Corn Harvester Special Built For Mud

Corn harvester special built for mud COMBINES Miscellaneous 10-6-3 "It's the only machine I've ever seen that'll harvest corn in 2 ft. or more of standing water," says Eugene Carlson, president of EK Premium Seeds, Berwick, Ill., who came up with the idea for a new "all-terrain" corn picker special-built for tough conditions. Manufactured by Ag-Chem Equipment Corp., a company that's known for its big custom applicator floater rigs, the new harvester was built from the ground up with Deere & Co. parts, including axles, cab, header, snapper units, and many other components. Key to success of the 4-WD rig, powered by a 234 Cummins engine, is its huge, 5¢-ft. wide up-front drive tires and 4-ft. wide rear steering tires. They allow the machine to keep moving without bogging down even in deep mud. Because the new harvester is designed to pick corn with the husks left on, it contains no husking beds or many of the other cleaning components that make other pickers and combines heavy. The machine is primarily geared for sweet corn producers, who pick with the husks on, and seed corn producers many of whom have begun to pick corn that way to reduce damage. But Carlson says other farmers, with no other way to salvage a standing difficult-to-harvest corn crop, have also expressed interest in the machine. Corn is picked by a standard 6 or 12-row Deere head and conveyed by a big 5-ft. wide conveyor to a trailing wagon or truck. There's no grain tank on the unit itself. It contains two air blast blowers to clean stalks and leaf debris from the ears. "In some areas in Minnesota this year fields were so wet there were ducks in the field ahead of harvesting crews," says Carlson, who notes that on-time harvesting is particularly critical in both sweet corn and seed corn because of the danger of damage from both frost and moisture. "This machine also has tremendous capacity. We're able to harvest at 5 mph versus 2¢ mph with a conventional machine because of the no-plug design." Ag-Chem senior engineer NormBauer told FARM SHOW the machine is in production and that several were in the field this summer and fall. For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Ag-Chem Equipment Co. Inc., 4900 Viking Drive, Mpls., Minn. 55435 (ph 612 835-2476).

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