How agriculture works thread

   / How agriculture works thread #821  
Here is some bale wagons used like where I grew up in SD.
Who used those in our area? I never saw one of these machines other than at the state fair. For the most part people stacked hay either free standing stacks or with a stackhand. Very few people used small squares unless they wanted a few in the barn for special uses. We always made 2-300 of straw to have in the barn but quite often we did not have any hay in the barn - we just would use a loader to bring a pile up to the barn and feed it i the barn by hand with pitchforks.

Even in 1976 when we worked with a couple of neighbors making hay in ND and hauling it back we didn't sue these - we used stookers and then loaders right onto the flatbed semis for the haul. We made about 90,000 square bales that year between the 3 of us and what a pain. When they got home we did not stack then off the semis - we just pushed them off sideways into a pile and ground them. Who wanted all the manual labor small squares make?
 
   / How agriculture works thread #822  
Once we quit free stacking it in 16 x 30' free style stacks using Farmhand F10 loaders we bought on of these JD stackhands and typically made about 1500 stacks per year including hay and straw.

Here is a video showing the Hesston version which operated the same as the JD in he field. On a good day in a flat relatively smooth field we could make 100 stacks - 8 x 14' base and 11-12' high. About 3 ton in pure alfalfa. These Hesstons were the B version which had more rounded roofs than the A version which was the main difference between it and the John Deere and why we had the Deere. For us in the SD dryness with dry soil underneath we would swath and not crimp and three days later pick it up with one of these and the alfalfa would be dry enough. These stacks breathed some so you could put it up with a little more moisture than baling.

We put our stacks in rows of 11 as the large truck mounted chain movers could carry 6 if they had something to push against otherwise it was only 5 at a time.
 
   / How agriculture works thread #823  
Here is a Haybuster brand stackhand that was kind of popular because of the round stacks that shed water well. It seemed though that these stacks did not stand up to the wind even as well as the others which was not great. There also tended to be a hole down the middle of these stacks which some thought increased the spoilage as the hollow vertical core allowed more water in instead of shedding it.
 
   / How agriculture works thread #824  
For those of you wondering shat a bale stooker is - here is one example. Total mechanical and functions off the weight of the bales. By stacking the bales in triangle they shed water better than a flat square bale and also only had a corenr touching the ground which reduced spoilage there. You could leave these sit in the field longer without losing as much hay allowing you to put up hay at the best times and then pick them up on other days.

The angled bales also made it easier to pick up the stooks with a haybasket on a loader as the teeth would slide between the bales. We could pick up two stooker piles or 12 bales with the haybasket before going to the truck. Very quick and easy.
 
   / How agriculture works thread
  • Thread Starter
#825  
Who used those in our area? I never saw one of these machines other than at the state fair. For the most part people stacked hay either free standing stacks or with a stackhand. Very few people used small squares unless they wanted a few in the barn for special uses. We always made 2-300 of straw to have in the barn but quite often we did not have any hay in the barn - we just would use a loader to bring a pile up to the barn and feed it i the barn by hand with pitchforks.

Even in 1976 when we worked with a couple of neighbors making hay in ND and hauling it back we didn't sue these - we used stookers and then loaders right onto the flatbed semis for the haul. We made about 90,000 square bales that year between the 3 of us and what a pain. When they got home we did not stack then off the semis - we just pushed them off sideways into a pile and ground them. Who wanted all the manual labor small squares make?
I seen them operating but I'd not call them common in eastern SD.
 
   / How agriculture works thread
  • Thread Starter
#826  
This is neat video of dated combines out operating. I believe our neighbor tipped this combine over. INTERNATIONAL 1480 Axial-Flow...
 
   / How agriculture works thread #827  
I remember when my dad combined soybeans with an open cab Gleaner and he would come home covered with black soybean dust. I always wondered how his lungs survived, but he made it to 93.
 
   / How agriculture works thread
  • Thread Starter
#828  
I remember when my dad combined soybeans with an open cab Gleaner and he would come home covered with black soybean dust. I always wondered how his lungs survived, but he made it to 93.
Grain dust is not your lungs freind.... Ya, the lack of cabs brings back memories for me as well.
 
   / How agriculture works thread
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#829  
Photos from the Saskatchewan History and Forklore society. I recognize some implements here but I seen them in the bone yards.
 
 
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