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Posted 4/1/2013 19:56 (#3006819)
Subject: Cook Machine corn shellers

Iowa

Great posts, Don! Mind sharing more about corn shelling history?

CookMachine - 3/30/2013 21:52

Cook Machine built shellers until 1988. We were located in Washington, IL. Marvin Cook took over from Amer Cook in 1965 and Don Cook (me) took over from Marvin in 1983. Cook shellers were a unique design that outperformed all others. We made some performance parts for other brands ( Deere, Ottawa and Minne) that doubled their capacities. The early Cook Specials were all mechanical with hydraulic drives coming in the late 60's. Cook Specials had a shelling capacity of 2000 bu./hr until hydraulics and cylinder changes brought the capacity up to 3000 bu./hr. We added a larger version, the XL Special, in 1970. The capacity of this larger machine was pushed past 4500 bu./hr. in the early 80's. While developing our high capacity cylinders, I witnessed 900 bushel semi trailers being filled in less than 12 minutes. The last sheller I built was an XL Special that went to N.W Iowa in 1988. Cook Machine sent shellers all over corn country in the U.S. as well as Germany and New Zealand. In the 80's all of Orville Redenbacher's popcorn was shelled by our machines. Cook Machine was the last of the big players in corn sheller production outlasting the competition by nearly two decades. If you would like to know more about shellers - especially Cook shellers - I would be happy to fill you in. I'm the last of the corn sheller builder/designers.
- Don Cook

http://talk.newagtalk.com/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=78656&mid=3003...

CookMachine - 3/31/2013 09:12

re: http://talk.newagtalk.com/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=265679&mid=203...

I built and mounted this machine this machine. It was the last Cook sheller built and I stopped operations later that year - several months past two days. This sheller was the fastest, cleanest and gentlest ever made and established the state of the art for modern day corn shellers. It's design capacity was conservatively rated at 4500 bu./hr. At the time, 22 ft. cob stackers, 16 ft. ear corn feeders and 13 ft. shell corn augers were fairly common. Cook shellers were rugged and dependable. The first Cook sheller was built in 1939 was still in service in 1989. - Don Cook

http://talk.newagtalk.com/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=265679&mid=300...

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Posted 4/1/2013 20:20 (#3006891 - in reply to #3006819)
Subject: Re: Cook Machine corn shellers

The custom guy dad had do the last of his had a Cook. That thing was an animal. Then dad got a MM model D for some shelling of his own. Went from needing a crew of 3 to needing me lazily running a shovel. Have a lot of good memories crawling around the 2 sided wood crib dad had.
AaronSEIA

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Posted 4/1/2013 20:39 (#3006955 - in reply to #3006891)
Subject: Re: Cook Machine corn shellers

S.W. Mn.

Old corn picker here, what do the seed corn companys use to shell seed? i have seen the stationary husking beds but not any shelling machinery. last picker for us was a Uni, 4x30 head, 7 ft. x 200 ft. crib, and 30x40 doulble crib. still like the Uni head, stripper plates were beveled tword the rolls, sucked a lot of trash through, sure don't miss the all the roller chain drive assemblies. MM was a popular sheller here, believe there is still a RED (White) sheller in area.

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johnny skeptical

Posted 4/2/2013 07:11 (#3007708 - in reply to #3006955)
Subject: Re: Cook Machine corn shellers

n.c.iowa

we just toured a seed plant in boone ia.they said the shellers were jd no.3's

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Posted 4/1/2013 21:39 (#3007205 - in reply to #3006819)
Subject: Re: Cook Machine corn shellers

This thread brings back fond memories of my family buisness that ran a COOK SPEACIAL hyd. drive. sheller. Yes, they were the HOSS of shellers and would make today's combines look sick(in capacity) IF, you had a crew of GOOD men, and a PROPERLY FILLED whitmore style unload crib(today's autosteer generation wouldn't understand). I carried miles of the Minnie Mo dragline in my lifetime. A corn rake and pick- ax (moldy corn) seemed to be my summer apendages back in those days. The Cook design was the FIRST AXIAL FLOW thresher system, and a heck of alot simpler. Five cents a bushel was the going rate to shell out a crib--fuel included--labor was seperate(sometimes farmer would supply own help) dedicated shelling crew that ran with machine was the best scenario to getting efficient capacity. We met alot of good people, and not so good in our travels. The lunches some farm wifes would make for us were incredible. A hot summer day behind a Cook sheller, good crib, proper help, and clean corn makes a P90X workout seem lame. It is yet another lost farming task that I miss in today's ultra competitive, balls out, screw thy neighbor(hey its just buisness) ag enviroment. Thanks for starting thread.

