For the right one that I could afford I'd travel anywhere we grow cotton in the United States. Variations in the condition and price are what would shrink the bubble. I know good prospects in Texas will either be barn kept or upper Texas backland. West Texas would have been strippers and the lower gulf coast is a killer unless it's been in a shed or barn somewhere. The one above is in Arkansas, I had one found in MS once but the guy backed out.

As far as condition - I'd be more concerned about the condition of the picker than the tractor because there just anything to draw parts from. Rusty wire in the basket is manageable - totally rusted out basket lid is not. Air pipes the same way; I can't bring one back completely from the dead. The tractor under it isn't a concern because they're much more common; having said that it's best to find one on a tractor. That's because there were bucketloads of parts: linkages, rods, and clamps that married the two and without them it would be tough to make it all work right. That's why you see in the video one guy shifting the gears and another steering - I'd bet they don't have the connecting linkage to put it in gear from the seat.

This 99 is in a barn down the road. I could probably have it for the asking - but I just don't know if I have it in me for that big of a project - and if I was going that modern there are probably better examples to be had.

https://instagr.am/p/BZAIV8WgjOn

So a little additional on the latest cotton pickin' technology....

I was at the Amarillo JD dealer a few weeks ago. There was a new baling stripper on their back lot, with the baler portion obviously heavily damaged by fire. On another part of their lot were the blackened remains of another baling mechanism. So that's at least two pickers at one dealer, that burned this year. Wonder how widespead the problem is?

I've seen on board fire suppression systems for these rigs....might be a good investment.

We lost one of ours to fire. I know of 40 that have caught fire according to fire team that looked at ours.

Jack Boyett said:

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Salesman at the John Deere in Spearman has a waiting list with 21 names on it for stripper balers next year (at $750,000 each). John Deere is going to send them 12.

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Pretty impressive to see those rolling out of the assembly plant here. Kids love driving by to see them loading on the semi to make their trek southward.

I know of 14 stripper balers that have burned in the Panhandle/South Plains this year. 3 of which never left the first field the pulled into.

Some insurance companies are requiring a manned fire truck in the field (according to a couple of growers) to insure them.

Very wrong emoticon

One we bought to replace our burned machine has a fire suppression system on it. Will be installing one on our other machine this offseason and rigging up a fire truck.

We sold about 16 of our fire suppression systems on cs690's for the 17 season. Probably going to sell 150-200 next year. This year was sort of an experimental run, but we didn't have a complete loss on any machine with one installed. The only one with serious damage had a hand running it that panicked and didn't folllow protocol, but it got traded and is stripping cotton as of today. There were more fires than usual this year, both on basket and baler strippers. The majority of our suppression machines with fires were able to strip cotton later that day.

Doctor51 said:

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We lost one of ours to fire. I know of 40 that have caught fire according to fire team that looked at ours.

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I know of a few that were complete losses, but of more that had fires. However whe you consider how many basket strippers have fires each year, it's surprising that there aren't more fires on the round bale strippers. I have heard of insurance companies that won't insure without a fire suppression system for the upcoming year, but I have also seen that machines running with suppression systems have their insurance rates almost cut in half currently.

So what was different this year that caused an increase in fires on the CS690 machines out west? Also where does the fire suppression system target. I'm guessing the alarm is the operators nose and then he activates the system?

Oh and centerpole, you forgot adding in a full accumulator when you have RMB on the saddle and one wrapped in the chamber on your weight calculation. And a driver and passenger. Gotta see how high we can get that number.

I have no definite answer. I've heard it's a result of low* mic cotton, others have blamed it on in season weather or current atmospheric static. The system we installed this year is operator activated. It's a patented expanding fire fighting foam.

Majority of the cotton in the panhandle low micd this year. High mic is a coastal problem

Really good Panhandle/South Plains crop this year. Is it possible the high number of fires is simply a result of lots more baling strippers handling tons more bales?

And regarding fires in the older strippers, the way you generally get fires is to burn up a bearing, or pick up a bit of metal that sparks or rubs. Newer strippers added a burr extractor, which added another spot to cause a fire, with debris hitting the saws. And the baling strippers add the rollers and belts in the baling chamber as another source of static, friction, bearing, etc.

Second, the balers are way in the back, while baskets in conventional strippers are closer to the cab. Easier to see and smell trouble.

Last, the great thing about balers is that you only need one person. But sometimes that extra person on the boll buggy or stripper will spot trouble before the stripper operator can. So maybe the baling strippers simply run longer with smoke trailing out the back than do the old style.

Thanks to all responding to the updated thread.

Some additional gossip I heard today. The claim that Hale County Farm Bureau insurance "bought" 28 baling strippers this year. In other words, paid that many claims.

Was also told that it costs $28k to insure one for a year. Rates going up in 2018

$28k? Is this confirmed through Farm Bureau?

Heard a rumor that in coastal counties traditional modules will no longer be insuranable. Not sure if true but if that that will cause a huge issue. Many acres are still using traditional baskets simply because of an equipment shortage

Centerpole, the guy I buy hay from has a tractor mount one row, not sure if it is a picker or stripper. Doesn't have the basket on it. I'll call him and see what it is and if it's for sale.

