JOHN DEERE 300 Corn Husker Picking Corn

In this video Big Tractor Power is out in the field with a JOHN DEERE 300 Corn Husker picking corn powered by a 110 pto hp JOHN DEERE 4240 Tractor. This video shares the sights and sounds of corn harvest in South West, Wisconsin. Viewers will also learn about the JOHN DEERE 300 Corn Husker production history, specifications and price tag. This machine was built by JOHN DEERE for 17 years.
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[@cagrowin1962]

This is exactly the deere (4240) we have and still use. Love it and thanks for sharing BTP.

[@abergynolwyn4247]

Grandpa had a INT 2MH 2 row corn picker mounted on a Farmall M. He sold the farm in 1977. I sure do Miss the way life was then. Beats the hell out of this mess were in today.

[@24dustin_51]

we have a 1993 jd2350 , 1981 jd440 and a 1980 jd4030, all bought by my grandpa and his dad. they all run amazing. i’m glad i get to run them all and i’m only 15.

[@trystanschroeder8778]

I love seeing these awesome old john deere tractors in action! Thanks BTP!!

[@liftbig03]

Thank you for continuing to mix footage of older equipment!! It's always great to see tractors that people actually have to DRIVE, as well as older implements!!

[@tiger5551]

Such a sweet tractor series. Those sound guard cabs were some of the best things John Deere came up with

[@cornypickems6194]

We have a 300 husker with a 343 head and run it with a 4010 Diesel. With 2020 yields a 3 row head is a lot of corn for it and the 4010 struggles to go slow enough. My machine is a 2nd owner and does an amazing job for its age. Everything we pick is ground for cattle feed. Great Video!

[@williamgreenway8958]

That`s a nice looking 4240 !

[@stevecunningham2759]

The Deere picker using a stripper-plate combine was a controversial feature among the old school farmers. Nearly all earlier pickers used very aggressive knobby rolls to take the stalks in and snap the ears. The the stripper plate heads meant that ears are snapped when they hit the plates without ever contacting the rolls that pull the stalk. The controversy was that the knobby rolls also helped remove the husk while the stripper plates left the husk on the ear. However, the knobby rolls sometimes made more aggressive by welding or installing set screws to help take the corn through. Clean ears and very little trash helped for good storage and dry down in the crib (not to mention the pride of having clean crib!) The aggressive rolls also meant that almost every ear was missing a row or two of kernels.I hate to think what the loss measurement was. Showing my Father in law the loss was what helped us move to a combine with stripper plate. Bigger and more effective husking beds with higher capacity stripper heads prolonged the use of ear pickers but the move to combines and shelled corn was irreversible. (Except for feeding and special uses.). The history of corn harvest from hand to mechanical ear snapping to husking beds and now to harvest in the 21st century is interesting to me and aybe a few others.

[@greggergen9104]

Nice review.

[@steve197232]

Our family farm used an New Idea one row pulled by a D2. Sure do miss seeing ear corn being picked and corn cribs being filled.

[@ryanschweikhardt]

The old equipment is so much fun to watch. That's why I love going to Half Century of Progress

[@danieldzurko8053]

Thank you for this nostalgic look at vintage corn harvesting.

[@clarkwheeler8764]

I miss seeing those old corn cribs that were on most farms. But filling them with a scoop shovel wasn't much fun.

[@pinesedgefarm1155]

This brings back memories of my neighbor picking with a John Deere 4030 and a John Deere 300 picker. Thanks for sharing.

[@seth1704]

Yeah it does just a month ago got done picking 4000 bushels with a 300 husker and 4440, good times great calf feed

[@dmc3742]

Excellent drone work and fantastic video. My dad had a mounted 2 row 227 picker on a 620 John Deere in the late 60's and early 70's. Ground ear corn makes excellent cattle feed!! Brings back a lot of memories from a different time.

[@greggergen9104]

Amazing... We had the same with a 620. We ground the corn in a 50 x 20 stave silo. The best thing is that we used 112 chuck wagons to haul. Very easy to unload.

[@Kevin-ex2yb]

We did corn picking on our family farm. We pulled it with a jd 3020 with a Parker wagon out back

[@scottpykare801]

Very nice BTP!!💪Thanks Jason.

