Pull behind corn harvester

[firefighter9208]

I've been knocking around the idea of planting my grandfather's land in corn. He has 160 acres with about 50-60 of those acres tillable. Can't use a combine, because the land is set up in parallel terraces. I want to plant 2-3 acres the first year (feed it to the goats) to get my feet wet and then if all goes well Grandad has told me to plant all the acreage I want (he's 81).

I would like to buy a pull behind combine or corn harvester (one or two row) that I can pull behind my Kubota M4800. I've looked at several on Used Tractors at TractorHouse.com: John Deere Tractors, used farm tractors and farm equipment, Case IH, New Holland, Agco, Caterpillar. , but don't know if I'm looking at the right thing.

Here are some examples I see:

JOHN DEERE 38 Forage For Sale At TractorHouse.com

NEW HOLLAND 890 Forage For Sale At TractorHouse.com

Yesterday's Tractors - View Antique Tractor Photo Ads

OK, I assume you pull a wagon behind these?

Do they shell the corn like a combine or what????

We used to grow corn for the hogs, when I was a kid, but we used the manual picker. A bunch of use with hampers dumping in a trailer. Then we took it to the corn crib and scooped it out with a shovel. The we shucked the corn by hand and ran it through a manual sheller.

I could do this on 2-3 acres, but not 40-50.

We have a covington 1 or 2 row planter that we have always used.

Covington Planter: TP-46

I know that the "big boys" are using huge multi-row planters with GPS etc.... And they are doing no till. Can I use a seed drill to plant corn??? I have access to one. Or do I need to go conventional and till the land and plant with the covington. What about row spacing???

I know I have a lot of questions.

I would like to keep the investment minimal on the equipment side. We pretty much have everything we need to row crop. Subsoiler, turning plow, discs, covington planter, tractors, Farmall 140, etc....

I work at a school and am off work from about May 23 until Aug. 5. I have the time to do this, I just have never really done corn. We do sweet corn and about every possible veg. their is, but I haven't done "field corn" on this large a scale before.

Any help would be appreciated.

Chris

 

[MFRED]

Those forage harvesters are going to cut the corn,stalk and all into little pieces. That sounds like what you want to do. I think a two row would be pushing it hp wise with your tractor, especially if you want to pull a wagon behind it. We used to ohave a 140hp International to chop with our 2 row chopper & dump wagon. You could chop into a truck following behind.

 

[firefighter9208]

Those forage harvesters are going to cut the corn,stalk and all into little pieces. That sounds like what you want to do. I think a two row would be pushing it hp wise with your tractor, especially if you want to pull a wagon behind it. We used to ohave a 140hp International to chop with our 2 row chopper & dump wagon. You could chop into a truck following behind.

OK, not what I'm wanting to do. Basically I want the shelled corn, like with a combine, but w/o having to run a combine. Make sense?

Chris

 

[Farmwithjunk]

As mentioned, the models you've singled out are SILAGE choppers. They chop the entire plant, stalks, ears, ect, and blow them into a wagon or truck.

Your choices for a pull-behind unit are somewhat limited.

A PICKER will pick whole ear corn. They are still around. There's a couple variations. One picks ears with husk still intact. More common, they'll have husking rolls that remove the husk, leaving ears with exposed kernals.

You MAY find a picker with a sheller attachment. Sorta rare.

SOME older pull-type combines were capable of shelling corn, but the heads are VERY UNcommon.

Older self-propelled combines aren't all that expensive. Not uncommon to find one cheaper than a GOOD pull-type picker.

 

[zionview]

New Idea made picker-shellers that did a good job on corn. We had a 2-row narrow model 325 wiith a sheller that we used for years. We also had a 325 with a husking bed for ear corn. We pulled the sheller witrh a 170 Allis Chalmers, which is 54 HP, and it handled it well. Hopefully, I attached a pic of one with the hsking bed. You can trail a gravity wagon or dump wagon behind these.

 

[JDeerekid]

I believe what you want is something like the last link you have, which is a picker sheller. If you are going to sell the corn you need it shelled. If you are just using it to feed to your animals and not selling it you can use a chopper like the first links. Choppers take alot more hp than the pickers.
Some things to remember are if you are are planning on growing lots of corn you have to have storage for it. It must be dried also.

Also why cant you use a small self propelled combine?? If you can use a pull behind set up why can't you use a regualer combine. They can be bought for very little money, even 4 whell drive units. You wont need wagons and worry about pulling a train behind your tractor.

What ever you decide I am interested on how it turns out for you, please post updates.

 

[zionview]

Another alternative to on-farm storage is renting storage. I rented out a spare grain bin one year for four cents/bushel/month. Another idea is selling out of the field. Got any livestock farmers in your area? That can solve more problems, like having the buyer haul it for himself. Both of these ideas keep you from investing in drier and storage facilities(BIG $$). Since you are going to be growing an ever-changing amount of grain until you settle on acreage and crop mix, I would definitely consider these alternatives, at least for now. If commodity prices fluxuate much, profits might be pretty thin some years- not good if you are trying to expand acreage.

 

[firefighter9208]

Jdeerekid,

I'm not sure that I couldn't use a small 4WD combine, but many areas are really steep. I'll attach images from google earth. All of the land is parallel terraces.

Photo 1: Basically everything you see is part of his land. The open areas haven't been tilled in several years, but most of it is fairly steep.

Photo 2: In this photo you can basically see the lay of the land. The squiggly lines are the tops of the terraces. Some of this is almost too steep to plow with the Farmall 140. You have to really use the tractor brakes.

Photo 3: Is a better photo of the "backplace" He owns 80 acres here. What I have outlined is his open field. Pretty steep in some places. You can almost make out the parallel terraces.

