one row cotton picker

rick deere

Well-known Member
Well this is it ,got it home and now running,been in barn for yrs and the barn fell on it, but nothing was hurt.It's a high drome, with cast header top,one fan.
a199976.jpg
 
that thing is awesome...some history there.....all i can think is if i was a picker and saw that comin at me,,i would be thinking im out of a job................cant believe the barn did not hurt that monster,,,,,,,,,,thabks for pics............dewy
 
my research says its a 1941 tractor,and the picker header a late 40's but demos came out in early 40's, had the basket hose break yesterday will try to replace it today and maybe even drive it and make sure it all still works.thanks
 
Hey does the fan on the engine still pull air through the radiator, or are the fan blades been reversed? to push air from the engine out the grill,is there a screen to keep chaff out.
 
Rick,

Your picker is very nice for a 63 year old machine.

Your picker serial number indicates that the picker is a 1952 year model. The tractor may well be a 1941 year model. If the tractor was a factory mounted unit, the tractor would have a "CH" in the serial number. About half of the 1 row pickers were factory mounted units and about half were dealer or farmer conversions with a kit supplied from the Memphis plant through the dealer. Kits began being offered when the M-12-H pickers began production.

The picker serial numbers began at 501 as # 1 which was an H-10-H model on an H Farmall in 1941 and were numbered through the beginning production of the first two row pickers. John Deere bought the 501 picker from Hopson Plantation, Clarksdale, MS in about 1946 (at least after the harvest season of 1945)and reverse engineered the row unit changing only the spindle gear and corresponding drive gear in the bars, spindle nuts and shields and few other cosmetic changes other than the mirror imaging of the row units. I have H-10-H # 502. It has been removed from the H it came on and mounted on a Super M, loosing much of the originality. I do have an H that was a high drum picker tractor from the factory; 1 of 25 that were manufactured and hope to reverse some of the loss of originality.

I also have a 1946 model M-11-H picker that was the next model produced in 1946 and 1947. The Memphis Harvester Works was dedicated in the spring of 1948, but a few of the M-12-H pickers were built in 1947 at the Memphis plant. They may have actually harvested in 1947. This model due to the numbers produced really made the cotton picker known across the cotton belt. There about 150 of the M-12-H pickers sold in 1953 after the M120 pickers were in production. This was most likely a change-over in 1953 in the early months.

The M-12-H picker was produced with a cast aluminum header cover. IH had tried this cover on one of the Hopson Plantation's pickers as early as 1943. Hopson did not like and did not think it would hold up, so IH was told to replace the cover with a cast iron cover like all of the other pickers through 1947 of the H-10-H and M-11-H pickers. All of the M120 pickers and later had formed steel header covers.

I do have a fair collection of literature including parts manuals and production numbers to support what I am saying. If you want a parts manual for an M-12-H picker, I have an Adobe version I can send. My email is open.
 
I never expected to see a one row
McCormick cotton picker in such great
shape. I may have to see it up close and
pinch myself to be sure I wasn't
dreaming! That is a once in a lifetime
find, happy for you. Hugh
 
The fan blades are unchanged from a
regular Farmall tractor. They did have
big screens to keep chaff out, plus
asbestos covering on the exhaust, with
no muffler, just a long, curved exhaust
pipe.
 
serail number on tractor is fbk258175kl which my book shows to be a 1941 and the header is model m12k serial number 59106 which is a late 1940 model from my reserch. it runs out great,the lp set up was added on in 1954, I've gotton headers to work, basket dumps, starts and runs very good.Now I've got to take that cab off, my arm is about 2 feet to sort to reach the gear shift and you can;t see anything when your in it. another 4 weeks and I'll have it in better condition than it is now.Also I need to make a ladder to get in and out of it.
 
my tractor is a 1951 yr model if i use all the numbers, my mistake i thought you use only the 1st 3 numbers.
 
(reply to post at 20:54:17 09/02/15)

Rust collector, I just bought a M cotton picker and getting ready to restore it. I have looked for any and all literature and found nothing. I would love if you could send me some information that you have. My email is avalible. Thanks!
 
(reply to post at 20:54:17 09/02/15)

Rust collector, I just bought a M cotton picker and getting ready to restore it. I have looked for any and all literature and found nothing. I would love if you could send me some information that you have. My email is avalible. Thanks!
 

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