Author	[Modern View]
John B. 03-21-2013 04:29:44 38.114.64.166 Report to Moderator	Hay season will soon be here! [Reply]   [No Email]
SweetFeet 03-22-2013 03:54:31 70.35.103.74 Report to Moderator	Re: Picture for Today in reply to John B., 03-21-2013 04:29:44   John B., Really interesting photos. Looks like a tall fall if the horses in the first photo decided to bolt. [Reply]  [No Email]
showcrop 03-21-2013 11:19:05 75.67.231.80 Report to Moderator	Re: Picture for Today in reply to John B., 03-21-2013 04:29:44   My mother drove the horse that pulled the rope for the hay fork. There were two that they would use and they were big enough that it took only one. Any way, the one horse she didn't mind the job with that one as it was intelligent and knew what to do. The other one she didn't get along with so well. It wasn't so smart, and was not good with it's feet, so my mother had to be on her toes or else the horse would be too. [Reply]  [No Email]
LA in WI 03-21-2013 10:35:07 64.251.222.158 Report to Moderator	Re: Picture for Today in reply to John B., 03-21-2013 04:29:44   I remember my grandfather putting up "loose hay" that way (it was called that to avoid confusion with the new fangled baled hay some people had). He drove the team of horses used on the rope to lift the hay into the mow. You can barely see it, but the farmer on the load is holding the "trip rope", letting it flow thru his hands until the hay fork trolley got far enuf into the hay mow...guys in the hay mow would yell when the trolley got to the target area, the guy holding the trip rope gave it a jerk and the hay was dropped. The driver on the pulling team would see that and turn around and go back to his starting point for the next trip. The guy on the wagon would pull the trolley back out (not easy because he is also pulling that heavy rope back to the barn) and then it would release the hay forks and they would fall down to the wagon for reload. One time I saw that man holler "OK" to the team driver to start the lift and he didn"t get his fingers out of the way quick enuf and got them severely squeezed by the rope passing thru the big wooden pulley, making him yell "Stop! Stop!" to the driver. I can still see him in my mind...he was wincing badly and he slowly pulled off a glove and I saw those bloody fingers squeezed into narrow points. I don"t remember him going to the doctor, in those days they probably bandaged the fingers up with a torn bed sheet, cut the roll of tape to hold the bandage, and let him sit in the shade for a while. Sometimes, as the hay started the trip upwards the man on the wagon would accidently be standing on the trip rope (it would be coiled everywhere)and that tripped the hay forks, resulting in a big cascade of hay falling down on him and him scrambling like mad to get out of the way and trying not to fall off the wagon. Haying could be dangerous work, but not as risky as getting hands caught in the new fangled corn pickers while the pto was running. Many a man in farming communities had fingers and thumbs missing. Insurance for that???? Surely you jest. LA in WI [Reply]  [No Email]
gtractorfan 03-21-2013 13:04:07 71.66.229.3 Report to Moderator	Re: Picture for Today in reply to LA in WI, 03-21-2013 10:35:07   When I was a kid before dad got a baler we had a "buckrake". It was an altered truck with a large set of wood tines on back. When you brought a pile of loose hay to the barn there was a set of "slings" on the barn floor that had a trip in the middle so the two halves would separate. To get the pile of hay off the slings dad or a grownup helper would stand with his feet between the tines after they were lowered and the buckrake driver would pull ahead briskly. After the buckrake was out of the way the two lifting ends of the sling had to be hooked together- meaning someone had to crawl over the pile of hay and it was ready to be pulled up. We used a tractor, not horses. The person in the mow tripped the slings, the rope was long enough so the end was out from under. Back then we didn't think about taking pictures, wish we had some. [Reply]  [No Email]
LA in WI 03-21-2013 17:09:20 64.251.222.158 Report to Moderator	Re: Picture for Today in reply to gtractorfan, 03-21-2013 13:04:07   gtractorfan, What part of the country was the method used that you described? I never heard of that method before. LA in WI [Reply]  [No Email]
ohiojim 03-21-2013 09:55:06 50.126.220.130 Report to Moderator	Re: Picture for Today in reply to John B., 03-21-2013 04:29:44   the part about keeping the tractor away from the material to keep from starting a fire must not have mattered to those people,.. that tractor is sitting on the pile .... [Reply]  [No Email]
