[Tim Harrigan]

Mark, a while back in this thread

http://www.draftanimalpower.com/showthread.php?t=3536&highlight=rope

Scott and others mentioned Amsteel Blue bull rope. It is on my list. Maybe they have more thoughts to share. There are times it would be real nice to have something like that.

Erika, put that truck back along the side of the drive!

[Tim Harrigan]

@Carl Russell 23896 wrote:

I’m kind of bummed right now that I didn’t think of the pulley, because it would have been a really good example of the mechanical advantage. Carl

Well, this is a good example of where a draft buffer would come in handy. Carl, what would you have done if you had thought to use your tackle? Redirect the line of pull to take advantage of the downhill run, a multi-part line, or both or something else?

[Tim Harrigan]

Is that Erika’s normal parking place?:eek:

[Tim Harrigan]

You might want to look into diseases that are a problem with peas. I know many growers complain about more problems with white mold in beans and figure it is worse in denser stands because air movement and drying are less effective. Another advantage of rows is that you can cultivate for weed control.

[Tim Harrigan]

The bean cutter knives would have to ride on a tool bar. If they cut 2 rows the knives would slide along the outside of the rows on an angle so as they went by they would progressively slice through the row and then be combined into a single windrow. A small mechanized thresher would handle an acre OK, I suppose you could even build a hand crank version that might be OK but that would be a lot of work for something you would want to start and finish pretty quickly.

I don’t know about the mower, I guess you could set it up with vine lifters and raise it up to keep it out of the dirt, but stones would still be a problem. And I don’t know Andy, the thought of a solid mat of cut peas that need to be picked up and threshed within a day or two saps my strength. One advantage of the knife cutter with rows is that you just cut what you can thresh

[Tim Harrigan]

The peanut knife and the bean knife are probably quite similar. They are pulled almost parallel to the row so I would not expect much draft. One thing is that to prevent side-draft it would be best to run in pairs so 2 rows are pulled and combined at a time. That means you really should have a 2 row planter for consistent spacing to do a good job with the puller. I looked at that Sund harvester again and it looks like those peas were solid seeded and just pulled out of the ground. Dry beans pulled with a knife are planted in rows and I think peanuts are as well. Are you going to be planting with your row planter?

[Tim Harrigan]

Geoff, I know, I was just goofing around. T

[Tim Harrigan]

Geoff, direct harvesting has really taken over dry bean harvest in the last several years. I am sure there are many growers still pulling and windrowing with a knife cutter. I suggested it because I think it is a realistic option for Andy using animal power. That and a simple thresher would probably work fine. New combine for Andy?…..maybe not.

[Tim Harrigan]

I am not sure exactly how they harvest peas. With dry beans they have a set of knives that run an inch or two under the rows to cut the roots and then a set of windrowing rods merges those two rows into a single windrow. These are still somewhat common but may growers are going to direct-cut with a combine head or rod-cutters that require quite a bit more power.

[Tim Harrigan]

I have done some work with dry bean harvest. You may be able to adapt a bean knife cutter for peas. Not sure though, I have never mechanically harvested peas, just garden peas.

[Tim Harrigan]

How do you plan to thresh the peas? Why don’t you want to swath them? Were you thinking of using a knife cutter to pull them?

[Tim Harrigan]

Some mowers use or have vine lifters but I am not aware of the rake harvesting method that Andy mentioned.

[Tim Harrigan]

@Carl Russell 23708 wrote:

… from a USFS manual I remember red oak being about 11,000#/MBF 325BF x 11 #/BF =3575# …..
Carl

I calculated the volume of that log at 70 cubic ft. Based on my estimates from the USFS red oak goes about 60 lb/cu ft green and 50 lb air dry. So that log would go about 4200 lb green and 3500 dry. Good load.

[Tim Harrigan]

@Carl Russell 23722 wrote:

I have learned to use the bore-cut-trigger method nearly 100% of the time.

But I don’t think you typically make a plunge cut through the face?

[Tim Harrigan]

Without looking at it too close my guess is it would be OK for the grain, grass and legumes. I have some questions about the corn and other row crops. When they say it can be used for “row crops” it makes me question what they mean. I am sure there is no seed singulation so if you want to cover much ground you are going to use a lot of seed and do a lot of thinning. I think it really depends on what your main use of it is.

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