OP
Dachshund
Silver Member
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Sounds interesting! All I want it to do is pick the ears - I'll shell it myself.
Anyone thought about building a corn picker?
- Thread starter Dachshund
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OldMcDonald
Platinum Member
Same here. We hand picked about half an acre last year - a very poor crop due to lack of water, and 10 acres is really out of the question. Have you come up with any ideas? I have searched as much as possible, and get the impression that all that is really needed is to have a Vee shape that will feed the cobs into a narrowing space and they will be pulled off in a similar manner to hand picking, but I am still lacking detail. Leading them into a tpl box or similar after that should not be too much of a problem. Old McDonald.
Toolguy
Platinum Member
My advice would be look at a cornpicker or combine with a corn head. I think that after you see what is all involved with a mechanical corn picker you will think differently about trying to build one yourself. Good luck if you decide to tackle it.
OldMcDonald
Platinum Member
Toolguy, As I keep pointing out on this forum - these machines do not exist here. I am not joking. So far as mechanised agriculture is concerned, Portugal generally should be classified as 3rd world. From what I see every day, both locally and if I travel, I would bet there are more donkeys than tractors in this country. My 16 acres is a lot bigger than a normal sized holding over much of the country. Subsistence farming is the norm. If I need a piece of equipment I make it myself - although I did buy a scarifier and fertiliser/seed distributor because of the difficulties of making one. Both were imported. Old McDonald.
rambler
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A corn picker is a much more difficult machine to make than a seed spinner tho.
You need the snapping rolls - you need to power them. You need to support the rolls with a pretty strong frame. You need to take the corn away from the snapping rolls. Then you need to make a husking bed, which is 4-12 rollers with metal and rubber rough spots that take the husks off. A fan to blow stuff through the bed rollers.
The snapping rolls need to be the right angle, and matched to the speed you want to move. Being able to adjust width of these rollers is important for different crop conditions.
I'd say a corn picker is 20 or times harder to make from scratch than a spinning seeder, and 100 times harder than a scarifier.
I don't think you quite understand just how involved this project would be. You can't just build the snapping roll, they are cast, and have engineered ridges & notches for seperating the husk/ear from the stalk.
http://www.toytractorshow.com/new_idea_super_picker.htm
I'd rather engineer a tractor than a corn picker from the ground up.
--->Paul
You need the snapping rolls - you need to power them. You need to support the rolls with a pretty strong frame. You need to take the corn away from the snapping rolls. Then you need to make a husking bed, which is 4-12 rollers with metal and rubber rough spots that take the husks off. A fan to blow stuff through the bed rollers.
The snapping rolls need to be the right angle, and matched to the speed you want to move. Being able to adjust width of these rollers is important for different crop conditions.
I'd say a corn picker is 20 or times harder to make from scratch than a spinning seeder, and 100 times harder than a scarifier.
I don't think you quite understand just how involved this project would be. You can't just build the snapping roll, they are cast, and have engineered ridges & notches for seperating the husk/ear from the stalk.
http://www.toytractorshow.com/new_idea_super_picker.htm
I'd rather engineer a tractor than a corn picker from the ground up.
--->Paul
MarlandS
Bronze Member
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The snapping rolls need to be the right angle, and matched to the speed you want to move. Being able to adjust width of these rollers is important for different crop conditions.
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It wouldn't be quite as difficult if he used a stripper plate design, actually the snapping rolls are the least of the worries then. Timing the gearbox? Yes, unless the pockets are deep enough to get a Deere cornhead gearbox and rolls. Also, the stripper plate design can be set to almost completely husk the ear quite easily.
Old MacDonald, it would be quite an undertaking, especially without a good working knowledge of one. BUT, it can be done. Although it might be cheaper to have an old one shipped to your country if possible.
The snapping rolls need to be the right angle, and matched to the speed you want to move. Being able to adjust width of these rollers is important for different crop conditions.
)</font>
It wouldn't be quite as difficult if he used a stripper plate design, actually the snapping rolls are the least of the worries then. Timing the gearbox? Yes, unless the pockets are deep enough to get a Deere cornhead gearbox and rolls. Also, the stripper plate design can be set to almost completely husk the ear quite easily.
Old MacDonald, it would be quite an undertaking, especially without a good working knowledge of one. BUT, it can be done. Although it might be cheaper to have an old one shipped to your country if possible.
ZJ_HR
Gold Member
If you are in Portugal, it is not far from you to look for one in France. Bourgoin pickers are very famous, but your TCE is little small for 2 row picker.
I had 1-row picker for several years, and pulled it with my smaller tractor, little bigger then your is. Experience was good when fall was dry, but it was hard when fields were soaked. Efficiency was about 4-5 acres a day.
After that I had 2-row picker, driven with 70HP tractor. It was more then twice faster on bigger field, but similary slow on our small pieces of land - hard to manuever, and bad performer on slopes.
If you want one, you can buy 1-row picker here for 1500-4000€, depend on shape and age. New ones are still produced by SIP, Slovenia SIP
If you want some pics, just send me a message.
I had 1-row picker for several years, and pulled it with my smaller tractor, little bigger then your is. Experience was good when fall was dry, but it was hard when fields were soaked. Efficiency was about 4-5 acres a day.
After that I had 2-row picker, driven with 70HP tractor. It was more then twice faster on bigger field, but similary slow on our small pieces of land - hard to manuever, and bad performer on slopes.
If you want one, you can buy 1-row picker here for 1500-4000€, depend on shape and age. New ones are still produced by SIP, Slovenia SIP
If you want some pics, just send me a message.
OldMcDonald
Platinum Member
OK, I am just about convinced that it might not be a good idea, but still hanker to try something. Harvesting conditions will always be hot and dry. It does not rain here at all in the summer. Stop irrigating and the crop dries off. I never even considered husking as part of the operation - not strictly necessary for my needs. Goats are quite able to do their own husking, and shelling, and grinding. All I intended was to remove the cobs from the stalks, and feed them into a collecting box, just as we did by hand for the last 3 years, which is my total corn growing experience. Old McDonald.
ZJ_HR
Gold Member
I saw one home made picker like you mentioned 2-3y ago. Picking table (1-row) is took of old combine corn head, and rest is home made. If I'll have possibility, I'll try to find that man again, and make some pics, but can't promise if and when, as I lost his address and name. I just know rougly place where it was living.
