For many years, cotton picking has been done by using hands due to the lack of appropriate equipment to do the harvesting. But since the world has evolved, cotton harvesting has also evolved, and harvesting has now become more comfortable and faster.
Cotton farmers have now embraced the cotton picker machine to maximize their production. The farmers are, however, experiencing mechanical problems with the picker while harvesting. Therefore, they are left wondering where they can purchase the cotton picker parts to repair their picker.
Luckily, you will get these replacement parts when you visit Certi-Pik, one of the aftermarket manufacturers. They always have your best interest in mind. They have many of the parts that a farmer needs for his or her cotton picker. Here are some of the most common harvester parts that customers frequently require:
Spindles
Doffers
Cam Rollers
Cam Tracks
Belts
How do Cotton-Picking Parts Fail?
Cotton picker machines are also prone to fail, just like any other machine. Since the device is made up of different components, failure is expected to happen. Here are various reasons as to how the cotton-picking parts may fail:
Taking Too Long Before Servicing and Maintaining Them
The service intervals between lubrication and maintenance are too far between. The picker must be serviced and maintained regularly. This will ensure they work efficiently throughout the picking season while eliminating any premature wear and breakage.
Inexperienced Manufacturing of Parts
Cotton picker components are in a very stressful environment, and therefore, they must be manufactured of high quality and with the highest amount of precision as possible. If this is not done, then the components are prone to fail within a short period of time.
Misusing the Cotton-Picker Parts
This can be using parts from other machines that were not designed for your Cotton Harvester or were substandard quality to begin with. If you utilize components from other harvesters in your picker, you may be making the machine fail since the components may not have been produced for that application, or model.
To avoid all these cotton picker parts’ failures, you should ensure that you regularly clean, maintain, and service your harvester so it continues to work efficiently. You can also hire professionals to ensure that your picker parts work at their peak capacity by lubricating the moistener pads and spindles. The professionals can also inspect your machine to let you know when your picker parts require replacement.
Which Parts Need to be Replaced More Often?
1. Spindles and Spindle Bushings
These are the most frequently replaced picker components that farmers and rebuilders need to replace. This is because during operation they are rotating at high speeds. Spindles will be required to be replaced if they are rusted, dull, or broke.
2. Doffers and Moistener pads
These parts come into contact with the spindles while they are rotating at high-speeds, and as a result, they wear and decrease in thickness, thus requiring replacement at the correct service intervals.
3. Cam Rollers
They are required to be maintained and replaced regularly to ensure that they run without any vibration and correctly guide the spindles in the bar assembly, which run at close tolerances, to prevent picker bar breakage.
4. Cam Track
This part is responsible for ensuring that the spindles, drums, doffers, and the moistener pads work together optimally in the picking system by maintaining the speed and running angle. They should therefore be replaced at the appropriate intervals to avoid unnecessary fires erupting in the picker.
5. Belts
Some responsibilities of the Belts are: turning the engine fans, water pumps, A/C compressor, and the fan rotor. Therefore, they should be regularly checked or replaced to ensure the cotton picker machine does not fail.
What Standard Tools are Required to Replace Parts?
A Cotton picker is a crucial machine, and its parts are not just replaced anyhow using all types of tools. The parts or components are usually replaced using specific professional tools that may come with the machine itself.
The professional tools are each specific to every part of the cotton picker. For example, the spindle has its specific tool which you can use to replace it.
Which Specialty Tools are Needed & Why?
The professional tools that are used are designed for each application, as each part has its replacement tool. Some of the unique tools needed for the repair are Bar Leveling Gauges, Cam track timing Gauges, and Spindle Nut Sockets. These tools are specifically designed to enhance the overall performance of the picker. The picker cannot work without these tools as they help maintain the various components in the picker.
A cotton harvester is a complex mechanical machine that every Cotton farmer must possess as it maximizes the yield potential, and the time it takes to harvest, unlike when you are using hands to pick the cotton. A farmer should not be worried if the parts fail as Certi-Pik, USA has a large variety of the required components that you will need for your repair.
If you rely on heavy machinery on a regular basis, then you need to make sure that these machines work. There are countless people who work in the farming and agricultural businesses and depend on their equipment to keep their customers happy, pay their bills, and put food on the table.
Sadly, difficulties in meeting these needs can arise from time to time and this could involve a cotton picker. When this happens, what are people supposed to do to find a replacement part for their machine?
One of the most popular cotton pickers that people use today is the John Deere Cotton Picker. This John Deere product is known for its reliability, its power, and its durability. At the same time, no machine is perfect, and the John Deere Cotton Picker can have issues from time to time.
When this takes place, everyone wants to make sure that they get their John Deere Cotton Picker back up and running as quickly as possible. The good news is that there are multiple options from which to choose when it comes to finding replacement parts for a John Deere Cotton Picker.
Purchase Replacement Parts Directly from John Deere for Cotton Pickers
The first option that everyone thinks about when it comes to replacement parts for a John Deere Cotton Picker involves going to your John Deere dealer. There are several benefits of contacting your local dealer for replacement components. Some of the biggest pros include:
Because the parts for the John Deere Cotton Picker are coming directly from John Deere, everyone knows that the parts are going to work as expected.
