Abstract: A stalk roll for a corn harvester has a first portion including a first material having a first material density, and a second portion including a second material having a second material density. The first density is at least fifty percent greater than the second density, or the first tensile strength is at least fifty percent greater than the second tensile strength. The first portion includes a support portion that engages a drive shaft, a first radial portion extending radially outward from the support portion, a first blade connected to the first radial portion, a second radial portion extending radially outward from the support portion opposite the first radial portion, and a second blade connected to the second radial portion. The first and second blade portions engage a corn stalk. The second portion is positioned between the first radial portion and the second radial portion.

Abstract: A device for husking corn ears is disclosed. The device removes the husks and silks and at the same time avoids substantial damage to the kernels. The device includes a plurality of rollers and drive means which rotate the rollers at selected speeds in selected directions in a selected sequence. A method of husking corn comprising the steps of cutting the butt end off the ear, and positioning the ear between closely spaced rollers rotating in opposite directions to gently remove the husks is also disclosed.

Abstract: A corn husking machine has a hollow cylindrical drum defined by a circumferential wall rotatable about a substantially horizontal longitudinal axis. The drum wall has at least one aperture therethrough which is suitable for unhusked ears of corn to pass through from outside the drum to the hollow interior of the drum. A station is affixed to an interior portion of the drum wall adjacent each aperture and extends into the hollow of the drum. Each station has two elongated rollers positioned side by side, which are rotated in opposite directions, so that at a nip formed by adjacent surfaces of the rollers, husks of unhusked ears of corn passed through the adjacent aperture are seized by the rotating rollers and stripped off the ears and pulled between and through the nip. The husks are collected in a central portion of the hollow of the drum. For husking ears of minicorn, the rollers have a diameter of from 1 cm to 3 cm and are rotated at a speed of from 20 rpm to 250 rpm.