[AT] OT I'm getting older are you? (Really O) corn sheller

[drupert at seanet.com]

>> In the early 50s we had a MM sheller mounted on Diamond T 2Ton truck.
>> IT had a 2 speed rear axel. We rigged a block on a hinge on the vacuum
>> shifter so we could flip over and block the axel from shifting into
>> high gear.                                     Then then we put a 2"
>> solid shaft in the drive line right behind the cab about 2'long
>> mounted on 2 pillow block  bearings with a pulley mounted between
>> them. Then we put a belt up to the pulley on the sheller with
>> tightener so that when we got ready to shell we could flip block over,
>> tighten the belt, shift the rear end into high an we were ready to go.
>> We had the pulleys sized so the engine ran about 40 miles / hour when
>> the seller was at operating speed.  When we were ready to hit the road
>> we loosened the belt, fliped the block and we were off.
>>
>> WE shelled several thousand bu. corn over several years and it worked
>> great.
>>
>> Farmerbeal
>>

Farmerbeal,

I am curious ... why did you shell the corn?  Was it because it had to be
in order to sell it commercially (like say at a Grain Elevator) or because
in order to feed it out you wanted it shelled or?

That's an interesting description of how you powered the sheller.  I am
not sure I got the purpose of the block.  Was it to make sure the rear
axle would not accidently engage while shelling?  If so, does that mean
the 2-speed rear axle had a neutral in it?

Thanks for the reply -
Dudley