Idaman
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Angus Cowman
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I have used a gas stationary baler when I was a kid a neighbor had one
he also had one that was horsepowered but I never seen it used I have seen one just like it at Silver Dollar city
sure was a slow way to bale hay :lol: :lol:
he also had one that was horsepowered but I never seen it used I have seen one just like it at Silver Dollar city
sure was a slow way to bale hay :lol: :lol:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHR5uhlU4e4
They used all the teams to mow hay until noon and then raked and stacked in the afternoon. They changed mower sickles at 10:00 AM.
They had as many as 25 teams working at one time on these places. In the winter they sure comsumed a lot of hay.
There were frequent run-aways with the somewhat bronkey horses that were only used for haying about 2 months per year. One run away team was hitched to a dump rake and when the made a turn by a house the rake flipped up and left a wheel track across the wooden siding on the house. The mark went right below the second story window and is still there today. When the rake came down it landed upside down in front of the horses and they were both killed on it.
The funny looking hay fluffer near the end of the video was called a kicker.
They used all the teams to mow hay until noon and then raked and stacked in the afternoon. They changed mower sickles at 10:00 AM.
They had as many as 25 teams working at one time on these places. In the winter they sure comsumed a lot of hay.
There were frequent run-aways with the somewhat bronkey horses that were only used for haying about 2 months per year. One run away team was hitched to a dump rake and when the made a turn by a house the rake flipped up and left a wheel track across the wooden siding on the house. The mark went right below the second story window and is still there today. When the rake came down it landed upside down in front of the horses and they were both killed on it.
The funny looking hay fluffer near the end of the video was called a kicker.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNe1bot22y8
The buckrakes in this video were called "Doodlebugs". The were made from an old car or more likely truck that they stripped down, turned the controls around, and turned the rear end over to give four speeds backward, to the normal direction of the truck and one in the other direction.
The buckrakes in this video were called "Doodlebugs". The were made from an old car or more likely truck that they stripped down, turned the controls around, and turned the rear end over to give four speeds backward, to the normal direction of the truck and one in the other direction.
gbrumbelow
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Very enjoyable footage, Idaman. Thanks for figuring out how to convert these old films to YouTube.
Makes me wonder. If the Lord should tarry and 50 years from now ranchers are still haying, what will they say about our technology "way back in 2010"?
Makes me wonder. If the Lord should tarry and 50 years from now ranchers are still haying, what will they say about our technology "way back in 2010"?
Angus Cowman
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the same neighbor that had the old square balers also stacked his hay
when I was about 8 or 9 I started raking for him he had the old bull rakes and I would drive a F12 farmall and pull the hay to the stacker that he had mounted on a tractor and he would stack it
he was still stacking hay in the early 80s his stacks weren't near as big as the ones you guys had
he was the only one still doing it that I can ever remember
when I was about 8 or 9 I started raking for him he had the old bull rakes and I would drive a F12 farmall and pull the hay to the stacker that he had mounted on a tractor and he would stack it
he was still stacking hay in the early 80s his stacks weren't near as big as the ones you guys had
he was the only one still doing it that I can ever remember
Northern Rancher
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Did they ever learn how to cable on loose hay stacks-they used overshot stackers up here and the oldtimers said they used a long cable to flip the stack onto sleighs-they used 12x24 decks.
Northern Rancher":3qo1kk05 said:
Yes they did especially with the overshots. Usually they didn't try to move the stack or parts they just baled it in place. This particular stacker was a swing stacker and was called a Meadow Queen. I believe that some parts of it if not all were manufactured.
They even had man powered saws that could cut the stack in parts. It was kind of a cable with sharp edges on it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60Tg7DNVBSA
The baler in this video was powered by a gas Fordson tractor. Prior to that it was powered by a steam driven tractor.
There had to be four men working at the rear of the baler to carry away the completed bales and three to do the knotting. It was all wire tie and hand tied. At the front of the bale chamber there was a slot that someone would drop a wooden block into the chamber ahead of the plunger. This block just fit the chamber and had deep and fairly large groves cut into it that ran straight across the chamber at the places where the wires were to be wrapped around the bale. After the block was dropped in the tyer push the end of a wire through the slot and the stuffer would grad the end and then push it back through the slots in the block at the other end of the bale. Then the tyer would grab that wire coming back through , pull it tight and then make the tye. As the bale came out of the chamber the block would drop on the ground and the block man would pick it up and again drop it into the front of the chamber.
This baler normally took 8 men to operate it. 2 on the stack forking hay to the feeder man who fed the plunger, 4 doing the carrying and tying and one to keep the tractor and baler working properly.
The baler in this video was powered by a gas Fordson tractor. Prior to that it was powered by a steam driven tractor.