Photo 4: Is of our property. You can really tell the parallel terraces in it. Look to the right of our pond and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Photo 5: Shows the outline of a terrace. Not something those corn farmers out west have to deal with.

Chris

 

[gfd_703]

It was a long time ago, but we use to pick corn with a pull behind. Of all the brands New Idea was the best. Just remember you are going to knock down 2 rows around the field with a pull type. It also takes a lot of room to turn a tractor, picker and trailer around. If the ground gets the least bit soft you do not have enough tractor to pull a loaded wagon through the field either.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Jdeerekid,

I'm not sure that I couldn't use a small 4WD combine, but many areas are really steep. I'll attach images from google earth. All of the land is parallel terraces.

Not something those corn farmers out west have to deal with.

Chris

Way out west they harvest crops on the sides of mountains every year. You can do just about anything you want to now so all you have to do is decide just what you want to do and what your budget is.

I personally would rather run a side hill harvester on steep land then pull a picker and wagon. On steep land if you get any amount of moisture you could be in for one heck of a fight.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Here are a couple more pics of side hill combines. The first pic shows the area they are working (that is Mount Hood in the background). The second pic shows a good view of the combine angled.

 

[JDeerekid]

cool pics Robert. I new they built a combine like that just never saw one.

I still think with a small regular combine might still be easier and safer than a tractor towing a picker and a wagon at the same time. Only thing is if teh hills are that drastic I would worry about the combine being top heavy. Combines are pretty sturdy though, maybe run a set up duels.

 

[firefighter9208]

Robert,

Cool!!! Didn't know you could get a combine that would do that. Guess I'll get on tractor house and see what's listed. Might just plant a couple acres the first year and hand pick and shell to see how it goes.

Keep the ideas coming guys.

Chris

 

[Glowplug]

You can get a 2-row New Idea pull-behind corn picker (324 or 325) for $3,000 - $4,000. Don't you guys think if you bought a $3,000 self-propelled combine that the amount of maintenance required for it would be cost prohibitive? Just wondering because I had tossed around the same idea in my mind as the OP. I'm pretty naive on this though. Just recently learned the difference between a pull-behind forage harvester/chopper and a corn picker.

 

[js5020]

They have all the neat stuff out west! What is that an IH 1470? Also check out AC MH2,,JD 6600/6620 sidehill,, also IH 435 all hillside machines. Love combines had several over the years,, If you look around there are still some small machines out there,, in my part of the country they were bought by guys with 50 -100 acres who worked a job and farmed on the side so not much was put through them, some never had a cob of corn run through them. About 10 years back I bought a Gleaner E111 off an old guy who had bought it new, kept it in a shed all it's life,, it was a sweet machine. It was older and slower than the real combine I owned, but it put grain in the tank just not as fast!

 

[Robert_in_NY]

You can get a 2-row New Idea pull-behind corn picker (324 or 325) for $3,000 - $4,000. Don't you guys think if you bought a $3,000 self-propelled combine that the amount of maintenance required for it would be cost prohibitive? Just wondering because I had tossed around the same idea in my mind as the OP. I'm pretty naive on this though. Just recently learned the difference between a pull-behind forage harvester/chopper and a corn picker.

Well, I paid $1k for my JD 3300 with corn and grain heads, another $1k to get them to my house then a few hundred on small parts that I wanted to replace. If I wanted to restore this machine to like new condition then yes, it would cost a fortune but to keep it reliable isn't too big of a concern or expense. But it was in good shape to begin with also which helps.

 

[R W]

You can get a 2-row New Idea pull-behind corn picker (324 or 325) for $3,000 - $4,000.

If these are available it would be the way to go, have engine or transmission
problems with an SP every thing stops, you can always hook another tractor
on to a pull behind. Don't worry about whats knocked down on the first round
your cattle will soon clean that up. Have a sales brochure on a New Idea they appear to be a good simple machine, a similar single row picker thresher
was made in Queensland (Australia) by a firm called Lang & Walker some years ago.

 

[Charlie175]

I've used a New Idea single row picker, on hilly terrain we use a hay wagon with sides, a gravity wagon is to top heavy on the hills. The disadvantage is that you have to hand shovel off the corn. Be advised that the wagon and picker can get real heavy and may push you down the hills if the ground is wet.

We used to hand pick the outer 2 rows in tight fields and cut the green corn to feed it to the cows, otherwise any rows knocked down us kids had to sort through and pick up the ears.

Old school for sure but you can take a whole ear and grind it to make feed rather than just the shelled corn. We used to run our own belt driven grinder also and bag feed. Lots of labor but fond memories....

This was using a AC D15 and later a AC 6060, we also used a AC 60 pull type combine. We still have all the above and still use them, I can't imagine how many ears that picker has been through.

 

[firefighter9208]

Charlie,

Can you post pictures of the pull behinds. Especially the AC 60 pull behind combine.

Ok, this is going to sound stupid, but when we grew corn for the hogs we let it dry in the field. Do you now harvest the corn "green" like sweet corn???

I'm learning here.

Chris

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Charlie,

Can you post pictures of the pull behinds. Especially the AC 60 pull behind combine.

Ok, this is going to sound stupid, but when we grew corn for the hogs we let it dry in the field. Do you now harvest the corn "green" like sweet corn???

I'm learning here.

Chris

When you shell corn is usually still needs to be dried a little more to prevent spoilage. If you pick ear corn you can just put it in a crib and not worry as much because there is enough air flow but shelled corn doesn't have the air flow to finish drying properly. And if you leave it sit too long in the field when you go to harvest it you will lose a lot of kernels in the field.