Corn binder tongue length

[Mike Rock]

I have a problem. I just put a new tongue on my IHC corn binder and am afraid it is too short. It is fifteen feet long. I am afraid that the distance from the neck yoke to the single trees is such that the horses might hit the gathering points when stepping out.

What is the correct distance from the rear of the tongue to the double tree pin, or the entire tongue length. Last thing I need is a runaway corn binder…..with me on it.

Mike

[Plowboy]

I’ll have to measure mine to be sure. It would depend on the size of your horses and their stride also. Standard from the tip is 9’6″ from neck yoke stop to evener pin which is roughly 10ft leaving you 5ft from evener pin to frame socket. My evener pin hole falls between the two horizontal bolts from the frame brace but mine is set up for 3 so the evener gives me a few more inches to get them away from the gathering points. We just restored ours a couple yrs ago and everything is fairly fresh except the tongue overall length.I do remember our Amish equipment repair/parts dealer has them sawed out special for corn binders because they can stand to be a little longer than on a reaper/binder. I’ll throw a tape on it in the next couple days and see what Stanley says for sure!

[Mike Rock]

Thank you. The horses stand well between the 9’6″ pin to pin distance but their heels are too darned close to the points. I can see why your dealer friend cut the tongues longer. Looks like that is in the cards….right after I installed the first tongue 🙁

Mike

[Simple Living]

Interesting post that raises a couple of questions in my mind. Is the length of a corn binder pole as critical as it is on a mower? And, not knowing what “type” of horses you are using, was the original pole made for the older “chunk” draft, or more of the modern hitch horse that would maybe have a longer body and longer stride?

Gordon

[mitchmaine]

good question, gordon. i broke my mower pole this summer and it was mccormick made factory pole built for that mower sometime before 1950 is a good guess. 9.5 feet pin to pin and a tight fit on my horses. on breast snaps, they sometimes laid into the yoke while hooked short to the evener with no adjustment left. i asked lynn miller what he thought and he gave me the same answer you just wondered about. so i put another foot on my pole and have room to spare although now its harder to keep the pole height where the books say. and that could be fixed with donn hewws caster wheel for the front of the mower. height would be fixed and problem solved. anyway just some thoughts on the subject. we’ve never owned or run a corn picker.

[Plowboy]

Corn binders have adjustment to raise and lower the cutting height with a lever. The angle is not as critical as with a mower and the tongue height on a mower is for lubrication purposes. There is probably more variables between 14 h Haflingers and 18.2 Belgians or Percherons than adding a foot of length on your tongue on a mower. I’ll try and run a tape down the tongue tomorrow if my day isn’t too crazy.

[mitchmaine]

the height on the mower pole is about getting the cutter bar up and ahead for proper lead and registration. actually the higher it is the less lubrication you get at the pitman bearing.
didn’t mean to get this thread away from the binder. sorry

[Mike Rock]

Last night I got the answer from Norm Macknair, 16 feet. I had mis-measured or mis-heard my friend whom I got the tongue from and thought it was 15 feet, when it was only 14 feet. That gave me a sure enough 2 feet too short tongue and the danger of horse feet in the gathering points was all too real. Brought over Jake for a reality check and his feet were almost to the points when standing.

More discussion on tongues is sure welcome, binders to mowers to discs and more….have at it!!

Mike

[Plowboy]

Yes 16ft just measured mine yesterday.
Mitch lead and register has nothing to do with tongue height. The optimum height of the end of the tongue which I believe the McD manual has at 31 inches was said to keep the oil level in the gear box level for optimum lubrication of all parts. If it has severely low I guess you may have trouble with your guards being tipped down. An 87 yr old friend clips pastures with a #9 and 14h Haflingers with no trouble though. The 31 inches was the optimum guidline but some variation is acceptable. Severely tall horses may not let much oil to the pitman bearing but would have to be very tall I think.

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