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Potato Harvester

Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 2:27 am
by papermaker
I drive by a field daily that has two small potato harvesters parked in the bushes. Often thought about stopping and asking the owner what they are and if he would sell either one. Did IH make a potato harvester for a cub?

Re: Potato Harvester

Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 3:09 am
by bob in CT
They did indeed. There is a manual on the server under McCormick Deering or I have a 3 meg pdf I can send you.

Re: Potato Harvester

Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 6:30 am
by papermaker
That would be great if I could get a copy of the manual. Hopefully it has a picture.

Re: Potato Harvester

Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 8:05 am
by Baldmonk
Known quite a few old timers pull the horse drawn ones with cubs. Wish I had one. They disappeared when they passed and I was too young to obtain. This happened nearly 30 years ago.

Re: Potato Harvester

Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 8:40 am
by Jerry M
Bob in CT wrote:They did indeed. There is a manual on the server under McCormick Deering or I have a 3 meg pdf I can send you.


Bob, I know your right because I've seen it. But, I just looked and now can't find it. :oops:

Jerry

Re: Potato Harvester

Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 8:42 am
by bob in CT
you will need to send me an email as your email address is not listed. I'll reply with an attachment.

Re: Potato Harvester

Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 8:43 am
by brianJ
Here is my IHC digger. I believe it to be a model 5A
Image
Brian

Re: Potato Harvester

Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 9:20 am
by Jerry M
Yeah, rub it in Brian :lol: :lol: :lol: . Seriously though, very nice. I've been looking and looking for one of those.

Jerry

Re: Potato Harvester

Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 9:25 am
by Gary Boutwell
WOW!
Boutwell would give a Dachund for one of those.
Never seen one, but it sure would look good in Barn 1,2, or 3. (Thinking seriously about #4)

Thanks for the post and photo.

Re: Potato Harvester

Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 9:32 am
by cowboy
Thats another thing I wish I had here at home. Especially after jumping on and off the tractor for two days picking rocks :!:

Billy

Re: Potato Harvester

Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 9:44 am
by bob in CT
I actually had one here but it belonged to the previous owner of the property. He hauled it out and left it at his mother's next door. She painted half a wheel yellow and it stayed like that until she sold the property and they gave it to someone. We were not exactly close. The only bad neighbor I ever had. Her daughter lives there now and we get along just fine. Oh well. I really wanted it .

Re: Potato Harvester

Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 10:25 am
by Baldmonk
brianJ wrote:Here is my IHC digger. I believe it to be a model 5A
Image
Brian


That looks identical to the horse drawn ones I saw when I was a kid being pulled by cubs. If only I could go back in time and get some of the stuff I saw in use when I was little.

Re: Potato Harvester

Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 10:44 am
by brianJ
I think they were originally horse drawn. I put an ad in a local rag looking for one and waited. Two weeks nothing then on a Saturday I got two calls within five minutes. The first one was made by the Canadian Potato Company or something like that and was a mess. Parts missing, other stuff broken. The guy was asking $250.00(or something like that) for it because that is what his sister paid for it and he was expecting me to pay for her mistake. He also had a late 50's Cub that we looked at that hadn't ran it 10 years and the top of the carb had a chunk out of it. He was asking $1500 (or something like that) and for the same reason he was not budging on price. We quickly left and went to see the digger. We caught that old fella at dinner so he mumbled "..be a minute" and never looked up from his plate. We followed him to the family farm and I became pretty excited to see it all complete including the road wheels, was an IHC and had been used and cared for up until a few years before. I asked what he wanted for it and he asked what I wanted it for. He said "as long as it not going to become a flower bed, $100.00" I think I threw the money at him I whipped it out of my pocket so fast.
I have harvested the potatoes two years running now and have turned a whole day job into about 30 minutes of fun. Good luck to all looking for one. Watch the farm auction listings. Place ads in your local farm paper, community newspaper, local kijiji site and you will eventually get a call.
Brian

Re: Potato Harvester

Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 11:13 am
by dirt devil
For you movie lovers here is Hope driving Bert with mine attached a couple years ago. It's a McCormick Deering.

Image

Re: Potato Harvester

Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 11:19 am
by brianJ
...and that's how they work right there. Thanks for the movie DD.