One of the most amazing things about cotton harvesting is how much it has changed in the past century. Since cotton harvesting is no longer done by hand (something that was the case until the turn of the 20th century), specialized cotton harvesting machines are used to separate the cotton fibers from the mature bolls. The machines used can be divided into a few different types for each stage of cotton preparation: namely, there are cotton pickers, cotton strippers, boll buggies, and finally module builders.
A cotton picker removes the seed cotton from the burr by means of high-speed rotating spindles which extract the cotton from the open burrs of the plants which then wrap around moistened spindles. The spindles are then cleaned off by a specialized machine, known as a doffer, to extract the cotton that has been removed. This method is the cleanest method for extracting cotton, but it’s not the only one.
In some cases, cotton strippers are used instead of cotton pickers, most commonly after the green vegetation has been killed off by frost. Cotton strippers use a roller method with bats and brushes which push the open bolls onto a conveyor belt, along with leaves and stems. In this case, the material has to be cleaned off by special devices at the cotton gin.
In both cases, air is used to lift the seed cotton (which, by itself, is quite light) into a storage basket, to be transferred to a boll buggy. However, in the case of the cotton picker, the moist spindles are what hold the cotton in place. After the cotton is transferred to the boll buggy, the cotton picker or stripper is ready for more harvesting.
Boll Buggies and Module Builders
Boll buggies are used to transport cotton to module builders once the harvesting is complete. Boll buggies come in a number of designs, and are designed to keep the harvesting machines effective by collecting what is being harvested, leaving the continued operation of the harvesting machines more efficient.
A boll buggy has both the ability to collect cotton from the harvester as well as to carry the entire weight needed to be compacted on its side. Module builders are large machines that operate in a similar fashion to trash compactors. After the buggies load the cotton, the module builder then crushes the fibers to compact them into a cube.
Module builders, first designed in 1972, are designed to carry loads of cotton weighing up to 10 tons. The history behind the module builder is itself surprising: after almost 100 years of mechanized cotton picking, the problem of cotton storage remained, as the dried material was prone to loose storage, making the dried cotton a cause of fires and losses for farmers, who had been storing the cotton in trailers up to that point. This virtually disappeared with the advent of the module builder.
After the cotton is compacted, the module builders take the cotton to a textile mill for processing or to a purification manufacturer. Cotton module builders presented a quantum leap in cotton transport, making even larger-scale cotton fiber production possible. A cotton module builder is up to 30 feet long and 12 feet wide! In some cases boll buggies themselves have built in compactors to make it even easier to collect and transport the extracted cotton, or to make for compact transport to the module builder.
The Cotton Harvesting Process Today
Cotton harvesting has undergone massive changes in the past 100 years thanks to the rise of technology. As cotton pickers and strippers were not in widespread use until the 1940’s, the first major quantum leap in the centuries-old practice of cotton harvesting is less than a century old, before which cotton had historically been harvested by hand.
Just two generations ago, the problem of storage and fire which had plagued the cotton industry for hundreds of years ended with the advent of the module builder. Modern technology in the cotton industry, which started in the United States and is now used all over the world, has changed the world we live in, and these large, bulky machines are responsible for changing everything from the price to the accessibility of all the uses we make of cotton today, whether clothing or even the humble cotton swab.
All of it started with a plant, and today, machines do all the work of bringing cotton from the field to the production facility.
Assuming that your cotton plants were introduced to the soil in mid-March or April, as they are south of the 36th parallel, most of those plants should be ready for harvesting by the end of July. Of course, this assumes that the weather has been relatively stable all summer and that the plants were not subjected to excessive amounts of rain. It matters a great deal where you live in the world when you ask, “When do you harvest cotton?”. In some areas of the world, the seasons are inverted from the way they are in the United States.
Some of the other factors which impact harvesting time are discussed below. Generally speaking, the time necessary for a cotton plant to reach full maturity, with no interruptions, is between 150 and 180 days, regardless of where you’re located. Of course, the specific months that the harvest will be ready is subject to the climate in whatever part of the world you live in. With a little cooperation from the weather and no severe disruption from pests, cotton can be harvested at the end of the 180 days and made into all the wonderful products that people love so much.
When Was the Cotton Planted?
Cotton is generally planted as a harvestable crop as soon as mid-March in the 13 American states, which are primary growers of cotton. By the time June rolls around, all plants have been started in the ground, and the staggered plant times will allow for continuous harvesting until the entire crop is in. Those states are mostly in the southern United States, where rainfall is somewhat plentiful in the springtime and is usually followed by a long period of hot and dry weather, which is also ideal for cotton growth.
In areas outside the U.S., the best time to plant the cotton seeds is right before a somewhat wet season so that the plants can get plenty of water. Then, of course, the plants will need the warmth that will allow the plants to develop and mature properly. If you’re planting cotton seeds indoors, the best time to plant is approximately four weeks prior to the last anticipated date of outdoor frost. As with outdoor planted cotton, the answer to when to harvest cotton will be somewhere around 180 days after planting.