Walt Davies 03-21-2013 09:03:55 70.199.224.70 Report to Moderator	Re: Picture for Today in reply to John B., 03-21-2013 04:29:44   My wife talks about feeding the wire though to the guy who tied them on a stationary baler. Moms 87 so you know about when that was. Walt [Reply]  [No Email]
37Chief 03-21-2013 08:12:51 68.8.206.100 Report to Moderator	Re: Picture for Today in reply to John B., 03-21-2013 04:29:44   Nice pictures. I can relate to the stationary baler. When I was young I got to poke wires to the other guy on the other side to tie them. I think I had a box or something to sit on. Stan [Reply]  [No Email]
Wheat Farmer 03-21-2013 07:20:45 174.22.134.211 Report to Moderator	Re: Picture for Today in reply to John B., 03-21-2013 04:29:44   First photo. I still have a pulley/gear box with a short peace of track that lifted the hay up. Second photo. Our stacker was a big arm that lifted the load up and over the stack. I don't remember what that type was called. ???? That was my first job as a kid driving the team that lift the load. When I messed up, Granddad would say the horses are smarter than the kid. $8.00 a day for a long day. [Reply]  [No Email]
Dick2 03-21-2013 09:52:23 67.40.74.71 Report to Moderator	Re: Picture for Today in reply to Wheat Farmer, 03-21-2013 07:20:45   It was my first job; I drove the team that pulled the hay up and over onto the stack - when I was 6 years old. The horses knew the job better than I did; I mostly just carried the lines back and forth. You got paid?? I don't remember ever getting a nickel, but I got to eat good. [Reply]  [No Email]
S2710 03-21-2013 15:54:25 98.143.227.89 Report to Moderator	Re: Picture for Today in reply to Dick2, 03-21-2013 09:52:23   I had the same job when I was about 8 but I had to sit on the horses back. I thought I was doing somethine great but the horse was listening to Grandpa not me. I now know that they put me on the back of the horse so that I would not get in the way and get hurt. Good memories. Bob [Reply]  [No Email]
dcarp 03-21-2013 06:26:38 166.137.156.144 Report to Moderator	Re: Picture for Today in reply to John B., 03-21-2013 04:29:44   Great pictures. Guess those were taken back when it actually rained. I got a question about the belt-driven implements, why were the belts so long? I know there has to be a good reason but I'm a little too slow to know it. [Reply]  [No Email]
Walt Davies 03-21-2013 09:10:52 70.199.224.70 Report to Moderator	Re: Picture for Today in reply to dcarp, 03-21-2013 06:26:38   Also the long belts could be flipped to change direction of the driven item. Walt [Reply]  [No Email]
Harvey 2 03-21-2013 06:54:32 74.128.149.135 Report to Moderator	Re: Picture for Today in reply to dcarp, 03-21-2013 06:26:38   One reason the belts were long, is to get the tractor away from the hay stack or straw stack so the heat won't catch the material on fire, and the other reason is, longer the belt the more pressure is put on the pulleys and the reduction of slippage is greatly increased [Reply]  [No Email]
Mo in NE Tx 03-21-2013 07:38:13 71.96.141.230 Report to Moderator	Re: Picture for Today in reply to Harvey 2, 03-21-2013 06:54:32   They were also long to generate a more even energy to the baler, sort of like having a huge fly-wheel on the old hit&miss engines. [Reply]  [No Email]
dcarp 03-21-2013 07:35:32 166.137.156.171 Report to Moderator	Re: Picture for Today in reply to Harvey 2, 03-21-2013 06:54:32   Thanks, Harvey2. Question answered. I thought the distance might be one factor. Didn't think about increased belt tension though. That's why YT is such a great place, the combined sum of knowledge is limitless. [Reply]  [No Email]
Dick2 03-21-2013 05:38:33 67.40.74.71 Report to Moderator	Re: Picture for Today in reply to John B., 03-21-2013 04:29:44   My Grandpa designed and patented a much more substantial overshot stacker than the one in the middle picture. He was living in Iowa at the time; JD heard about it and bought the patent and his prototype, then told him that he couldn't make another one for himself - he had to buy it from JD as they now owned the patent. When he moved to ND in 1918, he figured JD wouldn't found out about it so he made one for himself, one for my Dad and one for my uncle. They were all used until Dad bought a Case hand-tie wire baler in 1946. [Reply]  [No Email]
Gordy in Mn 03-21-2013 05:05:13 74.36.133.254 Report to Moderator	Re: Picture for Today in reply to John B., 03-21-2013 04:29:44   Brings back a lot of memories. Thanks for the pictures. Gordy [Reply]  [No Email]