old time BTO

Anonymous-0 · Feb 4, 2014

All this talk about the big guys makes me think of when I was a kid. BTOs around here had a pair of 4020s or if there were really stepping in tall cotton they had one with a M+W turbo. Sure did enjoy the sound of a juiced up 4020 or 806. I miss a tractor working in each 80 acre feild you would pass.On a nice sunny spring day, mile after mile of tractors of every color. Now one big tractor works all that ground in an afternoon. Am I alone, or does anyone else miss seeing all the action? Big iron is fun to watch, but not like seeing all those small farms racing to get the crop in on time. Here it was common to see the empty seed bags over fence posts, or a pile of bags burnning at the end of the field. The new BTOs dont even buy seed in bags.

farmerwithmutt · Feb 4, 2014

so true i couldnt say it better and now if things get bad how many are going to take over . i remember an article comparing russia to other east european countrys it was about coming from communism to free enterprise .russia had factory farms and all govt control no middle class and it seems to be true russia is still struggling where other east europe countrys are not

Straw Boss · Feb 4, 2014

I remember when a BTO was someone with air conditioning in his tractor cab or oh my gawd he's got a tandem axle truck!

Wheat Farmer · Feb 4, 2014

This was taken in about 1952. Big rain 3 miles south of our place at planting time, so neighbor came up and help Dad plant and then they went down and planted the neighbors once dry. Everyone thought they became BTO. Ha Ha In that 3 miles you would see about 7 tractors now maybe 2-3.

John_PA · Feb 4, 2014

It's been at least 20 years since I have heard a tractor across the tree lines.

I'm the last guy.

It was fun to watch other guys farming, and it was even more fun to see one guy get out there on his tractor, and even if the other guys weren't ready to plant, they would rush out there so that the first guy didn't get ahead of them! LOL

Once in a while, one guy would sneak out and get something done when others thought the ground wasn't ready. He had bragging rights for the year, and if his stuff didn't do as well, everyone would say, "oh he got in a rush, he shouldn't have gone out there." If his stuff would do better, everyone would say, "Oh it was just luck, he took a big chance going out there." LOL no matter what he did, he was wrong!

Anonymous-0 · Feb 4, 2014

Wonderful thought. Hard working, self-employed, hundreds upon hundreds of small business owners. Pitching in to help each other when needed without a thought of consolidation. Pride in helping neighbors. So many guys you'd be lucky to know all the farmers in your township let alone counties over.

Larry NEIL · Feb 4, 2014

Sure havecome a long way in my lifetime. The Grampa on the farm behind us planted and cut hay with horses 'til about 1949 or 1950. They did the tilling with an Oliver 70 on tip-to steel and I loved to watch them. It was big news when they got a 4 row oliver planter!
The guy across Salt creek was an elected state legislator and used 2 Farmall M's hooked together while pulling 2 10' discs with harrows behind. Nobody around liked Him much as he was an onery cuss!
Seems to me that they worked that gound to death with discs and then harrows....long time ago...but I loved watching those tip-toe wheels sparkling in the sun!

Phil in Pa · Feb 5, 2014

I miss it. A warm, sunny Saturday looked a lot different here 40 years ago than it does today. First BTO that started taking over our valley had a TR70, that was a pretty impressive machine in the late 70's.
The farm I worked on had an MF1100 for a big tractor. The BTO used one of those for a spray tractor.

Bret4207 · Feb 5, 2014

You don't see a lot of it up here either. The BTO's are impressive to watch with their huge new equipment, but the numbers are in the Amish. Every farm you go by you'll see whole families out on the land prepping the ground, kids picking rocks, Mom and the girls working the garden, etc. The few small guys like me you don't see anymore it seems.

rrlund · Feb 5, 2014

I guess you'd say my uncle was one. He had this big Oliver with duals when most around here were still farming with horses. When he moved up to an 88 diesel it was the biggest tractor around here. He went to a 4010 Deere in 61. That was quite a tractor in its day. He was farming around 1000 acres with that one. He bought a 4020 a few years later,had a turbo,cab and duals put on it. Nobody else had anything like it. When the Case 1200 four wheel drive came out he got one of those.
Quite the BTO in his day.

At the other end of the spectrum,the uncle who's actually pictured on the tractor never owned more than one tractor at a time. He had an 8N Ford for a long time,then a Massey Ferguson 35,had a Ford 3000 from there up until he passed away. He had a 67 acre farm,milked 6-8 cows and never even rented any other ground.

DeltaRed · Feb 5, 2014

When I was a young man full of 'fuzz',I used to dream of someday becoming a BTO. No more.Today I would be very happy with a couple hundred acres or so.Just enough to make a liveing on.Dont need (or want) any of that big new equipment.

GeneMO · Feb 5, 2014

In about 1966 or 67 we borrowed my uncles new 806 to pull a big Rome disk to reseed a bunch of old pastures. They had put duals on it, and a straight pipe. It was a gas burner. Neighbor boy came over to buy some feeder pigs and my dad was out behind the barn with the rig. I can still see the expression on the neighbors face as he was awed by the size and sound of that almost new 806.

Yep, times sure have changed, but then they always do.

Gene

rrlund · Feb 5, 2014

Yep,I had my wings clipped by the mid 80s. Worked too hard and long for next to nothing digging myself out of that hole to ever risk sticking my neck out again. As long as I can buy groceries and keep the house warm,I'm farming enough.

mb58 · Feb 5, 2014

Yea. I still remember how there used to be a lot of 150 to 300 acre farms around when I was a kid back in the 60"s. Nearly every make of tractor could be seen in my area. Predominately though, it was John Deere 4020"s and IH 806"s, but Massey Ferguson 165"s were popular too with the smaller farmers of that day. Cotton was king. Soybeans were queen and almost everyone had a few head of beef cattle. Four row equipment dominated with just a very few older farmers still using 2 row stuff. Its all changed now. At one time there were seven tractor dealerships in our town of 5000 people. Only the JD dealership survives in this area with the nearest Case/IH being 35 miles away. The rest all gone. Now it"s BTO"s only with 12 row implements and 3000 to 10,000 acre farms. Corn and beans only. Cotton is long gone. I sure miss the old days.

Frank 41 · Feb 5, 2014

I farmed some land starting in 1970 that a family sold that two brothers farmed. In the 50s and 60s, they used Ms and a 720. In later years they got 4020 and a 8 row planter but they farmed 1800 acres in a 20 mile radius and they had enough time to drink.

old time BTO

Anonymous-0

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farmerwithmutt

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Straw Boss

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Wheat Farmer

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John_PA

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Anonymous-0

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Larry NEIL

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Phil in Pa

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Bret4207

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rrlund

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DeltaRed

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GeneMO

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rrlund

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mb58

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Frank 41

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