Self-Propelled Rock Picker

Self-Propelled Rock Picker ROCK PICKERS Rock Pickers 10-2-7 "I built this self-propelled rock picker in 1982 and so far it has picked about 700 acres with no problems," says David Wanca, Antigo, Wis. "The picker was built from an assortment of trucks and machines that I had junked. The front third consists of the front-end of a 1962 Chevrolet 2-ton truck and the rear was built with axles off a 1952 International truck. Both axles drive. The rock picking section in the middle was built from parts of a Lockwood potato harvester. All hydraulics were scrapped from a Lockwood binpiler. "The driveshaft from the front of the machine to the rear works its way around the digger section with a roller chain drive. It's geared down so that top speed is about 20 mph. There's no special transmission. I just use the regular 4-speed that was in the Chevrolet truck. The rock elevator raises at the rear to make room for the dump box to dump. "Total investment, not counting my labor, was under $400. Most of that was for some special shafts and bearings I needed. It took about a month to build it and it worked the first time out. The only change I made was to put heavier key stock in the drive shaft sprockets. Most of the rocks in my fields are in piles where our potato harvester dumps them at harvest." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, David Wanca, N3228 CTH-H, Antigo. Wis. 54409.

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