Growing Corn
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CATMAN
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To all members who haven't grown grown up around corn-pickers or combines: NEVER, EVER grab a corn stalk that is wiggling around in the snapping rolls while the machine is running or idling. You may think you can tug on that stalk and pull it out, THEN in an instant those snapping rolls grab it and down it goes and your arm goes right in there,too! If I remember correctly reading the owners manual on Dad's old cornpicker, I believe the snapping rolls take a 1000 ft per minute. That is 16.6 feet per second, even if your reaction time (to release your grip) was .300 seconds(fast), those snapping rolls already took 5 feet of stalk or your arm into it. Please be safe.
MossRoad
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CATMAN said:
I have an acquaintance that lost an arm in one of those when he was young.
mjarrels
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My High School Ag safety instructor lost both legs to corn picker! They can get you fast. He was also hit by a train while crossing the track on a tractor. Great Ag safety instructor because he tought by example!
mark
mark
CATMAN
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On PBS(couple of years ago); There was a documentary about the loss/decline of the small family farms. It was filmed not too far from where I grew up.
One of the photos that they showed was the filmmaker's dad(the actual farmer) sitting on a JD tractor-mounted cornpicker on the final day of cornpicking, he drove in the driveway and held up both hands and fingers to show the camera that he still had all ten fingers after yet another harvest.
I believe the film was called "Troublesome Creek". The Troublesome Creek road is only three miles from my Dad's farm in Iowa. Dad knows the family. If you have ever sat in a tractor-mounted cornpicker, you could probably understand why/how so many people/farmers/farmkids got hurt with these units. Dad wouldn't let us boys use it at all=never. Later, he got a pull-type New Idea picker, then finally a combine. We got to use the latter two.I read several safety cautions on the corn picker and a couple of injury stories of someone trying to get there picker unplugged with the pto engaged. If it clogs it will be shut down. For those who haven't seen a New Idea corn picker in action here's a couple of videos.
YouTube - Picking Corn
YouTube - Picking Corn 2
YouTube - Picking Corn
YouTube - Picking Corn 2
charlz
Elite Member
Does that New Idea picker also take the husk off? hard to tell in those videos.
Looks like you have all the pieces coming together. The part I'm having trouble with is, once the corn is picked you store it on the cob for drying. How do you remove the kernals?
I have found multiple sources for the single ear at a time hand cranked sheller. Isn't there a better way to shell corn? Doesn't anybody make a motorized corn sheller? A PTO driven machine would also be nice.
I have found multiple sources for the single ear at a time hand cranked sheller. Isn't there a better way to shell corn? Doesn't anybody make a motorized corn sheller? A PTO driven machine would also be nice.
Egon
Epic Contributor
It would seem your corn growing concerns have all been covered. What are your plans for the Baseball Field??
The shelling is an issue. I have also been looking for a better way to shell than the old hand sheller. After about 10 bushels it gets old fast. I haven't found anything yet. Maybe I can get 10 hand shellers and have a shelling party...
Egon. Maybe the baseball players could help harvest but where do they go when the corn fields gone?
Egon. Maybe the baseball players could help harvest but where do they go when the corn fields gone?
Egon
Epic Contributor
The golf course waiting for spring training camps!
I've spent a lot of time in the Amish area of NW Ohio (largest Amish community in the country) and have never seen them picking field corn by hand. Always seems to be a one row picker pulled by a draft horse. My brother used to grow a couple acres of sweet corn and he used a modified one row picker behind a small tractor.MossRoad said:Go Amish! Pick it by hand.
Robert_in_NY
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LMTC said:
Amish farm different ways in different areas. Here the Amish will either pick the cobs by hand or if they are going to chop it they will use a one row binder.
charlz
Elite Member
lrunge said:
Any way to hook up a small motor to it so you don't have to hand crank? or maybe an old bicycle
There are some antique shellers on ebay with large wheels and some can be hooked to a motor. Although, from the looks of them, very much speed and they would fall apart. Now if I could convert the old treddle sewing machine to hook up to a sheller and convince someone that it was an exercise machine for their workouts...
Oh well, I'll keep looking since I have lots of time.
Oh well, I'll keep looking since I have lots of time.
charlz
Elite Member
lrunge said:
I did see a powered one at the fair last year or the year before.... in the 'antiques' display
looked like this one:Dodge County Antique Power Club De Voe McCormick Deering Corn Sheller
If you could find one of those or figure out how it works and build your own.
Charles