[@larrybender7333]

After the Navy in the '70's I worked for my cousin who had a 3 row John Deere picker powered by an International 1066 turbo tractor with a straight pipe exhaust and no cab. Sure wish we had known about ear protection back then. There are times I wish we were still picking that 75 acre farm. Thank goodness for gravity wagons and elevators to fill those wire bins. It saved a lot of scoop shovels and back muscles :)

[@rollforthewater4480]

This very cool, nice

[@kevinnix509]

Your videos are awesome! Love seeing the old stuff in action.

[@dantaylor4228]

My dad borrowed $1,000.00 from his father-in-law to buy a Minneapolis Moline 2 row picker about the time I was born in 1955. I remember holding the light for dad as he greased in the dark after supper. I was too young to remember that machine in action but I do remember the Uni-System corn picker in action. I love these videos!

[@douglasmacarthur8775]

A farmer I knew always had New Idea pickers and said they..." were the best" However, his last picker was a JD 300 and he stated it was "the best" picker he ever had.

[@jeremyswindell2330]

Nice looking picker!

[@milkweed7678]

My uncle had one back in the day for popcorn harvesting. A great picker-harvesters. Didn't have a 4240 with it though. Thanks, fun video!

[@christiangauthier1264]

Magnifique vidéo 👍😉

[@novakcustomharvesting6930]

Amazing footage 👍👍

[@johncastagner4073]

Little tractor power 💛

[@thr8061]

My dad bought several new New Idea 330 3 row corn pickers back in the 80s. I picked alot of high moisture ear corn when I was young. All of it went thru our Farmhand grinder/blower into the silo for our dairy herd. I've noticed more farmers around here in East Central WI are attaching corn heads (usually their 12 row from their combines) to their SP Forage Harvesters and are making earlage like we do.

[@linusbarloonii237]

Picking corn with a tractor with a cab? What's next? Microwaves? Cell phones? KZbin? :) Thanks for bringing back the memories of growing up in NE Iowa with a diesel John Deere 70 to pick corn. Many great memories...thank you!!!

[@bigtractorpower]

I enjoy finding the classics still in the field like this one to share.

[@crslyrn]

Enjoyed watching the equipment in the field as always. 👍🏻👍🏻 Good information on the featured equipment too. 👍🏻👍🏻 It's neat to hear when the equipment was produced & an idea of what the price was. Thanks for sharing. 👍🏻👍🏻

[@mintyman1968]

Yes a big tractor power video

[@cambokunkhmer]

Well done.

[@JohnDoe-jq5wy]

THAT'S GREAT STUFF, WONDERFUL HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Watching your website and other farm websites on this subject, I've learned the resources that are utilized when shelling corn... One... The cobs are stored and used for furnace/heating the house on the farm. Very interesting and shelled corn is used to feed cattle, hogs and chickens. The leaves and buy products are used for bedding the animals.

[@bradolsen9981]

Very nostalgic

[@heartlandfarmer2720]

I used to have fun riding in the Heider wagon pulled behind dad's IH234 picker mounted on a 706. Good thing for the TA as he had to torque down to the low side when going up hill if the wagon was getting close to full.

[@perrypavlat6909]

Back in the 50s and 60s my dad pulled a one row Wood Bros. picker with a JD A. Had boards around the sides of a flat rack. I would ride the wagon and push cobs to the back. Dad even did a little custom picking. In wet years he would put 'snap tracks' on the A and could go through almost anything. Still have everything except the flat rack, although the picker has been parked in the woods for 30 years.

[@57fitter]

I still use ear corn to shell for my chicken feed and the occasional steer I feed out. My rig is a 1950 Farmall H pulling a 1PR International Harvester 1 row picker. My brother still picks ear corn to grind for his small beef herd. His rig is a Farmall M pulling a New Idea No. 10 picker. I really like to pick corn so I sent him to unload wagons and I picked all but 1 load of his corn this Fall.

[@SimonKL11]

I love to see corn pickers in action👍😉 old school is the right school😁👍

[@byronglover490]

Growing up, helping my granddad, we used a New Idea 1 row corn snapper powered by a 7000 Ford tractor

[@JDseller1]

I bought a new 300 husker in 1985. We picked over 25,000 bushels every year. We had a JD 7720 combine with a six row head and had a 343 on the 300. We still pick 25 acres/5000 bushels or so each year for starting calves out on feed. Still think ear corn makes great cattle feed but picking corn takes a lot of labor. So we grind a lot of earledge with our chopper. I would really love to find a really nice JD 4240. I have a JD 4040 open station, JD 4440 with a SGB and a JD 4640. The JD 4240 would be great for general hay work.

