Slowing Ground Speed on a WC with Mounted Corn ick

Hello all. I attempted to pick some corn with my mounted corn picker on a WC this fall. Field had a great stand and was in the 185 195 bushel average. I had some difficulty with the corn picker wanting to plug. Just couldn't seem to handle pulled the stalk down quick enough to snap the ear off before the next stalk came in and the process started over. I know I'm asking a lot of the picker being in today's corn verus it's hayday back 50 years ago. Ive read some past topics about the stalks needing a little mosture to make the picker work at its best so that could be some of the problem that I'm having. Guess I'm wondering if slowing the ground speed would help? Read some past topics on this forum about ways to slow a a WC down; add a Thompson Over/Underdrive, adding a second transmission, smaller rear tires (currently have 14.9 x 28), and maybe even an RC transmission? Guess looking for ideas and suggestions. My big goal is to get this picker working good enough to harvest some corn at the Half Century of Progress show. Need to make sure AC represented well

Smaller tires would be the easiest thing, find a pair of 11.2X28 tires. They are generally a low profile design, the 14.9 is a high profile design.  A transmission from the RC is the same as the WC.  The bigger PTO sprocket will also be easy

14.9 X 28 tires are too big, but you may need to go with a 24" rim and smaller tire. Check tire outside diameters to determine speed reduction to make a decision.  A 14.9 X 28 tire has a 53.8" diameter. A standard WC in 1st gear with the original size tires of 11 X 28 with a diameter of 47.4" has a ground speed of 2.5 MPH at engine speed of 1300 RPM. 53.8 - 47.4 = 6.4" and 6.4/47.4=13.5% bigger diameter than the original WC tire of 11 X 28. That would give a ground speed of 113.5% X 2.5 MPH = 2.84 MPH with your large 14.9 X 28 tires. 2.84 vs 2.5 MPH is significant. Tire size certainly has an influence but changing tire size is costly. A Sherman reduction or a second transmission would help more but also costly. Click below and click on tire to see tire diameters. 

The corn at 50 years of Progress show is 85 day corn. Planted on 38" rows at a much lower population than what is planted today. The I&I club could be contacted for better information. John Fredrickson (219 863 1270) is co- chair of the show and Roger Musson (217 369 2383) is the man to see about the corn pickers. Best Show on Earth!

Edited by JayIN - 17 Nov 2019 at 8:36am

A big thank you to all for your knowledge and suggestions! I did just purchase a wd45 with a single front wheel and thinking, as long as I have the brackets, of mounting picker on it. Little slower ground speed and also hand clutch be nice. As mentioned tires are a little pricey aorund here so I'll try to hold off on that option. I will keep an eye out for a RC parts tractor as that sounds like a option too. Bad news is I won't be able to test the combination for a year.

The first number on a tire is the width of the tire when inflated typically about half way from the rim to the tread. Long ago that first number was the rim width. The wider the tire generally the taller the tire but not necessarily the mathematically proportions.

The tire outside diameter is shown in the tables in the ag tire handbooks from modern tire makers and maybe Miller Tire on line.

Another consideration for tractor rear tires is the load handling capability when fully inflated, another thing in the ag tire handbooks.

Gerald J.

Aftermarket only