Old Machines
Dec 10, 2011 11:43:21 #
The old machines functioned with purpose and you could fix them if they needed to be fixed. Have you tried to fix todays machines?
Oats being thrashed old style.
10 acres a day was average.
All day every day with a little wood and water.
Dec 10, 2011 12:04:37 #
Nice old machines. I could replace a shear pin or belt, and maybe rethread the baler but beyond that even the old machinery was way beyond me. That is what husbands are for.But I know what you mean. I got a new washer and dryer and my husband said that with all the electronics on them now I would have to call the repair man if they need fixing. My brother-in-law is a car mechanic, he gave up his shop a few years back because keeping up with the computers was getting ridiculous.
Dec 10, 2011 14:37:52 #
My Dad always had machines that needed help and when it rained and we could not get in the fields we either built fence or worked in the machine shed. We had 2 International Harvester F-20s. I disliked them both but they were simple and adequate at the time. I spent all my teen summers working on a baling crew neighboring from farm to farm. We called it weight training for fall football. I left the farm after high school and many years later, my Dad and I were taking a drive through the Iowa country side. I spotted one of those round balers working away, so I asked Dad "how come we didn't have those when I was growing up"? His response was "we didn't need them, we had you".
Dec 10, 2011 15:00:15 #
Every year the Clinton County Antique Power Club sponsors the Sweet Corn Festival in Wilmington, OH. There are old-fashioned fair attractions- bluegrass music, home-made ice cream booths, quilt shows, church box lunches, and, of course, lots of sweet corn. But no rides, no barkers, no girlie shows. The festival attracts 300-500 pieces of antique power equipment, almost all of it in working order. The centerpiece of the activities is a parade through town on Saturday morning.
My dad sold as many of these as he could get hold of to young GIs returning to the farm after WWII.
Cockpit of a coal-fired Huber traction engine, ca. 1920
Looks awful, but it still runs. Oil-burning steam engine.
A lot of one-lungers around. Single cylinder engines used for utility purposes. The cylinder fires about every three seconds; the energy goes into the big flywheel.
Dec 10, 2011 15:02:01 #
hamtrack wrote:
My Dad always had machines that needed help and wh... (show quote)
Isn't that the truth. We bought our round baler when all the kids were in college. LOL. Same reason I still don't have a dishwasher. I didn't need one I had kids.
Dec 10, 2011 16:26:16 #
Good for you, I say. When we neighbored I always looked forward to the food the ladies provided. Dinner (now called lunch) was nothing short of a fantastic feast. Fried chicken, roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, peas, beans, jello, home made bread and 5 kinds of pies. Then about 3PM they came with home made ice-cream, cake and lemonade. I am probably still wearing some of that food on my body, but we did work most of it off. It was hard work but a good life.
Dec 10, 2011 17:25:25 #
hamtrack wrote:
Good for you, I say. When we neighbored I always looked forward to the food the ladies provided. Dinner (now called lunch) was nothing short of a fantastic feast. Fried chicken, roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, peas, beans, jello, home made bread and 5 kinds of pies. Then about 3PM they came with home made ice-cream, cake and lemonade. I am probably still wearing some of that food on my body, but we did work most of it off. It was hard work but a good life.
I agree. It was a very good life and still is. I was usually working on the wagons or in the mow when doing hay, so the poor kids who worked for us usually got sloppy joes and a cookie if they were lucky. I wish more kids could have the opportunity to live or work on a farm. I never regretted the years as a kid that we farmed or bringing my kids up farming. I have to admit that now that most of the livestock is gone and the fields rented out, I like the freedom to travel and do what I want.
Dec 11, 2011 11:18:37 #
Beautiful pictures and Your right they are and were easy to work on. I have a Farmall 300 that runs like a champ. It was converted to 12 volt system
Dec 11, 2011 11:32:46 #
You are not playing fair with that 12 volt thing. The F 20 was a crank and a yank start. It required a technique to avoid a trip to Dr. Wier to have a cast put on your arm in the likely event of a back fire kick back. As a much younger lad with many fewer pounds, there were multiple trips in the air ending on the ground.
Dec 11, 2011 11:40:39 #
I just remembered something else about the F-20. After my father passed away, one of his peers came to me and advised that he was sure he had found Dad's F-20 and it was for sale. He wondered if I would be interested. Since we live in an area of homes that have rather strict requirements I decided to pass. On the other hand all I can remember as a reminder of hot, almost airless days, roiling dust, and the drone of the engine on a very long day in the fields, might have had something to do with my refusal.
Dec 11, 2011 20:49:19 #
Hamtrack,
When I got my 300 it had been converted already. However it has the capability to be to started by hand but, parking it to face on a downhill slope would be a lot easier and healthier too. Mine is a high croper. My Brother in-law has a 300 universal. When he saw how easy it was to start mine he converted his from 6 to 12. They still are fun to use and maintain. Here is a pic of it I use it to plow snow and it is require to have a safety light on it so thats an add on
When I got my 300 it had been converted already. However it has the capability to be to started by hand but, parking it to face on a downhill slope would be a lot easier and healthier too. Mine is a high croper. My Brother in-law has a 300 universal. When he saw how easy it was to start mine he converted his from 6 to 12. They still are fun to use and maintain. Here is a pic of it I use it to plow snow and it is require to have a safety light on it so thats an add on
Dec 12, 2011 09:40:21 #
I tried to get out of the business rat race by retiring in 1990, moving to VT and constructing a new home. One of my workmen volunteered his 1949 Ford Tractor for use on the job. I should have taken a photo of it but I was too busy pounding nails. He had to hold is hand over the carburator to keep it running. So, I called my Father and he told me to call his friend the John Deere dealer for advise. He referred me to a junk yard in Grundy Center IA. They had a rebuilt carburetor for $25. We replaced it and the Ford ran like a charm. The workman traded it for a pretty nice used pickup. PS The retirement did not work. When I got the house done, my wife asked me "what are you going to do now, because you are already driving me nuts". Not much call for a Commercial Mortgage Banker in Stowe VT. So we moved back to the midwest and back in the rat race.
Dec 12, 2011 15:43:37 #
Dec 12, 2011 18:29:20 #
No, we sold it to a Canadian from Montreal. It was supposed to be a little New England two story but job engineering converted that into a bit too much for us. The buyer already owned another house in Stowe.
Dec 12, 2011 19:54:01 #
I worked on the farm for a couple of batchelor brothers when I was in High school. They had a 1939 John Deere A that was started with the flywheel. You had to open a petcock on each cylinder to relieve the compression and pull down a tab on the carburetor to choke it. If it was tuned up it started quite easily. We handled all the baled hay by hand which they referred to as the Armstrong method of farming. It was hard work but when the day was over it was a stress free kind of tired that you felt. Those are great photos of some good farm equipment.
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