I am wanting to ship a 1 or 2 row pull type corn picker to Africa to be used on a 200 acre farm that feeds 2000-3000 orphan children. We have both a 65 hp Ford tractor and John Deere 4320 over there. I have been looking at the New Idea 323 and 324, but none of them are located near me in Oklahoma. So I will probably have to get one without seeing in person. Any words of advice or help? Is this a good choice and where would a person look to find a picker in really good shape?
Most of the nice ones have migrated east to Amish/Mennonite areas of Ohio and Pennsylvania. A shop in PA Amish country supplies aftermarket and rebuilt parts for NI pickers, and does sometimes have rebuilt machines for sale, so probably would be the least risk to buy sight unseen. Country Machinery 609 Musser School Road Leola, PA 17540 717-656-9733 It's also closer to port facilities (Baltimore, Philadelphia, Newark) than Oklahoma. Be aware that row spacing makes a difference in the 2-rows. A 324 is for 36 to 40" rows, a 325 is for 28 to 32" rows. There's also a choice of huskers on the 2-rows. The 326 is an 8-roller bed, and the 327 is a 12-roller bed, which can handle higher yields or trashier corn better.
Thanks for the information, that is what I was needing. I will check the row spacing for the John Deere 4 row planter that we have. I will give Country Machinery a call, and see what they have and if they can ship to Missouri because the picker needs to be loaded into a shipping container there.
Reuben Zimmerman in Barnett, MO sells them. I think he also takes NI 324's (2 row wide-36" spacing)and converts them to 325's (2 row narrow- 30"). I think he sells parts for them too. His phone number is 573-378-4172. Two row machines may be too big to fit in a shipping container, however.
-- Edited by mkengland on Monday 27th of February 2012 10:33:33 PM
