|
|
Columbia Basin, Ephrata, WA | There doesn't seem to be much info online. Most of them look fairly old, but I like the concept of actually screening rocks to actively shake out the dirt. I just found a yellow one (newer than most I've seen) advertised, and wondered it it was something to go after.
When did they go from the blue and white machines to the yellow ones? Are Harley pickers still made, or when did they stop making them?
Anyone on here actually used one? What should I know that I don't even know enough to ask about?
|
|
| |
|
Pasco WA. | I don't know if you saw it but their is a nice Schulte picker and windrower on next weeks Richie Brothers sale at Pasco. I don't know a thing about them. |
|
| |
|
central mn | They were built about 20 miles from me in clarissa,mn. Two of my neighbors have them. Theres are both older models but work fairly well. They do a good job but it does take some time. One of the guys has two different drums, one has a bigger screen, so they swap the drum and it will pick really small rocks or it can pick bigger ones. They do not work well in fields with any trash. Small grain and bean fields are okay, if you have had corn in the field, the year before, forget it. you will have a pile of stalks. They are good machines, Theirs are both older and the one is getting worn out but they used it some last spring. The one neighbor used his to pick 80 loads off of 40 acres. The only down fall i see to them is you have to rake infront of it and they like to let the rocks sit for a day in the windrow to let dirt settle. If it rains you will have a mess! I don't know much about the yellow ones, the plant has a sign on it now that says Cherrington, (not sure if thats spelled right) All of the equipment they make now is yellow and black. Not sure if still making rock pickers, was a write up in local paper awhile back how they were making equipment to clean the sand down on the beach by the oil spill. |
|
| |
|
Kettle River, MN | One guy up here has one. Cant have sticky mud or lots of root balls to catch in the drum. They are alright from what ive heard.
Have you looked at the gallenberg rock pickers? |
|
| |
|
MN | I rented one last spring a blue and white. Works well in old beet ground. It will not work in corn trash, it just fills up the drum. We picked many tons of rocks with it. The one we used the windrower had the flat bar on it. It worked OK.
Harley was sold to a company in Michigan. They had an auction for the equipment they weren't moving there. The last few years they had been building equipment for cleaning beach sand. I'm not sure if they built rock pickers or not. There is a guy on Minnesota craigslist trying to sell a windrower design and calling it Harley, I'm not sure what that is all about.
There also is a company that mounted one to a UNI. I'm not sure of the name anymore. They had a product release on here a year ago.
|
|
| |
|
UP / Thumb of Michigan | Seen them work, never ran one. As you've surmised, they do a nice job cleaning as long as land prep is done correctly. Harley has a lot of moving parts, but wear should be easy to spot. They're limited to stone smaller than whatever the throat width is- seems like a 11" rock was the limit it could pick? As mentioned, no rake on picker. That's OK, in the big scheme I never wanted a one pass type deal if given a choice. Seen them work at a golf course once- I believe it could clean up a marble spill as far as how it did on small rock with the right screen. Also, just going from memory, they had at least 2 dump heights. The low lift wasn't real high at all, can't remember how high the high lift went. There are a few in my neighbor hood, They worked OK on the right size rock.
A Haybuster will handle similar size stone as a Harley. Has a rake incorporated into it. Probably won't be able to clean dirt out as well as a Harley, at least not without running a seperate rake trip. They're usually cheaper to buy, they work OK I'd say. I have ran one of those a couple of times. If you have a field of softball to muskmelon size stone, it'd work fine.
We had a couple of farms that had some real trophies. Rock in general was pretty large, more than either of the previous mentioned pickers would handle. We were using an Anderson Rake and picker there. If I could drive a 4020 Deere over the rock, I could get it into the picker. Conversely, the Anderson wouldn't pick rock smaller than a baseball. The Anderson worked a lot better after a rake pass, the rake operator needed to be on his toes as to what the windrows looked like.
Ultimately, the picker you need all depends on the rock to be picked.
Edited by pat-michigan 2/25/2011 08:12
|
|
| |
|
central - east central Minnesota - | Ben in the Basin - 2/24/2011 23:52 There doesn't seem to be much info online. Most of them look fairly old, but I like the concept of actually screening rocks to actively shake out the dirt. I just found a yellow one (newer than most I've seen) advertised, and wondered it it was something to go after. When did they go from the blue and white machines to the yellow ones? Are Harley pickers still made, or when did they stop making them? Anyone on here actually used one? What should I know that I don't even know enough to ask about?
Here's the link to the thread on the self prepelled rock harvestor - Maybe usefull again?
Merf sell propelled rock harvester
Edited by iseedit 2/25/2011 08:43
|
|
| |
|
Michigan | I own one that I bought at auction with the 20ft rake for $14K its blue and white and still had the paint on the front drum(little use).works great but as said earlier,ground has to be dry and very little trash to work right.speed depends on the amount of stones etc.last year found one on craigs list for 800 with the 20ft rake (yes,eight hundred,grandson didnt know what it was,and gramdma needed money) they are built pretty tough and have their quirks but all in all a great labor saver.ask my kids they will agree LOL |
|
| |
|
| My dad had a Harley rake, but never a Harley picker. What we disliked about Harley at the time was trailer was pulled behind the picker, so backing up to a rock pile was quite a job. Think about how tough it is to back up a 4 wheel trailer being pulled behind a 2 wheeled picker. Lots of moving parts to wear out too, especially the conveyer chains. As to not working in corn stalks, I've never seen a picker of any brand that did work in corn stalks, except maybe the two legged kind. One other thing, they DO NOT work going down hill. The rocks won't move out of the drum fast enough.
Edited by Sheep Herder 2/25/2011 08:55
|
|
| |
Anyone have experience with Harley rock pickers?
