corn pickers

looking at two corn pickers. a new idea 324 and john deere 300. anyone know of any goods or bad bout either machine? one better then the other? have both dealers local. both are wide row ( i have narrow so could change the head on the deere)
 
JD has the better header, less loss.

nI has the better husker, cleans up nicer.

Locally NI is very popular, with about as many old Red pickers as Green pickers.

Other areas the JD is head of the list.

You will want a narrow row picker for narrow rows, just doesn't feed well or fit well if you are off. In down corn esp.

Paul
 
I agree with paul,

I think you are going to be very unhappy with a std row picker in narrow row corn.

may have to have someone pick your corn this year and then next year plant the std row width if that is the type picker you buy.

do not know, but can you buy a multi row picker set up for narrow rows?

might be the way to go,
 
Gary,
here is the answer to your corn picking problem
John Deere 300 set up on 30" rows
-------------------
1999 John Deere 300 - $4,000

1999 John Deere 300 Corn Picker. 3 row narrow corn head. Very good condition. Financing & transportation available. Call Michael at 1-877-976-4009 or James at 513-534-7578. [email protected]
 
Keep looking for a 325. Might as well get it right the first time. They're not that hard to come by.
 
I think I would go with the Deere. AGCO cut back on parts but private suppliers picked up the slack. Pickers are getting to be rarely used even by the Mennonites so once demand falls below what is needed for a profitable production run it might be down to salvage units for parts. There are just not the number of pickers out there like there was 25 years ago and most now sit out in the weather and the owners wore them down knowing the machine had limited trade value and demand.
 
I was just thinking after I read this that I remembered about a guy I knew back around 25 years ago who told me about how he bought one of the last 325 made back then. He was in for parts for his old machine and apparently news had broke that NI was giving up producing pickers. He asked just for the heck of it if any were left to be purchased and word came back there were not. A couple months went by and word was a few dealers had unsold stock and his dealer could get a unit. I had also heard an unrelated story that in fact the factory had units sitting after the fall harvest following the pickers being discontinued. I don't know if unsold units are counted back against the factory. They might have been cancelled orders. 1988 was a drought year and that most likely played into it.
 
All I can say is,I hope he has a better Deere dealer that we have around here if he goes that way. On something like that,where it hasn't been made for a long time and had kind of a limited production,all you'll get is attitude. I had a 700 grinder mixer,one of those last ones with the flat bottom. I needed a simple part for it and when the parts manager got done berating me on that thing,it was absolutely the end between me and Mother Deere. That kind of "service" was totally uncalled for by anybody anywhere.
 
That's how Stitzels got a bunch of new pickers to sell back then. He bought several truckloads from all over the Midwest (maybe even right from New Idea) and set them on his jockey lot. The 325s moved fast, the 324s took over 10 years to move, and I think the last 323 didn't go until 2008. He still has an NOS 329 sheller there.
 
There's a lot of pickers in use by PA Amish and Mennonites still. Don't know about in Ohio or Indiana. There also seems to have been a resurgence in ear cribbing 'here' by the steer feeders since shelled corn (and propane) prices went up. A good picker and grinder mixer will bring a premium locally (rust buckets still don't go for much). Also can't find any round corn cribs anymore, either, because those that weren't scrapped have been grabbed up by people wanting to fill them.
 
I feel your pain. My family-run, 70-year old, single-location dealer in Pikeville, PA was cut by Deere a couple years ago. The multi-store location that took over the territory isn't interested in anything older than 15 years unless it's a "classic" like a 4020.
 
I don't remember some of the details anymore but seems New Idea was pressed to unload the picker inventory ASAP back then.
 
I guess I am lucky as there is no getting around small fry such as myself here in NY for the dealers. Not enough free spending BTO's to support any one dealership.
 
AVCO dumped New Idea which was then merged with White Farm Equipment (which was a group of investors who took over after White Motors went belly-up in 1980). Combined company failed to pay its creditors (IIRC Borg-Warner demanded immediate payment or they were going to demand liquidation) so any inventory that could be sold for cash was. After a reorganization, they stumbled on until 1992(?) when they defaulted again and AGCO picked over the carcass.
 
For what little corn is picked by the Amish here it seems to be all done by hand. The Mennonites that raise corn for grain either combine it or produce snapage. Other than one exception I don't know of any pickers being used locally. I can't think of any sitting in the weeds since scrap metal went up a few years ago.
 
Exactly. They carry maintenance parts for newer stuff,but if you want actual "repair" parts for something,good luck. Last time I tried to get something for this 1020 tractor that I still have,they told me it wasn't available from Mother Deere anymore,but they could get it from A&I if I wanted them to. The exact words were "but A&I's not in any hurry,it could take a week". That was the last time I darkened their door. I told them it was time to start looking for a different loader tractor. I did and I bought one. Not a Deere. I keep it around though. The hard feelings come back every time I look at it and remind me to never buy a Deere anything again.
 
I have had similar experiences at the parts counter, I dont spend tons there anymore, but simple customer service would be welcome.
 
you need to remember that some years ago the ceo of jd stated that jd would no longer be a service driven company and would now be a profit driven one.
 
I use to wonder how you could get so mad at any brand because of one dealer until the last time I was in my just in case femmeco fiat CNH or who ever there name is this week they passed me off so bad I will never go back because if I do somebody is getting punched in the face .and they are never in a hurry and any parts I need for anything I own is NLA anyway
 
An enterprising person from "out east" should come out to southern MN/northern IA with a toolbox and a good-sized truck. You could drive around this area and pick up a truckload of round cribs for little or nothing in short order....
 
Agrivating ain't it? You have to understand it wasn't a one time thing. I practically worshiped at the alter of the Deere when we had a local dealer. Had a Deere wrist watch,even Deere mud flaps on my pickup. Things went down hill when I had to start going somewhere else. They treated me like a red headed b@stard step child from day one. It took quit a while,but they finally pushed me too far. I had already started going to the Agco dealer for New Idea and Gehl since our local Deere dealer had been New Idea and Gehl. The Agco dealer treats me like the old Deere dealer did. They know my name and will talk and joke around,ask about the family,things like that. I'm not going to be treated like crap just for paint color when I can be treated like family and get the same job done.
 
Pikeville stayed in business and became an A&I parts dealer, and I can go online at 10PM Sunday and order the parts I need and they will usually be at my door on Tuesday.
 
Ya,I can usually get A&I parts through Worthington in St Johns pretty quick. Sounds like the dealer was just being their usual selves.
 
I know the feeling I ain't the biggest farmer in the world but I want to be treated decent I have been treated very good at the agco dealer to they have most stuff ive needed in stock. I have a John deere that is close to me that I have about the same feelings for as you do.
 

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