Assess the Health of the Plant
The health of cotton plants can be affected by several factors, and many of these contribute significant stress to the plants. Some of the most common stressors are moisture, pest attacks, temperature, and nutrition. When summer temperatures soar past 95 degrees Fahrenheit, it begins to really affect the cotton plant, and leaf production suffers as well as the creation of carbohydrates. When carbohydrate levels drop, the plant has insufficient sugar levels to satisfy all its needs, and that generally leads to fewer bolls on the plant, as well as less fiber content in each of the seeds.
When night-time temperatures remain high instead of dropping off to a more appropriate 68 degrees, the temperature can have a double whammy on hurting the delicate plants. Moisture also comes into play, because when there is excessive humidity present, it does not allow for plant moisture to evaporate, and for cooling all the components of the plant. If there is too much rainfall present in the summertime, that can have the effect of drowning out the still immature root system of the cotton plants and hinder its growth.
There are two major pests that love to feast on cotton – the boll weevil and the pink bollworm. Boll weevils like to consume the cotton seeds, and its feces has a profoundly negative impact on cotton lint. It severely attacks bolls and flowers, and for that reason, there is a program of eradication underway in the major cotton-growing states. The bolls and flowers are also under siege by the pink bollworm, which generally appears on the plants as a brown and gray colored moth. Its eggs are laid under the calyx of bolls, which are in the developmental stage, and when they hatch, they immediately begin consuming the plant.
Know Your Climate
Cotton is a plant that is native to Central America and the region around the Caribbean. Still, it’s also considered a perennial by the US Department of Agriculture in zones eight through 11. When planted as a harvestable crop, cotton needs a long stretch of very warm weather with periodic irrigation. After that, it also needs relatively dry weather so that the fluffy white cotton balls can become adequately ripened.
When the temperature in any climatic area dips below 60°F, it will be necessary to provide additional heat somehow or to take the plants indoors where heating can be regulated. If you live in an area where springtime is long and autumn advances early, you may have to grow your cotton plants in pots, which can be taken indoors. If you start your plants indoors, you’ll have to wait until you have consistently warm weather before taking the young plants outdoors.
Today, the cotton industry is powered by lumbering machines running on ingenious cotton harvester parts. When the cotton industry first sprang to life, however, the process of picking and cleaning cotton was unbelievably difficult. From the moment it was discovered, more than 500 years before the Common Era, all the way through the 18th century, cotton was picked plant by plant and then cleared of its seeds by hand. In fact, in the early 1790s, a worker could be expected to pick and clean a pound of cotton every day.
Eli Whitney’s new machine
That all changed in 1794, however, when a young inventor named Eli Whitney visited his friend Catherine Greene. There, observing the workers she hired to pick her cotton, Whitney was struck with inspiration. Over the course of several weeks, he constructed a machine designed to clear the seed from the picked cotton lint at a lightning-quick pace.
Eli Whitney’s first hand-cranked cotton gin—gin was supposed to be a play on “engine”—as brilliant, but still simple. After picking cotton, the seed-filled lint was fed into a wooden barrel that had been outfitted with a series of small hooks. The hooks caught the cotton lint and pulled it through a mesh too fine for the seeds to fall through.
A new way to harvest cotton
Almost as soon as Whitney filed his patent, the cotton gin began to transform the domestic cotton industry. Soon, several different variations on Whitney’s cotton gin began to show up throughout the country. Smaller ones remained hand-cranked, while larger gins could be operated by a horse.
Even using Eli Whitney’s smaller, hand-cranked design, a worker could expect to de-seed approximately 50 pounds of cotton in a single day. This led to a considerable expansion of the industry, as more cotton could be picked and processed during a workday.
It’s interesting to note that a large portion of the cotton gins employed throughout the American South were actually pirated versions of Eli Whitney’s original design. As a result, Whitney himself failed to make much money off the cotton gin, even after years of litigation. However, he remains among history’s most well-known inventors, familiar to schoolchildren all over the country thanks to his contributions.
The modern world of cotton
Fortunately, in the 21st century, those labor-intensive methods of cotton picking have been exchanged in favor of state-of-the-art machines. As one of the global leaders in the manufacture of replacement cotton harvester parts, Certi-Pik, USA is proud to be a part of that technological revolution.
When you need first-rate replacements for your malfunctioning cotton harvester parts, our team of knowledgeable professionals is ready to help. From blown drumheads to cracked spindle nuts, you can rely on Certi-Pik, USA to make things right.
No matter where you are in the world, we’re ready and waiting to do business. Contact us today to receive up to 50 percent savings on quality replacement parts for your John Deere or Case IH Cotton Harvesters. We look forward to assisting you soon!
