There where some of the hock type heads here in the early shackers. But once the scissors heads with more shacking power was seen everyone wanted the bigger better head.


The boom and controls on the TD 14 in the pictures came off a IH cassis OMC built shacker. I believe the head may have had newer parts added to improve the shacking action. I think the pictured TD 14 just left the yard yesterday to start the season here. Columbus day was always looked at as about the right time to start walnut harvest here. In the old days several early birds always tried to push the starting date, but if hulls are not split you waste a lot of nuts.

Up here we start a little later, I usually figure I should be shaking just before Halloween, start picking a few days later. But it seems things are changing, we used to have a little rain and cold weather to help loosen the hulls up a bit. Last few years no rain at all, this week in the 90s all week. A little moisture would be good but I remember years my Dad would really struggle to finish the harvest because of so much rain. One year, must have been late sixties, he didn’t finish until early in December, slipping and sliding the TD6 up and down the mountain hauling sacks out on a wooden sled. Way too muddy for the trailer.