New Idea picker

Rich'sToys

Well-known Member
Location
Southern MN
I'm looking at a couple New Idea no. 7 one row corn pickers. They have obviously not been used in quite a while and are going to need some serious attention. Just wondering if anyone knows anything about these.
One thing I did notice was on the elevator going back to the wagon that it appeared to have a wood bottom that the flights ran on. This is pretty well shot. I assume this should be hardwood of some sort? Would treated lumber work here?
Anxious to hear any words of wisdom you guys can provide.
 
Picking rollers must be in good shape or you are
going to unhappy no matter the brand.

Note to file: most people quit using old pickers
when the husking rollers wore out and too much
expense to replace.

I would stay with new idea or john deere and be sure
you can get parts local.

Buy the best condition latest model you can afford
and you can thank me for that advice later.
 

I should have mentioned that I don't intend to do any serious farming with this. It's more of a collector toy--something to hook to my old tractors, and to save them from the scrappers. It may go to an occasional show and pick a load or two just for the fun of it, but that's all. I want to get it working good enough for that, but I'm not staking my livelihood on it! :D
Thanks for the comments.
 
I used a #7 for a number of years and it is still sitting in my back yard and would work if I had to use it. On mine the snapping rollers are worn but still work. The problem with the old NI pickers is ears will easily bounce out of the elevator on rough ground. Overall those old pickers if not worn out will still work.
 
My Amish neighbors all use NI pickers(323) and they have an Amish shop that rebuilds them. A good one here will bring about $2,000
 
I replaced elevator board in #7 with a treated 2 by something. I did have to taper the end/ends a little bit.
To keep the ears from jumping out I placed a board on top of elevator that was narrower than elevator but kept the ears in. Top board was bolted to conduit pipe that I flattened the ends and bolted to the elevator.
Picker has 100 zerks +/ - a couple.
Nice to have a tractor that goes slow in first gear.
 
I got this one for 180 dollars. All set up for my 36 inch row food plots. I pick this the other day to dump at another hunting place.
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Are they free? That's about the only way I'd haul them home,and even then I wouldn't stop. I'd go right on to the crusher. Those old things had so many moving parts that wore out,trust me,there's good reason they have been sitting until the wood rotted out.
 
use it once and you're going to want to use it a lot more!

Very satisfying to watch and listen to. With so many gears and chains and sprockets cams and cranks and wheels and slides.... amazing that they EVER worked, let alone 50 years later.

hard to tell you what to look for because there's so much going on.

Best if you can try it out before buying - meaning at least to cycle it. The main components should be obvious - if everything's turning and the lift's lifting and nothing's making horrible noises, there's a good chance it'll work for you.

Just be damn careful near the thing.

A friend of mine lost both his arms and half his face in one of them.
 
"Most people quit using old pickers when the husking rollers wore out", False. If ear corn was wanted then they were still used but it was at that time the corn heads for combines were just comming out so they switched to shelling.
 
if you are only taking the picker to show's

then get one of these bad boy's

New Idea 330

it would be a sure fired show stopper.

I would love to see one in action!!!!!!
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Yes it is quite a picker. I removed the 328 husking bed and installed the 329 sheller. Everything is inside a shed and hasn't been used for the last ten years. Have used an 80 hp tractor on the sheller but more power is better particularly after the wagon gets about 50% full. A tractor with 100-120 hp is a better match. The 80 hp works good with the husking bed. Not something that can easily be hauled to a show. Towed this from the dealer about 90 miles, had to take the long way around a couple of smaller towns.
 

Well, I bought the two no. 7's. Actually, I bought one and Farmamerica bought the other one, but for now they're both at my place. I'll be working on both of them when the weather gets warm again next year.

My question is-does anyone have any serial no. information on these things? The list on this site only covers tractors. The nos. on these pickers are about 1,000 apart. Just trying to get an idea of how old they are.
 

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