JD227 2 row picker


Just about anyone involved with farming in the midwest has had some experience with a 227. Ive seen them installed on everything from a John Deere A, Farmall M, up through a John Deere 3020. Probably are several of them still in use.
 
Used one for years on a 51 A John Deere. Know where one was for sale this past fall that had been used on a 3020 Deere. Got rid of mine 30 year ago. Only work on 40" rows, 36" to narrow to get thru with them. Got rid of mine after it busted and we had the corn head on combine to open fields and had gotten a pull type 2 row picker. Lot of work to mount. Need rear wheels turned out and at widest setting possible. Did good work. Not a high capacity picker for 200 bushel corn our average was perhaps 140 bu per acre.
 
I found 2 in a neighbors fence row and am
considering restoring one and using the other for
parts. One is mounted on a Deere A (I think...lol)
How easy are parts to locate? And wow...40 inch
rows?
 
(quoted from post at 15:18:36 12/30/14) I found 2 in a neighbors fence row and am
considering restoring one and using the other for
parts. One is mounted on a Deere A (I think...lol)
How easy are parts to locate? And wow...40 inch
rows?

Yes, 40" rows were pretty much standard back then, but 38" rows could still be picked.
 
Possibly if you had the 11-12.4 tires but not with 12-13.6 tires as you were running on the next row.
 
That is what all 2 row mounted pickers were built for as the 40" became standard width back in the 20's as that was figured the width of a horse to get thru the rows for cultivating. All 1 row pickers are allso designed for the 40" rows as were most (some of the later were designed for narrow rows 30") of the pull type 2 row pickers. And all early corn heads for combines were all 40" row heads. A mounted picker cannot be made narrow enough for 30" rows due to the width of the tractor engine.
 
I ran a 227 on a 52 JD A with 12.4 tires on 38" rows for years with no problems unless you crowded the out side rows too much with the planter.
 
We had the 13.6 and would not have wanted them any closer than they were on the 40" rows. Type and size of stalk could make a difference. They would still grab a stalk in next row and pull it down and run over it not to be picked up again.
 
I had 1 mounted on a WD45 AC. Still have the mounting brackets somewhere. It was a heck of a lot harder it mount than the AC pickers. If the corn was over 100 bpa, the AC would not go slow enough to allow the corn to feed through the picker. I had to continually work the hand clutch to allow the corn to feed thru. You needed that slower 1st gear that JD has.
 
We has 13.6 tires on a WD with a 227. Dad had the 4 row planter spaced so that between row 1-2 was 40 inches. Between row 2-3 was 36 inches. Between row 3-4 was 40 inches. Markers were set on 36 inches. Yeah, it was a tight fit down the rows opening a field. And yes 1st gear on a WD aint slow enough in good corn.
 
I wonder why they were so popular? Around here they were on jd tractors but i used to see a wd ac with one on it advertised for ages in a farm or trader paper. THat was my biggest gripe with my wd is why didnt they use common sense and put in a slower gear when it was obvious that it needed one. I love my allises and beside that and the electrical and the exhaust manifold problems did ok
:D
 
They did a good job, and were dependable.
Availabiltiy of of universal mounts, didn't
hurt either.

There are still quite a few lurking about, and
thats 50 years after they were built.

I don't see hardly any New Idea mounted pickers
around here any more... and that's what my
dad had back in the day. But 227 and 2MH seem
to still be out there.
 
I had always read that it was 42" rows for horses and 40-36 for the tractors with the mounted pickers. I know my grandfather had a jd 246 2 row planter set on forties. My neighbor with the ZB MM had a NI # 20 picker with the trailing husking bed was on 36 inch rows.I think most guys around here had 38" rows.
 

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