1949 Farming

rusty6 · Dec 19, 2018

For a change I am actually posting a photo with some vintage tractors in it. My uncle Sandy and left on his Cockshutt 30 and my dad on his John Deere D. I'm guessing it at 1949 or 50. My dad started out with a DC4 Case his first year out of the army but upgraded to the D after the first year. My uncle traded the 30 on a Case LA soon after this photo. They only farmed together for a few years before my uncle got into other enterprises like cat skinning clearing land and then trucking.

JD Seller · Dec 19, 2018

Thank you for your time and effort in posting these wonderful pictures/videos.

GreenEnvy · Dec 19, 2018

Interesting on the changing of the brands of tractors between the makes. Grandpa started out with a Cat then went to an IH then JD, then MF, then back to JD.

SVcummins · Dec 19, 2018

It would have been nice to Farm in those days that?s for sure

gab · Dec 19, 2018

I was born in 49, my dad bought a new Farmall M in 48 and still kept a team of horses until probably 53 when he bought a Super C. I think every piece of machinery on the farm back then was IH. Some where around here I think there's a picture of me setting on one of the horses in front of the barn the day they got sold.

Jon Erickson · Dec 19, 2018

Real great vintage pictures! Thank you for posting them here.

rusty6 · Dec 19, 2018

(quoted from post at 21:44:37 12/19/18) Interesting on the changing of the brands of tractors between the makes. Grandpa started out with a Cat then went to an IH then JD, then MF, then back to JD.

Postwar demand for tractors was so high that you took whatever was available first. My dad got a "priority" being a veteran so he got one of the first DC4 Cases that came to the local dealer. He found it a bit less tractor than he needed and traded up to a slightly used "styled" D John Deere. My uncle also found the Cockshutt 30 a little light so he moved on up to the top of the line Case LA.

GreenEnvy · Dec 19, 2018

(quoted from post at 06:18:00 12/20/18)

(quoted from post at 21:44:37 12/19/18) Interesting on the changing of the brands of tractors between the makes. Grandpa started out with a Cat then went to an IH then JD, then MF, then back to JD.

Click to expand...

Postwar demand for tractors was so high that you took whatever was available first. My dad got a "priority" being a veteran so he got one of the first DC4 Cases that came to the local dealer. He found it a bit less tractor than he needed and traded up to a slightly used "styled" D John Deere. My uncle also found the Cockshutt 30 a little light so he moved on up to the top of the line Case LA.

My grandpa started farming in 1943. I don’t know if it was by choice or not but his first tractor was a Cat D4. Then he moved up to an IH TD-14 in 1947.

Philip d · Dec 20, 2018

That?s some serious iron for back in the day Rusty,thank you for sharing!

sms · Dec 20, 2018

Great pictures. We have some really good ones from my maternal grandparents farm I would like to scan and post sometime. More horses then iron.

2underage · Dec 20, 2018

Boy those picture sure do take me back to my youth. I was born in 1933 and life was different then. A little rough but no one knew that back in those days. Thanks for the pictures.

kcm.MN · Dec 20, 2018

Great photo!

Indiana Ken · Dec 20, 2018

.

Nice picture,

Question, I have heard the term "Cat Skinner" before but always wondered just what does it mean?

tomtinker · Dec 20, 2018

Answer: Caterpillar Operator.

Dan in North Houston · Dec 20, 2018

Where I grew up in WV, it was generally taken to mean an experienced bulldozer operator. Curious to hear if it had the same meaning in other parts of the country.

Dan in North Houston · Dec 20, 2018

The comments about a cat skinner brought back something I had not thought about in years. One of my summer jobs back in 1080 or so was laying 2" pipelines to connect gas wells around Marietta, Ohio. We had a dozer operator to cut small right of way through the woods with a JD 350. He was not a very good operator but he sure could brag on his supposed skills. His nick name was Coon Dog and he insisted that we all call him that. After about a week of hearing his boasting, we started calling him Poodle Dog, and then that got shortened to just Poodle. That nickname stuck with him from that point on.

Dan in North Houston · Dec 20, 2018

Typo, it was 1980!

rusty6 · Dec 20, 2018

Yes, cat skinner seems to be a widely used term. Even if it was an Oliver Cletrac or some other make. If it ran on tracks, it was a "cat". I believe my uncle actually did have a cat that he used to do custom land clearing for a few years. Unfortunately no pictures.

CCCHS77 · Dec 20, 2018

(quoted from post at 06:52:58 12/20/18) Answer: Caterpillar Operator.

My grandpa was a "mule skinner" for the county (maintaining roads in Western Kansas) before they got a Cat 60 and then he became a cat skinner!

coshoo · Dec 20, 2018

Dad bought his farm in 1948, the same year I was born. I have recollection of playing on an old Fordson that he had brought from his parent's place, but I don't think it ever ran, and disappeared sometime in my childhood. I do remember him plowing the garden with his team (Tom and Jerry), probably about 1951. He bought a one year old 8N in 1952, and it was the only tractor we ever had. He sold the dairy cows in '61, later sold the farm in parcels in beginning in '71, and retired at age 53.

CGID · Dec 20, 2018

"Mule Skinner" is a reference to the cruelty draft animals had to endure under some of their drivers. Think of whippings to make the animals work and you'll get the idea. It was a different time and using brutality to get things done was a part of it. Miniature horses, now bred for show, were originally bred for work in underground mines. The little animals were bred to be small enough to stand up in tunnels cut into narrow deposits of ore or coal. Once they were grown, underground they would go to work. After that, they may not have seen the light of day again.

CGID · Dec 20, 2018

Sorry, I didn't get to the point of your question - Once draft animals were replaced by machines, with Caterpillar being the dominate brand, the animal reference was changed from mules to "cats".

Dave Sherburne, NY · Dec 20, 2018

My son has a Cockshutt 30 and 40 and 50. He doesn't use them much except for tractor pulls and getting out firewood. He did use the 30 a few years ago when his Mennonite neighbor needed a tractor with a flat belt pulley to run a Thrashing Machine.
Cockshutt 50

1949 Farming

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