A few pics from today’s square baling

[mattoxb]

My 195x's equipment still in operation today. Bought the Oliver 60-W at a local auction for $600. The owner had past away and he bought it new. He was known for meticulous maintenance. Funny thing is that I adjusted the needle arm per the manual because the holding force was much lighter than spec. Wouldn't tie a bale until I returned it to the previous setting. He must have known what he was doing.

 

[Railroadman1]

it does bring the memory's, in the 70s we pulled 224 JD mile after mile,,, in 80s had a Vermeer 6x6 Now every where we farmed they built houses about 5' apart its dangers you have to watch yourself

still have all of my appendages Lucky I guess

 

[deserteagle71]

In 2004 - 17 years ago now! - I went back to the farm for a visit and wandered around in the woods at the edge of one of the fields. And found a couple old friends still sitting there waiting for me to put them to use again.

 

[HEC]

I grew up on a Pennsylvania farm; haying every summer is still something I have fond memories of to this day. Probably would have farmed all my life if I hadn't been drafted and ended up in Vietnam. Here's a faded photograph from the early 50s...note the crank in the front of the Oliver. My dad on the Oliver and my cousin on the dump rake.
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Been their and done that . My grandfather had horses back in the day. I can remember he would put me on the back of an old work horse for a ride when he would be plowing up ground . As I got older I would help him hay , all loose hay . He never did ever have a tractor it was only a family farm . He worked at the paper mill and took care of the farm too , one hard worker for sure .

 

[deserteagle71]

Been their and done that . My grandfather had horses back in the day. I can remember he would put me on the back of an old work horse for a ride when he would be plowing up ground . As I got older I would help him hay , all loose hay . He never did ever have a tractor it was only a family farm . He worked at the paper mill and took care of the farm too , one hard worker for sure .

That's how my Dad got started, working a team of horses. He farmed during the day - and worked the night shift at a factory. No idea when he slept! We all worked hard - the whole family. My parents always said "There is no such thing as men's work or women's work. There is only work; if you see something needs to get done then get it done!" That work ethic has stuck with me all my life, to the point that I feel guilty if I'm not busy working on something even now that I'm several years into retirement.

This is a shot of his team. My sister is on the right, don't remember who the other little girl is.

Plowing with the team...and a whole cheering section to watch! Date on the photo is September 1950.

No running water in the house for the first few years. Water came from a spring at the foot of the mountain. Here, my dad and uncle fill the water barrel to take to the house.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

My grandfather farmed with horses. He also had an 8N. His house never had indoor plumbing. We got indoor plumbing when I was around 4.

 

[Hay Dude]

That's how my Dad got started, working a team of horses. He farmed during the day - and worked the night shift at a factory. No idea when he slept! We all worked hard - the whole family. My parents always said "There is no such thing as men's work or women's work. There is only work; if you see something needs to get done then get it done!" That work ethic has stuck with me all my life, to the point that I feel guilty if I'm not busy working on something even now that I'm several years into retirement.

This is a shot of his team. My sister is on the right, don't remember who the other little girl is.
View attachment 709891

Plowing with the team...and a whole cheering section to watch! Date on the photo is September 1950.
View attachment 709892

No running water in the house for the first few years. Water came from a spring at the foot of the mountain. Here, my dad and uncle fill the water barrel to take to the house.
View attachment 709893

Outstanding!
Kids today couldnt imagine!

 

[Gord Baker]

My ignorance.......Why is it not safe?

Farming is one of the topmost dangerous jobs.

 

[Bentrim]

Dad started with horses and loose hay, loaded it on a wagon and used a hayfork to unload it in the barn. The first of my memories he had a New Idea pull type mower, a steel wheel John Deere rake, and a 76 New Holland baler Powered by a Wisconsin V4 engine. About 1957 got a Meyer hay conditioner, it used a IH mower and steel rolls for the crusher. Make the first round then start the crusher, mowed one and crushed it the next time around. When the old 76 got tired he replaced it with a super 77 still a big baler, still with a Wisconsin V4, both made 16 X 18 bales and dad liked to make the about 36 long. Yes they were heavy! Both put the bales on the ground and the crew went after loaded them on the wagon and took them to the barn. Some where in that time is where I got started driving tractors, couldn't reach the pedals but I could hold the steering wheel straight. Later dad got a super 55 rake (I think that was the model) and eventually got a 67 New Holland with a small gasoline engine to power the thrower. I always got a kick out of that one as the engine was well worn, a trail of blue smoke emitted from it and it would run along at full speed until a bale was thrown then it would slow way down and recover for the next bale. Some time along the way the old Meyer wore out and dad replaced it with a Massey Ferguson 81 Hay tender. My grandfather had always had a combine and threshed our grain but traded his Massey on a C2 Gleaner---that ended his combines. So dad got a 4296 MM and my uncle got a 12 Massey so rolls reversed.

 

[wmfamily]

In the late 70s we (brother and friends) had a hay crew. Made a nickel a bail to haul from the field to the barn. Friend owned the truck so he made extra to maintain the truck. We could haul 100 bails per load. We could each make about $1000 per season so that was a lot of bails. We considered ourselves the best crew in the county and based on business we were. Everyone went to the large round bails in the early 80s as much to save on hay crew cost as anything. I doubt you could find enough kids willing to work to make a decent crew today. It was hot and dusty and not everyone could keep up the pace or make it the entire day.

