My grandparents would be amazed!

I was out at the farm tonight watching our neighbor shell corn in his Case IH combine. Its a 8230. It was running a 8 row head and he was topped out and unloading or waiting to unload every 7 to 8 minutes. I could only imagine what the founders of our family farm would think because they picked corn by hand and put it in a horse drawn wagon less than 80 years ago. Ryan

Im 49 years old and in my lifetime have witnessed so many changes. Almost everyone hauled grain to the local elevator in a pickup truck! Some pickups had side boards for more capacity!! Dont forget the gunny sacks to keep the grain from leaking out at the tailgate! Nowadays its a different world. These new machines may have all the comforts of your living room at home but there is something to be said for those that love the land to get some dust in their nose and enjoy some of the same things their ancestors did. Ryan

I've seen a lot of changes too...some good, some not. (won't go into that) i'm also seeing a lot of lending institutions selling the new big equipment that the borrowers can't pay for!

That brings back a thought... Our C-50 and C-60 grain trucks hold 400 bushels, so 2 dumps from the gleaner fill them. The custom cutters' combines (green) fill one of our trucks in one dump! We're the only ones in SW OK that don't have semis yet! LOL

My grandfather used to say the Neighbors ( Big time operators ) could not even turn their equipment around in our fields . Middle 70's when everyone starting going big . My Grandfather was born in 1889 and died in 1978 . Yes Ryan I am sure he would be amazed at how big things have gotten from then , the yields , the value of good farm ground , technology .

My grandfather was as cheap and frugal as they came . He was in WWI and lived through the depression . What I think what would really blow his mind ; People leaving pennies at the gas stations . I do not know that he could deal with that . I am sure he would think we are all crazy

Not to get off topic with the farming but my grandpa opened a hardware store in 1949. Today my dad owns it and has many stories from back when he was a kid and he worked there. He would tell me that all the black and galvanized pipe fittings were in a shed behind the store and in the winter he had to go out and take inventory with a pen and paper. I've also heard stories about back when, there would usually be only one person manning the store which is rare now days. My grandpa's been gone for about 7 years and i can imagine he would be amazed with all the computers and scanners we have for taking inventory. Time marches on not only for farmers, but for businessman too and things modernize and change. Sometimes I wish I could go back in time and visit the eras that my dad has told me stories about; see how things were back then. Sorry for the long post and to get off track from the farming.

Thanks Peter

We opened up our fields when we cut silage.

Todays combines bins hold more than most farmers in the 40s harvested in one year.

I'm fifth generation on our farm and often wonder too what my forefathers would think if they could see us farm today. At the farm show last week was a 1600 bu. grain cart on tracks and the company also makes a 2000 bu. Corn is planted at an acre per minute now. My old Gleaners can't dump into my 600 bu. gravity bin. D-21 has its hands full pulling gravity bins.

Besides the changes in the size and productivity of farm machinery, consider the changes in herbicides.  I can remember when 2-4D was about all there was.  Then Atazine and then Round-up and now....................................

Also think what computers and cell phones have done to the way farming is done and the way we live.

Oddly enough, though, I was visiting with a man the other day who sells fuel to cenex stations. He said that in the 60s and 70s, farmers fuel consumption was 16+ gallons per acre. Now it is just over 4. Darrel

Auntwayne wrote:     Now Darrel, 16 gallons an acre is not correct no matter how you slice it or dice it. That number is way out of whack.

Around here, they used to plow everything first, most likely with a gas powered tractor and 3 or 4 bottom plow. Then disk a couple times. Then seed. Then spray. Then combine. Then do fall tillage. Plus probably seeded half and summer fallowed the other half, hitting that at least twice with tillage. Add it all up. Darrel

Also, to look at it in a different perspective, I don't think it's too far fetched to think that a 100 acre farm in the sixties would go through 1600 gallons of fuel in a year. Darrel

My dad planted corn with a home made 3 point hitch 2 row corn planter and used the rear tire tracks as a marker. It worked just fine. He had a WC Allis with a 2 row mounted picker he harvested with till one year he loaned it to a Nephew who ran it out of oil and ruined the engine.
He sold it to a fellow who wanted the mounted picker and bought a New Idea Model 7 pull type picker. One year a early even for this area of Michigan saw about 14 inch's of snow on the ground and 40 acres of corn to pick. Dad had a Big Massey Harris 44 that just could not do the whole job of towing the picker tuning the PTO and haul the wagon so he had me bring the Case VAC to the field hook to the picker than hook the 44 to the Case.


We picked all the rest of the corn that way that year. By Christmas we had a thaw and all the snow melted off, but the fields were a muddy mess and I got the VAC stuck several times trying to spread manure. Dad said to just use the pile out side the barn till spring.

Yes we always plowed a field used a Massey 44-4 an Massey 44-6 and several Allis WD's And wd 45 oneD14 lasted about a month. dad said it was as useless as tits on a boar pig and got rid of it and bought another WD 45.

We when I was young put the hay up loose with a old New Idea hay loader behind the wagon. I drove the old WC at first then the VAC. We pulled it up in the hay mow with the WC then latter with the VAC with the hay forks we called grappling hooks.

In 1956 Dad got rid of the horse drawn hay mower and Got a Moline semi mounted mower. Boy could I mow some hay with that thing.

Your tractor and equipment was only as good as the dealer. Dad loved his Massey Harris tractors and new Idea equipment but when the old fellow retired and sold the dealer to a cussing man and mom rebelled at going after a part dad switched to Allis stuff and Ghiel equipment.


   Al

alleyyooper wrote: My dad planted corn with a home made 3 point hitch 2 row corn planter and used the rear tire tracks as a marker. It worked just fine. He had a WC Allis with a 2 row mounted picker he harvested with till one year he loaned it to a Nephew who ran it out of oil and ruined the engine. He sold it to a fellow who wanted the mounted picker and bought a New Idea Model 7 pull type picker. One year a early even for this area of Michigan saw about 14 inch's of snow on the ground and 40 acres of corn to pick. Dad had a Big Massey Harris 44 that just could not do the whole job of towing the picker tuning the PTO and haul the wagon so he had me bring the Case VAC to the field hook to the picker than hook the 44 to the Case. We picked all the rest of the corn that way that year. By Christmas we had a thaw and all the snow melted off, but the fields were a muddy mess and I got the VAC stuck several times trying to spread manure. Dad said to just use the pile out side the barn till spring. Yes we always plowed a field used a Massey 44-4 an Massey 44-6 and several Allis WD's And wd 45 oneD14 lasted about a month. dad said it was as useless as tits on a boar pig and got rid of it and bought another WD 45. We when I was young put the hay up loose with a old New Idea hay loader behind the wagon. I drove the old WC at first then the VAC. We pulled it up in the hay mow with the WC then latter with the VAC with the hay forks we called grappling hooks. In 1956 Dad got rid of the horse drawn hay mower and Got a Moline semi mounted mower. Boy could I mow some hay with that thing. Your tractor and equipment was only as good as the dealer. Dad loved his Massey Harris tractors and new Idea equipment but when the old fellow retired and sold the dealer to a cussing man and mom rebelled at going after a part dad switched to Allis stuff and Ghiel equipment.    Al