DO YOU REMEMBER????

G

gitrib

Member

• May 1, 2013

• #1

Do you remeber how many acres of corn could be planted in a day back in the days of team and two row planter setting check wire 42 inch rows. I cannot remember but know my father always had a special team because they walked steady and fast and do remember the klik-klik of the check wire. Lets assume they were eighty rod rows. 10,15,20,acres?????? gitrib

 

S

sd pete

Well-known Member

• May 1, 2013

• #1

This is a guess. Seems like 10 acres would be a long day. Farmers back then were diversified so a whole lot of chores to do also. Now am wondering if a good team and good farmer could get 10 acres. A kid at 65

 

A

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member

• May 1, 2013

• #1

I can't rember for sure as I was just a toddler when dad planted with horses, but I think about 10 acres a day. Not a lot, but with all the morning and evening chores, still made for a long day. I do remember walking bare foot behind him, usually only one round and I was ready to do something else.

 

D

dandeere

Member

• May 1, 2013

• #1

2mph with 126 inchs wide is 2.5 acres per hour if my math is correct. Dan

 

R

rrlund

Well-known Member

• May 1, 2013

• #1

I seem to recollect Dad talking about two guys with hand planters planting 5 acres a day after it was marked.

 

J

JMS/.MN

Well-known Member

• May 1, 2013

• #1

In the 50s Dad used a two row IH planter, with the horse pole replaced with a tractor hitch. Did some check planting. Ten acres between milking and chores was a good day.

 

N

Nebraska Cowman

Well-known Member

• May 1, 2013

• #1

Yeah, I'd think 10 acres would keep you busy moving the wire. If you did not use dry fertilizer you might do a little better. But then you had to stop to milk the cows.

 

M

Mike (WA)

Well-known Member

• May 1, 2013

• #1

I've heard of the check wire system- wire has little nubbins on it to trip the planter, so you get equally spaced hills that you can cultivate both ways.

So did you station a kid at each end, then when you get to the end, they both move the wire over 42 inches while you turn around? Without someone at each end, there would be a lot of walking back and forth involved, I'd think. Or was there some mechanical lash-up to move it remotely?

 

A

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member

• May 1, 2013

• #1

Never seen it done, but Dad mentioned that you only moved the stake over to the unplanted ground on the end where you just finished. Apparently the operator could somehow compensate for the other end or the rows were not exactly straight.

 

B

ben there

Member

• May 1, 2013

• #1

my back reminds me constantly how many acres a day can be planted by hand...too many

 

OP

OP

G

gitrib

Member

• May 1, 2013

• #1

The driver would get off and move the wire at each end the wire had nothing to do with strightness of the corn row only the cross check. It was a real art to keep the row and the cross sheck uniform. Farmers of that era took great pride in a staight row and cross check
gitrib

 

G

gtractorfan

Well-known Member

• May 1, 2013

• #1

I wonder if they ever did 80 rod (quarter mile) fields, that would be a LONG wire. When I was a tyke dad had one of those 2 row planters with a spool of wire on it but he didn't use it after I was around.

 

F

fixerupper

Well-known Member

• May 1, 2013

• #1

I'm 62 and I barely remember dad planting with a wire. Planter was a 490 Deere pulled by the neighbor's SC Case. The SC with the hand clutch and low profile was kind of handy for getting off at each end to work with the wire. Jim

 

M

massey 333

Member

• May 1, 2013

• #1

Dad always said you could do 25A a day,when you had 2 teams to trade off on.

 

R

RAW in

Member

• May 1, 2013

• #1

Dad wire checked when I was a kid, and his fields were 120 rods long. A lot of turning when cross cultivating, as they were only 20 rods wide! Used a C farmall and an F-20 with a hand lift cultivator.

 

P

pete 23

Well-known Member

• May 1, 2013

• #1

I remember dad telling he fell asleep on the planter and woke up when the team stopped at the end. Neighbor wasn't so lucky, he woke up when team was high tailing it across the field. We actually sold a couple of wire check planter, 450A IH, and I had to go out on one as it was skipping now and then. I felt it was the wires fault with having worn buttons as it was always near same spot in field . Of course, being tractor drawn, it wasn't noticed until corn didn't come up in those places. The wire unhooked automatically when you raised planter at the end of field. Then you got off to pull your wire and move it over, and put the wire back into trip mechanism of planter. You could have a half mile of wire but it got a little tricker to keep the check straight on the ends of the fields. I cross cultivated quite a bit of corn with the H and a two row cultivator.

 

I

IlliniJohn

Member

• May 1, 2013

• #1

I called my 87year old father-in-law to ask him - -he remembers helping his Dad plant a 20 acre square field in one day - -got up at 5:00AM to do chores & feed the team, ate breakfast and started planting at 7:00AM. They ate lunch and rested horses at noon, then planted until 6:00PM - always quit at 6:00, then did chores. Finally ate supper at about 8:00PM as sun was going down.

He said he could eat real good in those days - -always took 2 pieces of pie when it was available!!

Regards,
John

 

5

504-1

Member

• May 1, 2013

• #1

Farms were a little smaller too, this place was started as 80ac.

 

B

Bret4207

Well-known Member

• May 2, 2013

• #1

In some of my ag books from the first half of the last century, there are charts giving acres covered per 10 hour day. I don't remember specifically, but I'm sure it's online somewhere.