[@williamkeehn3637]

I grew up with a John Deere 60 and 237 mounted husker It's been setting for years nothing works the dream to get it all working again

[@Snowtruckdriver]

Back in 1960 Dad used to pick corn with a one row (David Brown?) picker pulled by a 60 John Deere and a 4 wheel wagon made by Sears. My haven't times changed,

[@montybolinger6383]

Paul,,,,, that might of been a David Bradley or a Woods Brothers. Hard to know, just don't remember any David Brown implements that early in the US.

[@Snowtruckdriver]

Yes, thanks for the correction. My memory is not what it used to be

[@dwightl5863]

That is one sleek looking corn picker. Recall riding in the box in the 50's with my Dad driving the model 60 Oliver (Really thought it was a 50 model but can't fine it listed anywhere) and pulling a one row New Idea picker. I recall him saying he bought it new but was shipped in "pieces" that he put together. Probably it was cheaper that way.?.?.

[@johnaddison7201]

Great video. I’d like to see the unloading process and storage and etc. Maybe you’re planning that for a different video?

[@jakegritten5160]

The farm I work on has a 3 row model 300,we pulled it with a 3388 2+2 and had four cribs that we filled usually two a season, quit picking ear corn a few years back as our grinder was already set up for shell corn, and picking was another thing we’d have to accomplish during the fall season craziness after custom silage and at some point during regular harvest.

[@bigtractorpower]

That is a very cool corn picking team.

[@miniaturefarmer464]

4240 and 4440 were two of Deere's best tractors.

[@bigtractorpower]

Yes they are. The 4440 is one of my all time favorites.

[@Sysgen]

Excellent drone work, it really give me an overall idea of what's going on. I helped my father-in-law in the 70's pick corn. It was an enjoyable for this city slicker.

[@rickiemckillip8124]

Looks like the Corn Yielded Well Those Wagons Filled Fast

[@bigtractorpower]

Yes they did.

[@danielkamwa1620]

​@@bigtractorpower please I am looking for the same harvester, can you help me find one?

[@RustyCarnahan]

I'm pretty late to the show for commenting, but my farm still picks a couple thousand bushels of ear corn every year. We run a New Idea 2 row picker, and it's been pulled by a JD 720 Diesel, 4020 Power Shift Diesel, 4000 Gas, 4020 LP, and a 4230. Not sure what we'll have on it this fall, but I'd like to put it behind the 730 LP. We also field shell several hundred bushels with a JD 95 combine, with quick attach feederhouse and 444 corn head.

[@bigtractorpower]

Awesome line up. The 720 is my favorite two cylinder. The 4000 is rare. The 95 is one of my favorite combines. If you have a minute email me at [e-mail] I would like to hear more about your farm.

[@danvanninhuys745]

We had a New Ideal picker/husker pulled with a JD 3130

[@Zeke-yv3nw]

Great video. Sure would love to find one of these pickers! Use an old new idea one row picker.

[@Zeke-yv3nw]

@@SLMart thanks.

[@chrisfoulk4715]

We have the same picker. Except we use my uncles JD 4320 on it. Pull an old heider bargebox and a knight chain apron wagon behind it. Pick about 3 cribs worth ( about 24 loads).

[@genelegear5418]

Hard to imagine, 2 row corn husker. My best friend's dad went to Iowa every year where he was given a mule and a sled to pick corn by hand. $2.00 a day plus meals and a warm place to stay. My how times have changed in 120 years.....

[@dreisternehof]

Nice video! What is the following treatment with the cobs? Threshing? Milling? Silo?

[@TomSmith-me7ph]

We had a 2 row new idea corn picker and pulled it with a 430 CASE , no problems.

[@ikonseesmrno7300]

That was great! I always like watching the 300 pickers in action. Still recall seeing them shiny & new at Farm Progress days here in Wi. First time seeing one without the 343 head. My other favorite is the NI 3rw Super Picker. I think you have footage of one pulled by a 1206 or 1256? One thought about the gravity box at about the 4 min. mark in this video, I would have been told to shovel or kick that load back. Plenty enough room in there for more & that can be one less trip to the crib. Then again, I was the kid in the barge wagon getting beaned by cobs while shoveling them to the back. The guy in the video was at least stopped. :vD

[@darkwood777]

I thought about that too while watching, but I'm guessing he had less than a second wagon load to pick, but more than what would fit in the first wagon.

