I was wondering what you did to your IH 234 picker to make it run? Anything like what you did to the chains and gear boxes etc. Because I'm trying to bring back to life a Case 425 mounted picker. So any help would be great. Thank you.
The first thing I did was to check over, grease, and lubricate any and all parts I could locate. Check the gear boxes for oil. Then, I took a pipe wrench and turned the drive shafts of each snapping unit back and forth several times until I was confident each unit would run on its own. While working and lubricating the gathering unit, I also did the same to the husking bed and shellerlubricate and grease the moving parts and then using my pipe wrench turned the drive shafts back and forth until the unit ran freely. With the help of the manuals I purchased, I was able to manually turnover the picker and its units before hooking them up to the tractor. Before, I mounted my picker, I did re-grease all of the zerts and oil the chains, made any adjustments necessary, and put it on.
Once on, I was confident the picker was going to run. However, I carefully engaged the PTO, just so it turned over slowly one to two revolutions and stopped it. I did this a couple of times to make sure everything was working---over cautious, yes---and then I let the PTO run the picker for 30 seconds or so, stopped it, and checked over all of the moving parts again. I got back on the tractor and let it run the picker for a few minutes. Needless to say there were a few whoops of excitement when the 234 was running on its own!! Once I was over the initial period of listening to how the machine runs, it was time to try it out.
I did have the assistance of my dad while going through all of these steps. He has run mounted pickers for decades. His dad and brother-in-law went together and bought a used Woods Brothers pull type picker. Then a few years later, He bought an IH 2MH which he had until around 1987, when it was traded in for a NI 319.
I am assuming you have the manual for the Case 425, if not they are valuable in lots of ways. I would think if the picker has sat in the shed most/all of its life, you should have an easier time and getting it to run as compared to a unit that has set outside a period of time. Good luck!! Keep me and the rest of us posted on your progress. Also, take some pictures along the way!!
How are you coming along with 425 picker and 830? Hope all is working like it should! Love to see pictures when it is all together? I am going to get ready to put my 234 on my 706 this week.
Well the 830 won't be mounted to the picker. But I did buy a Case 400 for the picker,which is about ready to be mounted. pictures will come when I get it mounted.
