Cotton picking these days.

[dusty3030]

Dusty, that document shows just how valuable a conscientious operator is. When we see machines as in your original linked video, it's easy to assume that the operators are just drivers while the "smart" machine is doing all the work. The TAMU document debunks that assumption completely. As with many things we take for granted, the skill of the operators and setup of the equipment changes often to ensure the most efficient operation and crop yields. Even the details of how to prevent cracked or damaged seed is very important for crop continuity. It proves that a strong mind is just as important as a strong back to successful farming.

Maintaining and operating a picker is part voodoo. Most cotton farmers I ever knew had a "picker man" or in other words a straw boss that did nothing but prep them for harvest and run and maintain them through the harvest. It is a dying art in the delta, I only know one personally anymore. Others I knew are dead and gone.

 

[AGRIMAN]

Weight and width are the enemy. The 6 heads hang several feet in front of the drive axle and they are heavy. If the basket is empty while moving and you stomped on the brakes hard enough, the rear wheels would come off the ground. Deere did do some rearranging and lightening of stuff in the heads so that 6 rows were possible. It wasn't too many years ago that 5 rows was the biggest there was. During that transition the row spacing was narrowed so the picker didn't get so wide that it couldn't cross a bridge on a gravel road.

I agree with you on weight and width being issues, but I have never had any issues with the rear tires coming on the ground. Maybe on some of the old two row units, but nothing on the 4 & 6 row machines. I know of nothing Deere did to their Pro series heads to lighten them much. In the past, the Deere heads tended to be lighter than the CaseIH as Deere picks from one side of the row and CaseIH picks from both sides.

Weight is also a big concern in wet conditions, if you ever bogged one down.... you have had a bad day thrust me. The 6 row units come factor with duals, but in the past the 4 rows didn't. In wet ground, you would start looking for a set of duals pretty quick.

 

[AGRIMAN]

We rarely ever removed a head and never for transporting. Each head is a separate unit and it's not that it's that hard to remove, but would just too much work. We drove/ hauled them as is, it can make for some interestiing road trips. Snagged a few powder lines & phone wires lol.... Most of the time when we removed a head, it was because the machine was bogged down and we where trying to get it out.

I say the average (regular) module has between 15 & 18 bales of cotton in it. With the new systems, Deere rolls their cotton and Case made a mini version (about half size) of the same rectangular module.

 

[bigtiller]

I agree with you on weight and width being issues, but I have never had any issues with the rear tires coming on the ground. Maybe on some of the old two row units, but nothing on the 4 & 6 row machines. I know of nothing Deere did to their Pro series heads to lighten them much. In the past, the Deere heads tended to be lighter than the CaseIH as Deere picks from one side of the row and CaseIH picks from both sides.

Weight is also a big concern in wet conditions, if you ever bogged one down.... you have had a bad day thrust me. The 6 row units come factor with duals, but in the past the 4 rows didn't. In wet ground, you would start looking for a set of duals pretty quick.

You just weren't trying hard enough. :laughing:

It's been a lot of years since they changed everything to grow and harvest 6 rows in the same space that used to grow 5. But I remember something about the weight being lessened or maybe just shuffled around. Or maybe the tool bar was moved back. What ever it was, I remember weight and width being a challenge that was overcome and a lot of high fives were going around in the Des Moines plant where they are built.

 

[RalphVa]

Surely beats bending over and pulling cotton all day long, dragging a long bag behind you between the rows. Used to do it for (mostly) clothes money for school. Wish I'd learned to just go naked back in those days.

Ralph