We had a two row international stripper mounted in an old butane tractor when I was a kid. I'm glad dad got rid of it before I was old enough to run it

Doctor51 said:

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$28k? Is this confirmed through Farm Bureau?

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It's from a member of a FB board, to my 87-year-old mom, to me....

So it's got to be 100% accurate, right?

As I said....gossip.

Just now saw this thread, good stuff.

On the subject of hand picking, my father is heavily involved in TXFB, TXFB donated some money to Scott Brown's campaign when he was running for Ted Kennedy's spit and my father was part of the group who met with him. They were talking about agriculture and Brown asked "Do you guys still pick cotton by hand?"

John Deere has been a wonderful stock to own. As the world becomes wealthier, developing and emerging countries peoples want to eat better food, drink cleaner water, wear better cloths and are better able to afford it. Many people don't realize modern farming is technology driven and owning John Deere stock is a great way for non farmers to participate.

Chalupa Batman said:

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Just now saw this thread, good stuff.

On the subject of hand picking, my father is heavily involved in TXFB, TXFB donated some money to Scott Brown's campaign when he was running for Ted Kennedy's spit and my father was part of the group who met with him. They were talking about agriculture and Brown asked "Do you guys still pick cotton by hand?"

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Lots of apocryphal stories out there about dumb city folks. Like the lady who was incensed that cattle were put into feedlots, so crowded that they couldn't even have sex in private. She suggested hanging sheets for privacy.

Or the congressman, when farmers were complaining about the high cost of natural gas, used to power irrigation pumps. He wanted to know why we had to heat the water before we irrigated with it.

And the teacher who told her students that cotton comes from animals.

Sorry for the crappy 90 degree Facebook video.

I can't decide if this is genius or idiocy.


https://www.facebook.com/centralequipsales/videos/1995703497366116/?hc_ref=ARTn_Cs1vhQKxugtc0FwfGk8rucPXPKTX8kBVqoMtRxWK42Lbr1QRG2EbfnbJxN7Bxo&fref=nf

Been hearing and seeing (pics) reports of a lot of these new stripper balers catching fire. I'm aware of the inherent risks associated with moving that much fiber and static electricity but it sounds like it could be an issue.

I was told that 28 of these machines went up in flames this year on the South Plains alone.

The general consensus is that the fire suppression systems on them are not sufficient.

Anybody else hearing the same?

CanyonAg77 said:

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Dale Earnhardts Stache said:

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Been hearing and seeing (pics) reports of a lot of these new stripper balers catching fire. I'm aware of the inherent risks associated with moving that much fiber and static electricity but it sounds like it could be an issue.

I was told that 28 of these machines went up in flames this year on the South Plains alone.

The general consensus is that the fire suppression systems on them are not sufficient.

Anybody else hearing the same?

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Only anyone who actually read the thread.

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My apologies. I read the thread a couple of months ago when it was created and didn't recall that. Didn't bother skimming back through before posting.

Our neighbor South of our farm lost his stripper/baker yesterday afternoon in a fire.

It's amazing how much cotton is still in the field right now. Gins are running like crazy and don't appear to be catching up yet.

jtp01 said:

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Our neighbor South of our farm lost his stripper/baker yesterday afternoon in a fire.

It's amazing how much cotton is still in the field right now. Gins are running like crazy and don't appear to be catching up yet.

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I've heard reports of gins in high yield areas shipping cotton to distant gins to get it ginned.

I know nothing.....zero....zilch....about cotton, but this thread is really interesting. I always wondered about the cotton harvesting as I used to drive past the fields on the way to Rockport/Aransas. Always seemed like ALOT of wasted cotton in the fields and on the sides of the road!

I have a question about that first video of the Modulating Boll Buggy. Those modules are put directly on the ground when they come out of the buggy. How do they get loaded onto a truck?? It didn't seem like it is compacted enough to hold together to simply be picked up, but I may be wrong.

The bed of the module truck articulates and then they back it up under the module. There are chains with attachments on the floor of the truck bed that grab the cotton and help pull it up into the bed. Video below to help with my terrible description.

If it's round bales, they do almost the same thing except they can haul 4 round bales at a time.

Thanks! That's pretty darn cool!

Most of the round bales up here they pick up with a fork on a front end loader and load them on a flatbed trailer.

I was told this week by one farmer, that his modules may not be picked up until April because the gins are so swamped.

Yes, it is compacted enough to be pickup up by a truck. The old style (1970s and later) module builder modules are picked up by special trucks. The new round bales are simply loaded by any kind of front end loader, or by the old module trucks.

The old module trucks have a series of chains running length-ways on the bed, that can be run independently, or geared to the truck wheels. I'll try to find a video or photos, but I'll try to explain.

Truck backs up to module
Bed tilts until the edge nearest module is on the ground
Chains are engaged to truck wheels
Truck backs up, chains go forward at same speed
Chains therefore engage a spot on bottom of module, and DO NOT move in relation to the module. It's as if the module and chains stay in one spot relative to the ground, as the truck bed moves to the rear.
When bed is completely under the module, truck stops backing up
Bed is lowered to horizontal
Chains are disengaged from wheels
Chains move forward to slide module to front of truck