I will be raising hogs so the corn will be for feed, not for sale. I have both bins and cribs available for storage. I have an auger but not an elevator. I will be saving back seed to plant so having some dried on the ear might be good and I can grind the ears cob and all. I have a small grain head on a JD45 but no corn head and I am told they are a bear to change out.
So...should I be looking for a combine or a corn picker to harvest maybe a maximum of 100 acres of corn? I want to keep my equipment maintenance costs to a minimum so I am leaning toward a two row picker. I can likely pay the same price for that as for a 105 model (JD) combine I have been looking at.
Suggestions?
Edited by MoPete - 30 Dec at 5:49am
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You could harvest corn with the grain head. Try to cut just below the ears but you will run a lot more of the corn stalks and leaves through the combine and probably flush more corn out the back.
It might be more profitable to hire the harvest with modern equipment done in a day or two than to keep up with the repairs of rotting parts in an antique combine with limited parts availability. I don't think Deere keeps those parts on hand anymore, I know and parts are disappearing from the Shoup catalog as the more modern machines do a better job. 100 family combine parts are getting rare, but when used they wear and break too.
Or fence the field and let the pigs do the harvest over the winter. They will eat stalks, leaves, and corn.
Gerald J.
I wouldnt save the corn for seed to plant. It wont do any good. Hire it done and put it in the bin if you have a way to put air on it.
sometimes I walk out to my shop and look around and think "Who's the idiot that owns this place?"
My concern with hiring it done is the actual getting it done as folks are having a hard enough time getting their own harvest in. Also, there is the issue of cross contamination of their type of corn (conventional, GMO), with the open pollinated, organic I grow.
And you say don't save the seed, as it won't do any good...I use open pollinated Reid's Yellow Dent, which is an heirloom variety competitive in yield with most anything from Pioneer, etc according to the few field trials I have seen which have compared OP with hybrid.
Hogging it down is an option I have considered, as is baling the stalks, ears and all. But that presents me with management issues, also. Mainly that I need to gather them towards the house for access to water and electricity to keep water thawed, etc. My plan, as well, is to keep the feed in storage ahead of the hogs, if that makes sense. Bottom line is I think I need the availability of harvesting equipment.
I am old fashioned and I still like ear corn. The advantage of ear corn is no drying costs. Put it in the crib and take it out when you are ready to grind.
The disadvantages are that ear corn is a lot more work. It obviously doesn't flow well, so there is a lot more labor involved in the operation. Pickers, with husking beds, are getting hard to find.
Shelled corn is much easier to handle, but it has to be dried. Transportation and drying costs can add up quickly, if it has to be transported off the farm for drying.
Have you thought of harvesting high moisture ear corn with a forage harvester with a snapper head and a recutter screen and storing it in an Ag Bag? I know there is a lot more trash in the corn, but I can't see why it wouldn't work well for hogs.
MoPete,
I pick with a NI 2 row, and run corn with our F2. I agree with the previous post that the ear corn can dry on its own in the crib. We then grind that for our cattle and horses. However we let some corn stay in the field as long as possible so it can dry down naturally, as we have no drying facility on the farm. We grind this for the pig feed to get the right protein contents. My FIL is old fashioned, so ear corn gets ground for cows and horses, and shell corn gets ground for pigs and chickens. It seems to work for us. But I am patient enough to finish the harvest late....Still have 40 acres out.
Allis Express: Eastern PA on Rt 80
, , , 190, D14, DA , AA , , Gleaner F2
I still pick some. If you decide to pick make sure you have some place that will buy your extra.
Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.
WF owner wrote:
Edited by MoPete - 29 Dec at 7:05am
The extra labor is not too much of an issue as I am doing so few acres. But tell me more about the husking beds. I am not familiar with that.I think that would be very cost prohibitive for me, though likely a good option if I were planning for more acres across which to spread the cost.
Johnwilson_osf wrote:
Edited by MoPete - 29 Dec at 6:59am
Yes, I definitely can leave it in the field and let it dry. My harvest time will be so minimal that I should have no issues there. And I have heard nothing but good about the NI pickers.
Joe(OH) wrote:How long will it keep in a crib? That's definitely an issue although I suppose I could just buy more feeder pigs if I had extra. I really do want the feed ahead of the hogs.
Gerald J. wrote:Never heard of that and I will definitely experiment with that. Thanks.
Corn will last a while in the crib. We typically go through two cribs a year. They are refilled each fall. However, last year, we took corn out of a neighbors crib, that had been there three years. The outside had been picked over good by the birds, but the inside was a clean and yellow as the day we picked it.
Allis Express: Eastern PA on Rt 80
, , , 190, D14, DA , AA , , Gleaner F2
NI pull type corn picker (so you don't tie up a tractor forever). It will store indefinitely if you have a good roof on your crib and pick it below 20%
Thanks
Most Bad Government has grown out of Too Much Government- Thomas Jefferson
where in MO are you?
What is your budget?
Do you mind if the combine is a gasser?
I personally would keep an eye out for a good Gleaner machine, the 105 seemed a little crude in my opinion.
Gleaner: the properly engineered and built combine.
If you need parts for your Gleaner, we are parting out A's through L2's, so we may be able to help.
