Sund pickups for combine header

Suffolk1

Member
Anybody familiar with Sund raking pickups for use on a combine header? Considering swathing some oats and barley and then using a pickup on the combine header to harvest the swaths. Came across a Sund pickup and wondering how well it would work on windrows of oats and barley. Will the swaths be too bulky for the pickup to handle well? Would open up the crimper and spread the swath wide when cutting. Combine used would be a Gleaner C2 with a 12 foot header. Understand the Sunds are used primarily for dry beans, peas and canola. Other makes of pickups to be considered?
 
They work fine in small grains and everyone had one around here at one time. We had four of them until I scrapped 3 of them a couple of weeks ago. They are probably the best for picking up crops right off the dirt that got rain and beaten down to the ground. Belt pickups have problems doing that. However, they are generally higher maintenance then a belt pickup which is why Sunds kinda went by the wayside around here.
 
I've been running a Sund on a few acres of oats the last two years, thanks to one of the guys on this forum. (Case Nutty 1660) Works very well, and can easily feed as much as my NH 1400 wants to swallow. I think a C2 is somewhat smaller than my 1400. I swathed with a 12' in 2011, and got a (much better) 15' swather last fall. The second picture is one of those 15' swaths being picked up. (sorry its so small - cell phone pic)
Photo09111604.jpg

combinepickup.jpg
 
The Sund pickup were noted for picking up stray straws much better than factory pickups. However, they were also noted for picking up small rocks that other pickups would not pick up.

If you have a lot of small rocks, you might want to look for a different pickup. The rock trap is you only safeguard, but when that gets full the rocks will go on into the cylinder.
 
The Sund 'Raking Pickup' is the best for pinto beans.They do VERY WELL,tend to pick up a few rocks as well.Lots of them are out here ....VERY popular.
 
Used one on a lot of acres, wheat mostly. If you are having a problem with rocks you have the Sund running to close to the ground. You don't need it scraping the dirt. I run mine so the wheels (or skids on old style) are just touching the ground. Have never picked up a rock.
 
What parts of the pickups required higher maintenance? Are the maintenance problems pricey, time consuming or both? Was the higher maintenance a design problem, operator problem or due to other factors? Appreciate your comments.
 
The Sund raking pickup works very well on most crops. They were originally introduced for wheat, barley flax and other grains, but were later found to work very well on "down" dry field peas.
They are especially good for picking "down" swaths that have been rained on and are tight to the ground. If you have small rocks, the Sund pickups "open" design allows most small rocks to fall through the pickup and back on the ground, instead of going into the combine.
 
Maybe depends on what the local rocks are like. rounded rocks (river rock / glacier rocks)of less than 4 inch diameter almost always fall through an open design sund raking pickup.
If you have thin flat sheet sandstone / limestone / shale rocks, they will sometimes bridge enough pickup teeth to stay on the pickup and into the combine
 
They need more maintenence because they have so many bushings and bearings,sliding and rolling parts. That compared to a belt pickup which is basically just a rubber belt running on a couple of rollers.
The sund was popular here in ND because it would pick material very close or on the ground and is an open design where small rocks fall through the pickup and on the ground, instead of in the combine.

If the crop swath is still up on the stubbles, set the pickup to run a bit higher and never worry about scooping up a rock.
 
Around here the Sund had a reputation of getting the grain that the other pickups would leave behind. Having replaced an old Case belt pickup with a Sund I would agree. The Sund was (is) an excellent pickup for cereal grain swaths. I used an older one on a Case 460 pull type back in the seventies. Then a newer Sund on a Massey 510. I'm trying to remember if I ever had to replace anything on it but nothing comes to mind. They did not pick up rocks but would pick up a stump or stick sometimes. See a shot of mine at work on the 510 here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twR8fU4T8fI
 

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