last spring, Saturday April 12th, I went near Fountain City, Indiana (15 miles from home) and picked up a 237 John Deere picker I had bought. I had bought it approximately a year prior, buying the picker first and knowing what it fit, then went and bought an economical tractor to put it on. All the brackets, screens, and hardware were there to fit a 3020, as that is what it had spent its life on. The owner was very good to work with and let me keep it inside till I could get it.
This was a one owner picker, being bought new in Richmond, IN, at Daggett Implement, a field fire had destroyed the owner's previous mounted picker. It was used on a 3020.
I, along with help from the previous owner, we went through the big task of putting on the frame and undercarriage and parts. Brought the tractor to his place with wheels already set out, pto changed over to 1000, etc. The picker was setting on a cement floor and was pretty close to drive into. My front tires are 7.50-15, a little wider than 6.00-16 he had, but they are working so far.
After about 4 hours of a good grunting sweating and new vocabularized workout, we had it mounted on my 1964 3020. What a job. We used the previous owner's 2840 with a loader to jockey the elevator in place, and his skid loader to stabilize. He said he did this many times. Worked slick.
Said our good byes and prepared to drive home. Had started and shut the tractor on and off probably half a dozen times during mounting. Went to start it to head out and click.. nothing. No contact. A few choice words, then after deciding the best way to open the battery compartment and laying on my back and belly then on the platform half upside down, I loosened the battery cables and cleaned them up and then snugged the fittings back in place and tightened them down, hit the key and she took right off...such small things make a big difference sometimes.
Cruised home. Got waves from a lot of folks. One fellow up the road was out working on his new White planter in his barnyard and was thinking what the heck... Went by an Amish farm and three or four Amish kids came running out to the end of the lane to watch.
Did not get to use it during fall, but hope to next fall. Here are a few pics..
Man that brought back a flood of memories. I own two 237's and both times I brought my JD 60 to the farm and mounted it. I will say you are darn lucky it was sitting on cement. Both of mine were sitting on dirt. Lots of choice words were shared by me and both farmers who both helped me mount each picker. Fun and frustrating at the same time. Thanks for sharing!
Nice! I am still hoping to find one somewhat close to home as somebody I know suspects there are two or three around. I am going to take a ride here soon for a couple of used tractor parts and check out the one possibility. My brother-in-law lives fairly close to that one and he can watch to see if the gentleman makes a move to start cleaning out his place. The picker is supposed to be somewhat visible from the road but my understanding is the fellow is not one for company so I will respect his privacy by not getting out of my truck and walking around. No matter what it is going to be a waiting game if I stay close to home. However, I don't want to wait five or ten more years hence my ad here.
Great story and photos!! Thank you for sharing them. It is always fun to hear the story behind the machine. Actually your story is similar to mine. I bought an IH 234 picker from two brothers who had it in the shed since 1976. The gathering unit, elevator for husking bed, auger for sheller, and subframe were packed neatly into the darkest corner of the old machine shed, which had a dirt floor, yet everything was either sitting on a board or wood blocks. I wish I had taken pictures of the day we loaded it, but I didn't have an extra hand(s) to do so. I had two pickups and two 16ft trailers to haul it home. Then I still had to go back the next day to get one more part of the gathering unit. I didn't have a tractor to mount it to so I split the gathering unit into two pieces. After I got my picker home and unloaded, I put it together inside my dad's shed and from there the hunt for a tractor and the mounting pieces began. The first four pictures I have attached are of the picker as it sat inside the shed when I first went to look at it. The last four are when we put it together the gathering unit inside my dad's shed. The Jolly Green Giant was along I90 in Blue Earth on my way to see the picker. The last photo is of the tractor and picker ready for action.
Both are great stories and great pics.
I can relate to all of the above plus or just moving the picker them self can be very challenging !! Rite Charlie Drahos ????
When i had my new idea #20 with the trailing husking bed , i had a guy with a backhoe load it on the trailor for me.That was easy as pie. and we onlyhad to move it maybe ten minutes away. Somebody made a cart for moving them
Thanks everyone for the comments. I thought afterwards that one of these experiences should be enough for any guy in his right mind!
But, however, now I have been thinking like I had originally set out to do, was/is to find a nice New Idea mounted picker close by and put it on a tractor. I think I have caught mounted picker fever, haha!
This size here is the easier type to collect. Way less space needed!
Man if they had had these life like toys when i was a kid.I've seen a d17 with that style of super picker mounted on it.But I know I've wore out i dont know how many tru scale two row mounted pickers and knees on my pants running them!
If you do a search on this forum, someone in the past posted some photos of loading an Oliver mounted picker. The were doing it similar to Charlie's pictures above but they used a chain or strap wrapped around each elevator and attached to the back of the loader bucket. I tried this earlier this winter with a New Idea picker I had junked out and was hauling to the scrap yard anyway. I figured if it didn't work or I wrecked it there would be no loss. It worked really slick! Next time I bring a picker home, that is how we will load it.