DO NOT USE BIN RUN SEED OR OPEN POLLINATED SEED! Even a close out non GMO will out yeild either other option. You would be better off calling a few seed dealers and asking for their cheapest seed in your maturiy. Ear corn is ok if you do 10-20 acres 100 would get old quick. When my grandfather farmed he would pic two wagons first thing in the morning after milking. He then would slowly unload them to make sure he got every husk. In Missouri you should be able to get corn pretty dry in the field. My thoughts are get some sort F or K 100 acres with a K was not the end off the world. I have learned that the cheapest initial option can cost more very quickly. Hogs don't really like the extra ruffage from the cobs either.
and MFWD, , 3 's, 160, , 175, heirloom D17, Deere
100 acres of corn to pick is a lot. We do 10 acres with a one row picker and it takes two days to do:)
I am in ne Mo, in Knox County and I prefer gas. There is a 105 a quarter mile from me I could get for $750 more or less, ready to change fluids and shell corn. I also looked at two JD270 2 row pickers at the same place. Terrible shape.
Edited by MoPete - 30 Dec at 6:00am
Do you have personal experience with OP seed?
LSilseth wrote:100 would be the maximum I would want to do. I have combined with newer equipment but not with what I can afford. I have never used a picker. How comparable would a two row picker be with a 4 row like a 105?
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WC wrote:that was what I had in mind if I went the picker route. I don't see myself getting in too big of a hurry so I should be able to let it dry better than 20%. If I went the mounted route, how difficult is it to mount and ... dismount?
If we had a two row I would do up to 50 acres but not 100. I hope you find what you are looking for.
Thanks. I do too.
Mounting and dismounting difficulty all depends on make and model of picker and tractor. With a 2 row picker expect to do anywhere from 1 to 3 acres an hour depending on conditions. I enjoy picking ear corn but if you're using a mounted picker its a dirty job.
get a pull type picker if you are going that route. or a self propelled. you can still get most parts for the new idea pickers i know. the other thing to think about is to buy multiple of the same model so you will have parts.
I love to pick corn, I have a New Idea 2 row narrow picker (326) but don't pick much anymore. I would stay away from a mounted picker, They are wide row pickers and in case of problems or too much corn you might have a problem finding a wide head combine to shell the remainder if needed. The last couple of mounted pickers in the area stay on the tractor year round and as stated they are very dirty. I've had 4 New Idea pickers and 2 Olivers since the late 70's, the Olivers picked cleaner and shelled less but parts were harder to find. HTH...Harvey
Go with a pull type corn picker for now. If you have too much earn corn, just rig up a gravity wagon that feeds your JD45 combine. That way you could shell the excess. You could bin it or haul it away. If you are patient, you may find an older 2 or 3 row corn head & combine package deal at auction?? They usually go cheap around here.
How good does the Reid's Yellow Dent stand through storms during late fall & winter??
OP corn is really making a comeback! I think there is a large dealer in MO for it as there are others across the country! they are trying to get away from Monsanto! and I think there is a pull type picker coming up at auction this week....i'm thinking in KS, will try to find it and let ya'll know! oh...and I've been thinkin bouts the OP corn too for this year!
o-k...found it...it's the jan 21st sale on BIGIRON.com...pics and descriptions under "harvest equipment"...3 dif units 2 pull type and one mounted with tractor. at Topeka, Ks.
grinder220 wrote:Any idea about a JD227? I found 2 yesterday at a neighbor's. Pretty poor condition but so was all my equipment when I brought it home. So, maybe 20 +/- acres a day is a reasonable estimate? I assume that assumes the picker running full time with someone else emptying the wagons?
bobkyllo wrote:Thanks. That makes good sense.
On our farm we grow corn for grain. Unlike sweet corn our corn remains in the field until fall when the plant reaches maturity and the grain dries out. So what kind of equipment do we have to get it out of the field and into our grain bins or off to market?
A combine harvester, or combine, is the tool of choice for harvesting corn and other grains. The reason this piece of equipment is called a combine is simply because it combines several jobs into a single machine. Combines cut the crop and separate the grain from the plant while processing and spreading the remaining material over the field. The invention of the combine was a major moment in human history (with some debate about who really invented it!) that revolutionized the way grain crops were harvested. Wikipedia has a really nice page on the history of the combine harvester.
At the front of a combine is the corn head. Combines can switch between a variety of heads depending on the type of crop harvested. The inner workings of the combine itself don&#;t require a swap like changing heads from corn to another crop like soybeans, but adjustments in speeds, spacings, and more are made accordingly.
I discuss how a corn head works in the video below. Basically what happens is a pair of spinning rolls pull the corn stalks down through the head. Just above those rolls metal plates pop the ear off the stalk. Gathering chains push the ears to the back of the head where an auger funnels the ears to the center of the head and into the front of the combine to begin the grain separating process.
About 10 seconds after the head takes in the ears there will be clean, separated grain in the grain tank. In this short span of time a lot of activity happens inside the machine. Once the whole corn ears enter the combine they are introduced to a spinning rotor which threshes the grain from the cob. This is done both mechanically by the machine and by grain on grain threshing as material is flung around the rotor. After the rotor a series of cleaning mechanisms come into play. This short animation reveals the process much better than I can say in words.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4MmtI1zVEA
Once the corn is clean it enters the clean grain elevator where it is transported up into the grain tank where it can be held until the tank is full. Our tank holds just over 400 bushels. Some grain may go through a secondary cleaning process via the tailings elevator. We routinely check samples of grain for damage and cleanliness, and make adjustments to the combine as needed. With today&#;s modern machines we can make nearly all the adjustments from the cab on the go with the push of a button.
Once the kernels are in the grain tank all the material left behind must be dealt with. Bits of leaves and stalks along with the corn husks and cobs exit the rear of the combine. Combines are equipped to either spread the material evenly over the field or to drop a windrow of plant material that could be baled for livestock. We spread our chaff and let it sit for no-till or incorporate it into the soil with tillage.
To see our corn harvest in action check out the following video from my YouTube channel. Enjoy! And if you have any questions or comments about combines and corn please comment below!
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