Last saturday we went to horse progress days in Clare MI. There was an Amish fella with a booth set up and a new idea 323 picker to show the stalk choppers they are making. They have the one row in production. He said they are around $1100. I asked about a two row for my 325/326 and he said they are working on them but have some issues with the drive setup. He figures a two row will cost around $2500. It is a nice setup but how do you justify a $2500 chopper on a $600 picker for 5 or 6 acres of corn?
I know in the Susquehanna watershed area in PA, even the Amish are now no-tilling cover crops in after corn to satisfy runoff requirements. Many of them bale the fodder, too. That chopper would combine two trips and they wouldn't need a separate stalk shredder around. I saw a 325 that somebody had mounted a mower deck under the snapper and drove it with a hydraulic motor powered by a pump on the PTO shaft. Didn't look like it would be a good thing to have under there if it was muddy!
