Baling hay in 1940's

[David Pidgeon Gundoctor]

This maybe a little off topic but here goes. This is a short film by the University of Vermont in the mid to late 1940's showing how farmer went from horses to tractors to work on farms. I did this and got a big kick seeing this. I hope you all like this.
One Man Pickup Blaer

 

[Back Forty Bob.]

Thank you for the really neat video! I liked it so much the color of
the equipment did not matter.
Bob.

 

[Stan - Florida]

And people wonder why we olde pharts have bad backs from rassling those bales back in those days.

Stan

 

[Ed the wine farmer]

That brings back a lot of memories from my younger days. By 1955, our horses were gone and I was driving the tractor. By 1960, my grandfather was getting up in years and he drove the tractor and I humped the hay. After 1966, there was no farming on our land until I retired a few years ago. College, working for 40 years until now I can afford to farm.

 

[donjr]

My first baler was an old NH with a Wisconsin on it and that big wadboard. Got rid of that thing as quick as I could.

Neighbor had a truck loader similar to that one rigged to wagon sides. A halffast tractor operator could just about kill two good men on the wagon with that thing. It could some kind of pick up hay!

And that's just another few reasons I went to a round baler about 25 years ago and haven't looked back!

 

[James Howell]

Really enjoyed the video; especially the old flat bed trucks.

Lots of hard working men in that video.

Couldn"t help but wonder what child protective services would have done to help those abused and maltreated kids.

Hopefully the kids grew up and became hard working men and passed the "work ethic" along to their children and grandchildren.

50 years ago hauling hay for a penny a bale was good money for a kid.

Too old to handle square bales now; <a href="http://youtu.be/oHJzjiuHOwU">but still able to roll around a round bale</a> now and then.

Thanks for sharing the video with us.

 

[Sledjockey]

My Dad putting together a new Deere W116 baler in 1946/47. I know the tractor was a '38 B. Nice shiny 12A combine in the background.

 

[swood043]

Great video, thanks for sharing it.

 

[Texasmark1]

David, I thoroughly enjoyed that too. Thanks again. When I first move out in the country, squares were how you did hay. Whopee for the guy(s) that invented the roller.

Mark

 

[Texasmark1]

30 years ago when I moved to the country it was 3cents and you had boys everywhere to do the work. Today you mention work and child protective services wants to send you to jail.

Mark

 

[jim murphy]

Was the elevator hooked to the truck ground driven?
Never saw one before. In the scene with the homemade elevator-wonder how many of those bales broke apart when they landed up in the barn? Use to hate those bales that were bowed and you had to handle them so carefully so as not to burst them out of the strings. Very good and interesting film.

 

[Farmallb]

When I was that littiest pharts age, I was driveing Florie and Dixie for a quarter an hour. Dad didnt like the way I drove so he took me off and made me a stacker. Just like in the pic I can remember being told to get on top and stop the top tie bales in the center and they would throw them to me and I would lay them crossways, in line side by side, moveing backwards with the bales. I cant imagine 16 bales going up at one time without pulling the roof in on the barn, tho I think those were pretty lite bales judgeing by the breakage, and the ease of handling. We only put around 50/60 on at a time.4 high and a couple of cross ties. I think both those trucks are IHC> Am I right? I think the bailer is a Case, and I have a 1960 bailer. Case W 140. I couldnt read the decal tho. Was the tractor an F-20? Dont know why they couldnt have had water in the radiator. Surely it didnt leak way back then .
I couldnt see how he had the drive rigged up on that loader. I saw he had an truck axle, or car axle, but it was still all enclosed.

Dang good vid. Sure took me back.

I have dads Kelly Ryan grain elevator that my uncle gave him when he bought a longer JD hay elevator. It was hard to keep the bales on it as it was only about a foot wide, and with the tractor idleing it would jerk. The tractor was either a JD A or IHC M. If you hiked it up faster, than, when you put a bale on it, before you got your hand free, a paddle would take it . trying to get your hand free, you would pull it up and over and back and off.

 

[Farmallb]

When I quit in 57 I made $1.25 an hr. Usually a 4 hr day in the afternoon

 

[rankrank1]

1940 haymaking - I still pretty much do it that way except without all the extra helpers. While my equipment and tractors are a bit newer, the manual mode of labor is not.

Once I get my junk operating, I put the wife on tractor running the baler and dropping the bales on the ground. I hitch the pick-up truck to a low platform flatbed trailer that is low to the ground. (No way could I use I high platform truck or wagon). I am 6'5" so I can stack the bales rather high while standing on the ground if I use a low platform trailer.

If the wife gets done baling before I get done picking up - she then drives the pick-up truck so I do not have to keep jumping in and out of the truck to move it around. I handled every bale to load it and I will handle every bale again to through it off. Stand on top of the stack and my 6'5" height I can throw into a pretty high loft. Wife then drags bale to position and stacks it.

I actually enjoy the physical workout (would much rather do this than go to a gym). Of course, I keep my bales at a weight that I can easily handle (and also that the wife can drag). Keep acres reasonable too and the ground is not an ultra yield producer.

Probably only costs me $3-$4 dollars to make every bale and I in turn sell it for $2-$3 dollars a bale. The perfect business model for losing money - LOL.

Enjoyed the video (FWIW the video is only 13 minutes long or so not the 24 minutes that the tracker indicates for those wanting to watch it).

 

[tim s]

In the 60's we baled 50-60,000 bales by hooking and stacking behind the baler, every now and then my Dad would get inpatient and want to drop the wagon so he could bale faster, my brother and I would protest (threw a fit when he would do this,,we would walk out b*tts off picking them up into the dark, Dad would be home "getting the baler in the dry" (usually no rain in sight),,he's gone now and so is any notion to bale on the ground....

 

[Farmallb]

is there any way i can save this in my files

 

[Farmallb]

is there any way i can save this in my files