Before auto tie balers

[Davidj]

I remember my father talking about a baler coming in whenever they had excess hay they could sell. They'd set up in the barnfloor and the bales weighed around 120 lbs. They'd handle them with hooks. The guy with the baler would buy the hay for the city (Montreal) market as commercial horses were still common there in the 40's and early 50's

 

[TomA in CA]

I started out with a Case pitch in poke and tie block baler. By the third year I bought a nearly worn out New Holland two wire baler at an auction for $85. I actually did a lot of custom baking with it. Come to think of it now that was a lot more profitable than selling hay.

 

[David from Kansas]

When I was a kid neighbor had a MM baler. It picked up the hay but you had to hand tie bales. Had a long bench type seat on each side. Had wood blocks and wire on rack. Can’t remember if two men or four men rode and did the tying. Had a Wisconsin engine running baler. On the engine side of baler the axle had two wheel tires. One was larger on inside and a smaller wheel and tire on outside side. This was for wet ground. The job on back was really dusty. This was the only one I ever saw. Never seen one at all the tractor —antique shows I been to.

Had similar experience with Case hand tie baler my dad and uncle used when I was about 5-6 yrs old. It was so dusty the guys on the baler had to wear goggles. Year or two later dad bought a new JD 114 or 116W with v-4 Wisconsin engine because we only had a model D and model A to pulll it with. I actually baled with it a couple of times. Then in 1959 dad helped me get started by trading the wire tie in on a new JD 214T with Wisconsin v-4 engine and I did our baling and baled for a lot of neighbors.
I would like to get a 114 or 116W just for "show and tell".

 

[ss55]

Some of you older guys like me probably remember hay balers that were auto tied wire only before string. Then before that, stationery bailers ,where 3 wire. The farm with the hay baler would go to different farms and bale the hay. When they came to Dad's farm I helped by poking wire through a bale divider by hand to a guy on the other side as the bale was coming out, and he would tie it. I was too young to do much more, like pitching hay into the plunger (chinaman) as it was called, or stacking 115 pound + wire bales, as they came out. The baler used belonged to a neighbor, and is now at the Antique Gas, and Steam Engine Museum, Vista California. Stan

A short video of getting loose hay into the hay loft.

2.6M views · 19K reactions | One last shoutout to the Midwest Ox Drovers Association, until next year! #farmlife #homesteading #sustainability #hay #sundayfunday #oxen | Tillers International

One last shoutout to the Midwest Ox Drovers Association, until next year! #farmlife #homesteading #sustainability #hay #sundayfunday #oxen

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