Tock Picker Built From Old Potato Harvester

Tock Picker Built From Old Potato Harvester ROCK PICKERS Rock Pickers 23-1-9 "I'm always looking for ways to do things as cost effectively as possible and that's how I got the idea of converting an old potato harvester to rock picking," says William Holcombe, who bought a harvester at an auction for $1,000. The first step was to remove all parts from the harvester that were not needed to pick rocks, a job that took only about 2 hours. Next, Holcombe made a box for the back of the machine to catch rocks. It's made of plate steel and is welded together. The back has a tailgate that opens up to dump. Two hydraulic cylinders open and close the tail-gate. The cost of the box and two cylinders was $375. After a total of about 40 hours of work, Holcombe took the machine to a field that he had already prepared for planting. He first raked rocks into windrows with a stone rake. "It worked well, picking up rocks from fist-size and on up. Best of all it only takes one person to operate, with no strain on anyone's back. Previously, I hired a crew of workers to pick rocks. Now I can clear 10 acres of land in 5 hours Before it took 5 men two days to do the same work. "There's little on-going maintenance required, other than regular greasing. I bought some additional chain at an auction for a reasonable price so I should be able to operate for years at little or no cost. It works so well I started doing custom work. Other farmers are amazed by how well it works." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, William J. Holcombe, RFD 1, Box 800, Chateaugay, N.Y. 12920 (ph 518 497-6246).

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