Since ancient Egypt, cotton has played an integral role in any developing nation’s economy and lifestyle. In a bygone era, picking cotton was an arduous task for manual laborers that required long hours and a keen eye for detail. It was tough, precision work, but thankfully, those methods for harvesting cotton have long since been eradicated in the United States.
As countries the world over have begun their own development, the demand for cotton has increased to an incredible extent. In 2018, for example, the United States produced more than 17 million bales of cotton all on its own. However, that’s nothing compared to some of the world’s heavy hitters.
Fortunately, as time and technology progressed, so have the methods for harvesting cotton. In the 21st century, farmers rely on several state-of-the-art machines to deliver this crucial manufacturing component. Depending on which part of the world you’re standing in, you’ll likely see one of two methods utilized to harvest cotton.
Mechanical cotton pickers
The most commonly employed machine for picking cotton, mechanical cotton pickers can be found in many regions throughout the country, including the Southeast, the Midsouth (Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi) and the Far West (Arizona and California). The cotton baler parts in this ingenious device remove the cotton lint from the bract, leaving the rest of the plant intact.
Just as the method for picking has changed to being mechanically based, the machinery itself has also transformed over the years, making the mechanical cotton picker a true technological marvel. Cotton pickers today can harvest from six rows of crops at a single time and compact the lint into a bale on the fly.
Mechanical cotton strippers
Used for harvesting cotton on the High Plains, a mechanical cotton stripper combs across the rows of cotton, removing the leaves and the branches in addition to the cotton lint. Because more of the cotton plant is left in the harvested bundle, more work is required on the back end to sort out the lint from the debris.
It might seem inefficient, but there’s a reason for this: leaving behind the stalks (and only the stalks) makes tilling the cotton for next season that much easier.
The cotton harvester part pro
No matter how well these cutting-edge machines are constructed, they’ll eventually break down, and you’ll need new cotton baler parts. Wear and tear is as reliable as the need for cotton itself. When your cotton picker breaks down, you can rely on the pros at Certi-Pik, USA for the industry’s highest quality manufactured replacement parts.
When you need trustworthy replacements for your blown cam track, drumhead, spindle, picker, lubrication hoses and so much more, you can rely on Certi-Pik, USA for the answer. Around the world, farmers at every level of the cotton industry turn to Certi-Pik, USA.
Let us become your one-stop shop for cotton baler parts and cotton harvester parts. Visit us online and contact us today and learn how to receive up to 50 percent savings on quality replacement parts for your John Deere or Case IH Cotton Harvesters.
If you’re in the business of growing cotton, one important thing to know about is the growth cycle of this successful commercial crop. There are a number of different varieties of cotton throughout the world, but not all are used for economic purposes. In the U.S., there are currently 14 states that are considered major cotton producers, mostly in the South and Southwest. Collectively, these are known as the Cotton Belt.
When it comes time to harvest cotton, you need a source for cotton picker parts that you can trust. Certi-Pik, USA is a leader in the industry because of our unparalleled expertise and high-quality products. Read on to find out exactly how the cotton growth cycle plays out.
Stages of growth
Cotton plants all have a time frame during which growth occurs. This begins with planting the seed in the soil. Under ideal conditions, the cotton seed germinates in under 10 days. Soon thereafter, two leaves appear on the seed, called cotyledons, which introduce the plant to the photosynthesis process.
In the following weeks, these young leaves become true leaves and continue feeding the plant. During weeks five to seven, small flower buds appear. Then, within a matter of days, the flower will appear and pollinate. The last stage exposes the cotton boll, which is the white, fluffy part of the plant. This continues to grow, and each plant may have up to 100 bolls containing 500,000 cotton fibers.
The bottom line is that after 140 days following planting, the cotton will split along the bolls and dry out. At this point, they’re ready for picking.
The right soil
It’s essential to grow cotton in soil conditions that are as close to ideal as possible. This can only be achieved through regular soil testing. The soil should be tested for its content of important nutrients and minerals like phosphorous, potassium, nitrogen and soil pH. A balance of these is necessary to spark the growth process. You may need to add fertilizer depending on the results of these tests.
It’s worth noting that weather and climate conditions have a significant impact on the chemical composition of soil. For example, significant amounts of nitrogen may be lost due to leaching and denitrification, which occurs in warmer, more humid climates. Also, different types of soil have varying moisture contents and may retain nutrients better than others.
When harvest time comes, you’re going to need cotton picker parts to haul in the crop. Certi-Pik, USA has been working with customers worldwide for more than 30 years. We have the best replacement parts in the industry and also sell a wide range of specialty items and sheet metal parts used in the cotton harvesting business.
Even the best machines will wear down at some point, which is why you need a parts supplier you can trust. We carry it all, including camtracks, drumheads, spindles and spindle nuts, picker and grid bars, slip clutches, lubrication hoses, stalk lifters, idler gears, CTX scrapping plates, CTX pressure doors and more. Give us a call today to learn more!
