by Gordy Schultz

This edition of the "Literature Rack" is my 12th issue.  It has been a fun year writing articles on literature for TTT.   I think the literature collecting is growing by the month.   If you watch e-bay literature sales the market is hot for old equipment brochures.  At some recent shows I have attended I have sold more tractor literature and manuals than I have of my farm toy inventory.  I am thinking about expanding my literature library and decreasing my farm toy business.   It will be interesting to see where the market is at this time next year.

One comment I have heard from TTT readers is: "Gordy we like your articles but can you show us something really interesting."   Yes I can.   This month we will like at the unique Hesston 7730 Field Queen.  

I found out about this model through Brian Sharp at the 2003 National Farm Toy Show.  I was telling Brian about a 1/64 farm display that I am building.  I want to make two 1/64 Hesston Field Queen self propelled forage harvesters for the display.   If you have not heard of the Hesston Field Queen, it was Hesston's self propelled forage harvester in the 1970's and 1980's.  The early models came in industrial yellow and letter models came in Fiat Terracotta Red.   Hesston held a unique place in the chopper market in that they offered a regular spout model to fill forage boxes and a power unit dump box model. 

Brian asked me if I had ever heard of the Hesston 7730 Hesston Field Queen?  I told him no.  Brian also sells literature in addition to his toy business.   In his collection he had the literature piece you see below.   It is the 1984 Hesston 4wd 7730 Field Queen.  What I find particularly interesting about this model is that has the same specifications as the Pixall Fresh Vegetable Big Jack Harvester.

I lived in Wisconsin all of my life.  It is best known as the land of dairy cows.  Although our mild climate also is very good for raising canning crops like peas, snap beans and sweet corn.  During the 1980's I worked on canning crop harvest crews running FMC pea harvesters and Byron Sweet Corn Pickers.  My work with these harvester lead to my interesting in collecting literature on them.  Another big brand in veggie harvesting is Pixall based in Clear Lake Wisconsin.  In 1982 Pixall developed an articulated 4wd harvester called the Big Jack.   When you raise canning crops you have a schedule you must meet.  Rain or shine the cannery wants your crop on a pre-determined day.  If the company wants 15 loads on harvest day , then the farmer must haul in 15 loads no matter what.  Pixall's Big Jack was designed to harvest green beans, sweet corn, sugar snap peas and  seed corn.  The Big Jack has set the standard for harvest mutability with four full-time mechanical 4wd wheels.  The pivot steering allows the Big Jack to operate a 4wd tractor, allowing for precise steering, better crop recovery in the wettest mud holes, reduced compaction and improved traction over rear steer harvesters.

Hesston 7730 Self Propelled Forage Harvester Reading over the Hesston 7730 literature it looks like this why Hesston teamed up with Pixall in the hay and forage market.  Dairy farms like vegetable farms have a narrow harvest window on forage crops.  Corn especially has a limited time to be chopped green before its green juices recede in the fall frost.  Hesston modified the Pixall Big Jack to harvest hay and corn like never before.  The articulated 4wd frame allowed the 7730 to be more responsive that the traditional self-propelled choppers of the day.  With an articulated chopper the operator to harvest 100% of a muddy field, harvest efficiently at lower speeds in tangled hay or muddy fields and the rear wheels follow the front wheels so the machine is not climbing out of multiple ruts.   The 7730 offered the traditional silage spout for filling trucks and silage wagons.   A farmer could also order a mounted dump box version of the 7730.   The dump box 7730 could hold 500 cubic inches of silage and could be ordered with right side or left side unloading.   The box model was ideal for reducing compaction in the field by keeping trucks on the roadside as the box carries the load.   The 7730 box model also was ideal for opening up fields and cutting point row areas.  Hesston 7730 SPFH Dump Box Pixall Big Jack Cart Loader Pixall Big Jack Dump Box Hesston 7730 SPFH Silage Wagon Loader