 

[Bearsixty7]

In the late 70s we (brother and friends) had a hay crew. Made a nickel a bail to haul from the field to the barn. Friend owned the truck so he made extra to maintain the truck. We could haul 100 bails per load. We could each make about $1000 per season so that was a lot of bails. We considered ourselves the best crew in the county and based on business we were. Everyone went to the large round bails in the early 80s as much to save on hay crew cost as anything. I doubt you could find enough kids willing to work to make a decent crew today. It was hot and dusty and not everyone could keep up the pace or make it the entire day.

I remember the going rate was 25 cents a bale for many years, truck got 10 cents and each person got 5 cents. I grew up around Lebanon MO. (Stoutland actually, but most have never heard of that town or can find it on a map ). We did our own hay plus custom baling for others, sometimes on halves. I've done hay in Stoutland, Sleeper, Richland, Montreal, Lebanon, Hazelgreen and surrounding areas. We put a lot of paved miles on our tractors. Today most people would load them on a 30-40' gooseneck to transport them or simply not work such a large radius.

 

[Bearsixty7]

I wished for years we'd get one of the New Holland automatic bale wagons, never did.

 

[Torvy]

This is a photo I pulled off the web, but dad was still selling some of these in the late 70s early 80s. Heston.

My grandpa liked his Alice so much he named his 7th daughter Alice. I want to say his baler was a McCormick, too, but it may have been an IH. He bought whatever was the best deal at the time. A lot of these pics bring back memories.

We saw some nice looking alfalfa being cut in NE Nebraska last month. Probably 15-18 inches high. The smell was just how I remembered.

 

[thorn]

When I was in high school I worked on a dairy/horse farm for 2 summers in the late 70s. It was hard work. They had a thrower on the baler and a lot of times I would be the one in the hay wagon to stack the bales so we could get on more per load. Had to watch out for the flying bales! We put up around 15,000 bales into the huge bank barn. It was so hot up in the barn, stacking bales.

Sadly they stopped the dairy a few years after that since they made more money off the horses for trail rides.

I have about 50 acres and bale round bales by myself.

My great aunt had this photo in her album that I have, It is in the 1920s in KS:

My great-grandfather had a farm in east KS, about 400 acres in all. He used horses. My great-grandfather and his father built the house and barn in 1900. My mom spent her summers there when she was young.

 

[sea2summit]

View attachment 709867
Glad my kids got to experience it

Exactly that^
I’ve told mine many times, I don’t care what they do when they grow up but I want them to have an appreciation for real work. And that can’t happen unless you’ve done some.

 

[Hay Dude]

My son helping me during his summers has really changed his outlook on what work and sacrifice is. Of course he is paid fairly for his hours, but he has a better outlook on life.

 

[Hay Dude]

Exactly that^
I’ve told mine many times, I don’t care what they do when they grow up but I want them to have an appreciation for real work. And that can’t happen unless you’ve done some.
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Such a cute picture. Look at those girls joy in helping.
Love it.

 

[wmfamily]

I remember the going rate was 25 cents a bale for many years, truck got 10 cents and each person got 5 cents. I grew up around Lebanon MO. (Stoutland actually, but most have never heard of that town or can find it on a map ). We did our own hay plus custom baling for others, sometimes on halves. I've done hay in Stoutland, Sleeper, Richland, Montreal, Lebanon, Hazelgreen and surrounding areas. We put a lot of paved miles on our tractors. Today most people would load them on a 30-40' gooseneck to transport them or simply not work such a large radius.

Yes, that was our rate and the truck owner got the extra nickel. We were in Sedalia so we weren't too far from you. Fond memories...

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I remember the going rate was 25 cents a bale for many years, truck got 10 cents and each person got 5 cents. I grew up around Lebanon MO. (Stoutland actually, but most have never heard of that town or can find it on a map ). We did our own hay plus custom baling for others, sometimes on halves. I've done hay in Stoutland, Sleeper, Richland, Montreal, Lebanon, Hazelgreen and surrounding areas. We put a lot of paved miles on our tractors. Today most people would load them on a 30-40' gooseneck to transport them or simply not work such a large radius.

I remember getting paid 0, but my family fed me and gave me a bed to sleep in.

 

[lorandroehl]

I remember getting paid 0, but my family fed me and gave me a bed to sleep in.

I grew up on a farm in Western Minnesota in the late 60s and early 70s. We were mainly crop farmers, but had about 25 beef cows. We fed out the feeders from those cows and also bought more most years. Dad had good crop farming equipment, but no haying equipment as we didn’t put up a lot of hay. A neighbor had a large cow/calf operation so needed a lot of hay plus he did some custom baling for other folks. The neighbor baled for us and “hired” me to ride the rack and stack bales and his Dad drove the baler. I say “hired” because I didn’t get paid cash. The deal was he baled my Dad’s hay for nothing and I worked that off in labor for him and also when he custom baled for others. I don’t remember getting any input into that arrangement. At the end of the day we all got a big T-bone steak when the work was done. I probably complained some back then, but it was a wonderful way to grow up. Hard work for sure, but so many lessons learned that are still in use today. Sad to say my kids didn’t get the same upbringing......
This is a wonderful thread. So many memories. I wish I could contribute pictures.
I can still smell the fresh hay after cutting and baling.