[@andygorski9856]

Picked a lot of cob corn until about 2 years ago , usually around 25 to 30 acres a year

[@andywagner8367]

used to pick with a ford one row mounted picker then went to a new idea 323 and then went to a uni system picker. ground ear corn made good steer feed

[@larryabrams3559]

And they were a pain for one man to put on. I know.

[@justinburnett1436]

I used to ride in the wagon as kid and help pack the wagon with a shovel to get a full load.

[@robertnymand9889]

I have a neighbor that still owns 1. Coming to my place this fall to pick 1000 bu for me for livestock.

[@Andaman1979999]

If that combo is for sale im interested in buying. Ground ear corn is such a great feed vs shelled corn

[@markreetz1001]

Don't see many ears getting picked these days. I've picked a few in my younger days. We used New Idea pickers. You know, the ones huge tires--tall not wide. Thanks Jason.

[@tlspiker5341]

Sure do miss them days

[@daviddobson8933]

I would love to have a 1.00 for every load I had to unload in the corn crib. Lol

[@tjmcmurtrie5756]

I remember my grandpa picking corn with a 1 row new idea corn picker with a farmall super MT/A

[@bigtractorpower]

Cool combo.

[@farmboy2848]

How can you tell what year one was made? We have one and haven’t had luck tracing serial number. Any suggestions ?

[@noeljuarez3834]

Which is the best method for picking stalks?

[@jaycow3154]

Another good video we use a new idea 330 picker on 2-105 white or 1950T oliver

[@Butch-fn2xr]

I’ve been told that you probably don’t need a 3 row head on these because they were designed to handle 150 bushel corn, not 250 bushel corn yields like we have today.

[@jimkohlhaas4090]

It’s a 2 row head

[@novakcustomharvesting6930]

Yes. I would not want a 3 row head, it would overload the husking bed.

[@novakcustomharvesting6930]

A2 is way fast enough to full the picker otherwise the elevator can't get it away fast enough.

[@irondarknessdarkness8900]

after i saw the damage to those metal silos and things this year from that derecho thing..i would be strongly have a think about a much stronger ear corn crib that would survive that in heavy plank and post wood construction.

[@red_power79]

Still pick with a New Idea 324 2 row. tractors very from a 560 farmall diesel a Internatioal 756 diesel or a International 856 diesel. Using the 856 right now because it has a cab

[@johnclarkkitner9556]

We picked with new idea 323.

[@apatchofheavenfarm2814]

I use a new idea 300 pull type picker

[@jamesvenable1948]

Love those Parker gravity beds I had a miniature one for my cub cadet Anybody know if they are still made in silver lake indiana

[@bigtractorpower]

Very cool on a Cub Cadet sized Parker. Parker Wagons and Grain Carts were squired by Unverferth which is based in Ohio about 10 years ago. They still use the Parker name on wagons and grain carts.

[@billylindauer3636]

Whereabouts in SW Wisconsin? We milk goats near dodgeville

[@johnglover5071]

Oh how would I have enjoyed pulling corn with a cab tractor.

[@bigtractorpower]

👍👍

[@williamjenkinsiii70]

Old girl is doing a good job , I still pick about 40 to 50 acres with a New Idea 311 pulled with either a 4320 John Deere or a 4255 John Deere . I grind and feed all of that to cattle thru the winter and also to feed in the creep feeder and to finish the steers before they go to market . The rest of the corn is run with a combine and stored in bins and goes to a distillery about 40 miles away .

[@judyzimmer2079]

I use a 324 New Idea wide row picker pulled by an 806 ih

[@bigtractorpower]

Very cool harvest team.

[@wcox4]

Does anyone know what the minimum horsepower requirements are for the John Deere 300 corn husker?

[@jimkrogh2549]

Would it be possible to include an ad, video of the older machinery & tractors when new while making these videos? Awesome videos, especially the drone footage! Brings back memories. Thank you

[@waynehackett2592]

My top ten corn pickers are 1. 708 uni- mam 2.803c uni-man 3. N.I 324 4. N.I.10 5.N.I.53 6. Case 2 7 J.D.30J.D.227 IH 234.

[@thesmallscalefarmer1849]

I youse a one row oliver picker. My uncle has a two row New Idea picker.

