corn dryer?

[jebeccar]

My papa found this piece somewhere at an auction, and believes it to be a seed corn dryer.  We cannot find any information on it, and I can't find anything like it online.  I have found the hanging dryers, but nothing like this.  I am sorry for the picture quality, but it's all I have for now.  So does anyone agree that's what this is, or has seen one before?  Any info would be appreciated!

[waywardangler]

Interesting item.  I can't imagine anyone using one of these unless it was drying corn for seed.  I wonder how long it takes to stick cobs on all the spikes?

[cogar]

I can’t imagine anyone using something like that for drying any type of regular size corn “on the cob”. First of all, it would be very labor intensive. Secondly, if one wants to “hang” the ear of corn so the seed will “air dry” it it much easier to pull the shucks back over the base end of the cob, tie two or more cobs together and hang them on a nail or over a wire. That’s the typical way to dry Indian Corn (the multi-colored corn).

If one put regular sized ears of corn on the one pictured it would hold about 30 dozen ears or about 7 bushel and would “weigh a ton”.

I will concede the fact that one could use the pictured device for “drying” the ruby red ears of Strawberry Popcorn because the ears are only 2” to 3” long. There is also a White Popcorn with ears only 4” long. To wit: http://www.stclareseeds.com/corn.html

My Grandmother use to dry apples by peeling, coreing, slicing and threading the pieces on a long string and hanging them up to dry.

[sapphire]

Found this 1927 patent for similar....

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/1638651.pdf
 

[sapphire]

If either of these guys are still reachable, they might be able to fill in a lot of info.

"Bob Overmohle wants to learn more about his unnamed two-hole sheller. Contact by telephone at (712) 792-2032; or write to Box 525, Carroll, 1A 51401.

Oscar 'Hank' Will III is an old-iron collector and freelance writer who retired from farming in 1999 and from academia in 1996. He splits his time between his home in Gettysburg, Pa., and his farm in East Andover, N.H. Write Hank at 243 W. Broadway, Gettysburg, PA 17325; (717) 337-6068; e-mail:  willo@gettysburg.edu"


Taken from this article in The Farm Collector (Aug. 2004)

http://www.farmcollector.com/Equipment/Bushels-of-Fun.aspx

[cogar]

Found this 1927 patent for similar....

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/1638651.pdf
 

Sapphire, I was looking over the drawings on that referenced patent and decided that it being a circular shaped dryer with double-ended spikes ..... then it would have been a "tricky" act to place the ears of corn on the "inside" pointing spikes.

Maybe those "seed corn dryers" were used by Universities or Research organizations.

And from your 2nd post, to wit:

"Bob Overmohle wants to learn more about his unnamed two-hole sheller.

Now I have seen and owned quite a few hand-cranked "corn shellers" and one "cornmeal grinder" but I'm not sure what he means by a "two-hole sheller". It might be a small power-driven one.

[sapphire]

cogar, I was wondering if the spacing between bars allows enough room to place the ears on both spikes then
fit it over the bars. The only other references/pics I found were mostly long shafts with spikes on either side,
likely meant for hanging over the kitchen stove. Then on to the more modern flat racks presumably used in a
dehydrator type set up

[KC]

Makes me wonder what the end looks like....could it be used like a "spit" and rotate above a heat source?

Sounds like a major hot dog roast to me! 

[waywardangler]

I'm thinking marshmallows for s'mores. 

[hosman321]

I just ate s'mores.

[regularjoe2]

Thanks for posting your item , jebeccar .

I'm going to add my conjecture , such as it is .....

I'd guess that this unit sat on a base/metal cabinet that had a fan & a heat source & was possibly enclosed or ducted with sheet metal .
When fully loaded , I think the damp corn would have far too much moisture to be simply air-dried .
The unit would seem a bit ungainly , when fully loaded with freshly-picked (even slightly field-dried) corn , to just lift it up into/onto something manually without some help .
Looks like it could dry a buncha corn , though .
It does present an operator the unique option to dry 2 different varieties of corn together (i/s & o/s) without confusing the two ....

I have not seen a corn dryer with the same nomenclature as yours before .
So far nothing on-line looks like it either .

I also thought like KC mentioned , that it would be a great rack to cook corn on (esp. steaming) .

I am curious to know what type of auction this item was purchased at , though (farm , equipment , metals & etc. ?) .

[talesofthesevenseas]

Could it have been used to dry beef jerky or to smoke other meats? Here are images of a couple of antique meat smokers. Clearly these are of a different design, but it looks like this might have been used for the same purpose, but on a much larger scale, for smaller strips of meat like jerky or bacon:

[fancypants]

One more reflection on this old post .... saw an item very sim to this , advertised as a 'bottle-sterilizer' rack .

Who knows ....

not me , obviously !

[KC]

Down in my neck o the woods bottle drying racks are the rage!!!!!   Don't know what everyone is doing with them but designers can't get enough of them.  Many are imported!  AND now there are lots of knock offs.  Just haven't seen any hung!
There are smaller and tabletop sizes


There are ones tall enough that stand on the ground.  The range down south from $45 - $200