinating to some of us.
I'll second that, I learned the other day that my great great grandfather, ran 4 MH self propelled pickers at one point in time. They had a Massey dealership and must have done quite a bit of custom picking as well. I wish I could have seen that.
I never ran the picker much when it was on WD45. Dad always ran the picker. Mounting the picker was quite feat, the wheels had to be moved from side to side. The rear step and lift arms were removed. With the subframe on the lift cylinders were used for height adjustments. All in all it was a good setup. We did break a rear axle one year. We always disked our end rows for easier turning. This was the last field of the year and we decided to go ahead and pick sure enough had about 3 acres left whe the axle broke. Interesting side note our local JD dealer had a farm. Every year they would put a new picker on and pick their corn and then sell the picker the next year. Our neighbor bought one of them and put it on his WD. He died the next year and family had a sale and another neighbor bought that picker. He traded brackets back to the dealer for JD,s. Dealer put a picker on a guys WD45 diesel he picked one year with it and put his picker on a brand new Oliver770. The 3rd year dad bought our picker and we ran it for several years. So the AC brackets were on 3 one year old pickers and on 3 different AC,s in 3years. The Massey SP picker was used one. Some one may correct me if I'm wrong but I think it only had a 4 cly engine so it was underpowered on sidehills you couldn't turn up or down hill if the wagon had much of a load. Gene
-- Edited by Eugene SWIA on Thursday 26th of January 2012 07:47:13 AM
) .The only pickers I truly remember by this time in the neighborhood(mid 60s)was an Oliver 73 and a Ford mounted on a 701. My Dad and uncles quit using the Massey picker mounted on the 44 and traded the New Idea 324 with the sheller unit in on their first 300 Massey in 1963.