P.S. anyone remember, or use a Pussy auger when shelling :)

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Posted 4/1/2013 22:02 (#3007288 - in reply to #3007205)
Subject: Puzey auger

yes

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Posted 4/1/2013 22:17 (#3007333 - in reply to #3007288)
Subject: RE: Puzey auger

Yeah I know, That was our "fun" name for it. Thanks

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Posted 4/1/2013 22:47 (#3007407 - in reply to #3007205)
Subject: Re: Cook Machine corn shellers

I worked on a shelling crew back in the mid to late '60s. Guy I worked for had a power rake. His brother who also had a sheller had a power auger. We would borrow the auger at times. The power rake seemed to move the corn better but was a man killer to run. Puzey Bros were located in Fairmount, IL. Grandson of one of the brothers posts here at times. I remember we bought a set of "chain on" dual;s made by them in the late '50s four our IH 450 tractor. Later we bought a set of rolling fenders for a row crop culltivator & IIRC, they also made a see-thru grain tank extensions for combines along with several oher products.

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Ron..NE ILL..10/48

Posted 4/2/2013 06:14 (#3007613 - in reply to #3007205)
Subject: Re: Cook Machine corn shellers

Chebanse, IL.....

We did a lot of shelling in the '50s-60s. Sold sheller in early '70s. Started out w/a Ottawa "C", then up to a new MM "E" w/pto drive. Had a Puzey power rake in the later years also. You normally had to have someone stand on the rake to get it to dig into packed corn. Sometimes it would "stick" & you'd have to let it sit for a while while you pulled corn out of the adjoining crib holes. The little centrifugal clutch would just give up.

We mostly got $0.02/bu for shelling. Included all our labor & cob truck. If that wasn't enough, later I worked for a local guy as his shelling crew on a JD #6. But, that was high paying @ $2.50/hr plus lunch. My pick of choice was a "miners pick" which was pointed at both ends. Wire cribs were most hated, corn was most often molded in them. Molded corn meant just about every bus came out by shovel. It was a bear to get the power rake into the wire cribs also, then you had to chain it to the wires. Never shelled w/a Cook, but they were "legendary". Kind of a Big Foot thing for us, never saw one, but everyone knew they were out there!

There was nothing better than sheller's dinners. Got to taste alot of great variations of roast beef & mashed potatos it seemed.

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Posted 4/2/2013 06:59 (#3007680 - in reply to #3006819)
Subject: RE: Cook Machine corn shellers

central - east central Minnesota -

Thanks Jason, for bringing this forward !
It appeares, Don recently joined and added to the thread.
Hope He continues to contribute and any pic's he has of his former operation !
Thanks again

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Posted 4/2/2013 07:10 (#3007703 - in reply to #3007680)
Subject: Re: Cook Machine corn shellers

central ILL

We had a Minneapolis 1200 sheller and then dad bought a brand new White 210 in 1972. They were good shellers. It wouldnt shell corn like a Cook though. You could avg around 1200 an hour.

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Posted 11/20/2013 10:17 (#3456750 - in reply to #3006819)
Subject: RE: Cook Machine corn shellers

I ran those two Cook shellers at Orville Redenbacher from 1985 to 1994. Left Orville in spring of 1995 when they were making the shift from ear harvest to combine harvest, and the Cook shellers were headed to the shed. Wish I knew where they are now since they're part of Orville's history. We had a Cook XL and a Cook XL Special. The Special ran a Cat engine and the XL ran a Detroit until I think 1993 when we converted it to a Cat also. If I remember correctly, I towed the XL to Don's shop in Washington for a refurb. The Special was also refurbished there but I think it had to go on a truck because the wagon steer axle wasn't suitable fofor a long tow. Could be wrong as the details are fuzzy 20 some years later. Those two machines could eat the corn, and we ran them nearly 24 x 6 during harvest season. Typical crew for us was 6 men in the bin, and operator, assistant operator, and a truck driver. We didn't have a grain elevator on ours because we discharged the popcorn direct to a Hutchinson rotary cleaner then to a truck using a 30' portable auger. The men in the bin used a Puzey auger (they always called it a "digger" to move corn to Moline sheller drags slid into a tunnel built from 2x12's. We built wood tunnels because the same bins used to dry ear corn were converted back to store the shelled popcorn until it shipped to the packaging plant. Found this thread when I searched for Don Cook after hearing Washington was hit by a tornado this weekend.

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