Furthermore, by contacting your John Deere Dealer for replacement components for your John Deere Cotton Picker, the components are going to be new, meaning that they will have the life expectancy of a new part.
John Deere is the expert on their own products, including the John Deere Cotton Picker, so they are going to be able to help people find the parts they need.
On the other hand, there are also several drawbacks to going to John Deere for mechanical replacement components as well. Some of the biggest drawbacks that everyone must note include:
By going to John Deere for replacement parts, it is possible that the sales team might try to upsell the customer to purchase extra components that they might not actually need.
It is possible that John Deere might have moved on to newer models and they might not make components for the older models anymore.
By going with new components from John Deere, the cost will be incredibly expensive, which could place people under a significant amount of financial stress.
These are the most important pros and cons that everyone must note when they are looking at John Deere for replacement components for the John Deere Cotton Picker. The good news is that there are other options available as well for those who are looking for replacement parts for the John Deere Cotton Picker.
The Option of Used or Salvaged Replacement Parts for Cotton Pickers
Another option that people might want to consider if they are looking for replacement components for the John Deere Cotton Picker is going with used components. Also called salvaged parts, these are components that have been used in the past and are now looking for a new home. Like the other options, it is important to weigh the pros and cons. Some of the benefits of going with used parts for the John Deere Cotton Picker include:
Because the components are used, they are going to be significantly less expensive.
Because all the parts are used, there is a much lower risk of someone being sold parts that they do not need.
There could be options from other brands or models that might work well with your John Deere Cotton Picker, opening new doors.
Some of the main drawbacks of going with used components for the John Deere Cotton Picker include:
Because the components have been used in the past, they may have also malfunctioned in the past, which means that they might do so again.
Used parts are almost always going to have a shorter lifespan, so people might find themselves in the same spot again soon.
If people buy components from another model, they might not be able to use them for their John Deere Cotton Picker.
It is important for everyone to carefully consider these benefits and drawbacks when they are looking for replacement pieces of the John Deere Cotton Picker. By thinking carefully about where the components are going to come from and how they are going to be used in the John Deere Cotton Picker, everyone is able to find the right components to get their Picker back up and running.
Look for the Top Aftermarket Parts for John Deere Cotton Pickers
In the end, the John Deere Cotton Picker is one of the most reliable cotton pickers on the market today. At the same time, no machine is perfect, and people might end up looking for replacement parts for the John Deere Cotton Picker. The two options are new and used parts. Both have their benefits and drawbacks; however, those who are looking to save money should consider going with parts for the John Deere Cotton Picker from aftermarket suppliers.
That is where we can help. At Certi-Pik, we take great pride in products we provide for John Deere, and Case IH cotton pickers, which sometimes exceeds the expectations of an OEM product. If you are looking for new replacement parts for your Picker, then we are here to help you.
We are ready to listen to your concerns and figure out which parts you need to get your machine back up and running. Count on us to get your John Deere Cotton Picker back into the fields for the next cotton harvest! Contact us today!
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.
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!
While harvesting losses are common, and in some cases out of your control, making sure that your cotton picker is in top shape is one way to ensure that you are able to produce a high enough yield to offset some of this loss. In order to do this, you will need to invest in high-quality cotton picker parts to buoy the type of efficiency needed to get that maximum yield. Here is a list of just a few of the parts you can target to improve the effectiveness of your cotton picker:
Spindles: The spindles are critical to efficient cotton picker performance, making the investment in high-quality versions a necessity. Because they are used so frequently in normal day-to-day operations, it is necessary that you use spindles that have been heat-treated so that they have the durability and strength needed to withstand high usage during the harvesting season.
Lubricant: One of the simplest ways to improve the operation of your cotton picker is to make sure that all of its moving parts remain sufficiently lubricated. Without proper lubrication, the internal parts will eventually begin grinding against each other, leading to detrimental wear and tear and causing the parts to deteriorate much faster than they otherwise would. In addition to helping to extend the life of the parts, making sure there is enough lubrication can also provide protection against premature corrosion and rusting.
Brush kit: The rotary brush is responsible for keeping the roller belt free of excessive cotton buildup, directly affecting how efficient your picker will be. In addition to making sure that the brush itself is still in good condition, you will also want to make sure you have a brush kit to keep the area clear for optimal picking.
Doffers: Standard tractor doffers are made of rubber material. Making the switch to urethane doffers will not only offer extended shelf life, but will also help to maximize efficiency, with fewer doffer column adjustments needed and a much cleaner pick.
Moistening system: In order for all of these moving parts to remain clear so that they can continue to get the job done, the moistening system must be able to efficiently keep the spindles clean. It is very easy for the spindles to get junked up while completing this integral task, hindering the overall efficiency of the picker.
When you are in need of top-of-the-line replacement cotton picker parts from the best brands in the industry, make sure to contact the team at Certi-Pik, USA. Whether you are on the hunt for a specialty part to complete a rebuild, or you are looking for a standard part to keep your machine running, you can rely on our team to provide you with the high-quality cotton picker replacement parts needed for another successful harvesting season. With more than 30 years of experience, we are well versed in a wide range of various cotton picker makes and models. Give us a call today to learn more about our extensive inventory!