[@mrih1586]

Liked, but would someone explain why anyone would want an ear corn picker in the 80's? Is their ever a time when ear corn is preferred over shelled corn? Just trying to get educated.

[@57fitter]

For feeding out cattle

[@rodyoutsey8786]

Makes good cow feed. The cob is good rufage. Keeps thier gut working.

[@danjosephson6910]

Ear corn also will dry itself. We picked 13,000 bushels a year most years in the eighties and nineties. I called one crib our 10,000 bushel drying bin that used no gas or electricity.

[@mrih1586]

@@danjosephson6910 A dumb question but could you store it outdoors if the shuck was still on it? Seems it would take might large crib to store 10,000 bushels.

[@danjosephson6910]

@@mrih1586 In the sixties and early seventies a lot people piled it on the ground or in rings of heavy duty snowfence. It was husked. Too many shucks contributes to spoilage. Our crib built in the early eighties had 2 9 x 40 cribs spaced 13' apart with 16' outside walls. The roof was the same angle as a 52' elevator going over the sidewall to the peak. A third crib was in the center going up 12' high leaving two 2' airways between the cribs. At the 12' height it flared out at a 45° angle to the full 13' width. The outside cribs each held 3000 bushels with the center holding 4000.Two fill holes at the peak were used to fill it with the aid of a 4 section swiveling and telescoping spout. All cribs were filled starting at the east end so all ears were going down hill to the west where they were shelled from.

[@merf64]

Is there a machine for pull tractor kernel harvesting?

[@bigtractorpower]

Yes it was made by New Idea.

[@merf64]

@@bigtractorpower Thanks for the reply, is there any videos on youtube? Couldn't find anything

[@scruffy6151]

I see the farmer does some contour farming. Not many do that anymore.

[@crashgsxr750]

First one I can remember riding on my neighbors tractor as a kid with a red tractor and corn picker Do manufactures still make corn cob picking machines ?

[@mrourcanada8964]

OK after they pick the corn how did you get the curtains off the cops

[@mattreinker8445]

4240 tractor , New Idea 2 row picker, 30 inch rows

[@bigtractorpower]

Very cool harvesting team.

[@butchknapp8822]

You didn’t talk about the wagon.

[@asapslide3036]

If you want old school rusted out equipment you will have to have a chat with Boehm Farms, they still pick corn and have vintage machinery.

[@paulofrancisco565]

👍👍👍👏👏👏🚜🚜🚜

[@nenadzivanov6267]

Zmaj 2k is best husker

[@taddmason1187]

What would the reasoning be with still picking corn like this today?

[@johnaddison7201]

I’ve got the same question

[@SteelDamMatt]

Squirrel feed or deer feed (if your state allows it).

[@farmin4468]

You can grind the whole ear in a feed grinder. Makes excellent cow feed

[@seth1704]

I t naturally drys fo free with natural ventilation and I still have 3 cribs that are solid and hold corn. It makes great cattle feed for a smaller operator that still feeds with buckets and an aluminum shovel. It's darn enjoyable to do when things are going well and you can get a crib full in one day!

[@mattreinker8445]

Good steer feed, no cost drying, that's how we do it. From southern Michigan

[@davidhintz1]

Am curious, why pick earcorn in this day in age?

[@novakcustomharvesting6930]

I pick because it is really good steer feed and when I bought my farm there was 5000 bushels worth of ear corn storage there and I paid 1300.00$ for the corn picker so from a check book standpoint I can't justify owning a combine and building bins or hauling it to town. Plus it's fun to play with old toys.

[@davidhintz1]

@@novakcustomharvesting6930 Thank you for answering! I remember shelling corn in the 70s at my Uncles when I was a kid. I enjoy old maschinery too.

[@darkwood777]

It is still considered superior over shelled corn for feeding beef. There is also a small market for decorative ear corn (especially Indian Corn), as well as being sold by the bag to attract wildlife. If you want the complete stalk to sell as seasonal decorations to city folk, then I would imagine you would lay it down with a sickle bar mower and gather it by hand. Not sure how else that is done.

[@johnaddison7201]

Do the cows eat the ear? Do you grind or feed whole?

[@novakcustomharvesting6930]

@@johnaddison7201 I grind it with a hammer mill.

[@conmanumber1]

Is this for seed production or animal feed?.

[@bigtractorpower]

Animal feed. OXBO self propelled harvesters are used for seed corn.