There had to be four men working at the rear of the baler to carry away the completed bales and three to do the knotting. It was all wire tie and hand tied. At the front of the bale chamber there was a slot that someone would drop a wooden block into the chamber ahead of the plunger. This block just fit the chamber and had deep and fairly large groves cut into it that ran straight across the chamber at the places where the wires were to be wrapped around the bale. After the block was dropped in the tyer push the end of a wire through the slot and the stuffer would grad the end and then push it back through the slots in the block at the other end of the bale. Then the tyer would grab that wire coming back through , pull it tight and then make the tye. As the bale came out of the chamber the block would drop on the ground and the block man would pick it up and again drop it into the front of the chamber.
This baler normally took 8 men to operate it. 2 on the stack forking hay to the feeder man who fed the plunger, 4 doing the carrying and tying and one to keep the tractor and baler working properly.
Angus Cowman
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went to farmfest today and they had an old NH self propelled square baler it was the first one I had ever seen and it still worked
had an engine to run the baler and an engine to drive the machine
had an engine to run the baler and an engine to drive the machine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZZSrwD6Jjk
This video more than anything marks the end of an era and the beginning of another. Prior to this video we had always trailed our cattle to the railroad stockyards about 15 miles away but after a bad accident crossing the highway and a narrow bridge near the stockyards we finally decided that the time to truck the cattle to the train had come.
Once on the train they either went to the Denver Stockyards or the ones in Kansas City or Chicago. Usually they went to Denver where they were consigned to a brokerage firm that handled the showing and sale on our behalf. We used mostly Producers or Mann-Boyd and Mann in Denver. This was for the yearling steers and sale heifers. The cull cows were sold to the Colorado State Penitentiary in Canon City, Colo. and went to a packing house that was manned by inmates for food for all the inmates. Somewhat different than today around prisons.
This video more than anything marks the end of an era and the beginning of another. Prior to this video we had always trailed our cattle to the railroad stockyards about 15 miles away but after a bad accident crossing the highway and a narrow bridge near the stockyards we finally decided that the time to truck the cattle to the train had come.
Once on the train they either went to the Denver Stockyards or the ones in Kansas City or Chicago. Usually they went to Denver where they were consigned to a brokerage firm that handled the showing and sale on our behalf. We used mostly Producers or Mann-Boyd and Mann in Denver. This was for the yearling steers and sale heifers. The cull cows were sold to the Colorado State Penitentiary in Canon City, Colo. and went to a packing house that was manned by inmates for food for all the inmates. Somewhat different than today around prisons.
Angus Cowman":kuhapoc0 said:
I responded to this some time ago but it must have gone into cyberspace.
The 2 engined baler that you saw was either a 178 or a 1278. They were a product of the 1960's and there were several around where we lived. They were very good and manuverable machines but their weak point was the Wisconsin air cooled engines that powered them. They were short lived, hard to keep running, and were very prone to catching on fire. They were so bad to burn that we had to attach a fire extinguisher to every baler that we had with a Wisconsin engine.
gbrumbelow
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Idaman, do you know what year this film would have been made?
I would guess the date of this film to be very close to 1945. I can barely remember my Dad being in the hospital after the prior years accident and the related problems. So I must have been in the 5 or so age bracket. The trucks are all Internationals probably of of early 40's or late 30's vintage. Also this set of corrals I don't remember as a new one was constructed across the road. That road the trucks were pulling onto was rebuilt and paved in 1945 so it had to be prior to that year. I have some film of that reconstruction that I have been debating whether to upload because of relevance and maybe interest.
In reference to the video that I posted some time ago showing the bulls and the people at the Baca Grant Ranch at Crestone , Colorado I ran across an old article by Bud Snidow entitled "The Breeds's Million Dollar Sales".
The Baca Grant Ranch is a piece of property in the San Luis Valley of south central Colorado. The original grant from the King of Spain to his subject Luis Maria Baca was a twelve mile square piece of land. This parcel was part of 500,000 acres granted to Baca in 1823.
The man shown in the video was Alfred Collins the principal owner of the ranch. The sale of the ranch property at that time forced a sale of the registered Hereford herd on Sept. 18 & 19 of 1951. This sale had the distinction of being the first sale in the livestock industry to gross over a million dollars.
26 bulls averaged $12,313 with a top of $87,500 for Baca Prince Domino 20
237 females averaged $3,377
263 lots averaged $4,260
The Baca Grant Ranch is a piece of property in the San Luis Valley of south central Colorado. The original grant from the King of Spain to his subject Luis Maria Baca was a twelve mile square piece of land. This parcel was part of 500,000 acres granted to Baca in 1823.
The man shown in the video was Alfred Collins the principal owner of the ranch. The sale of the ranch property at that time forced a sale of the registered Hereford herd on Sept. 18 & 19 of 1951. This sale had the distinction of being the first sale in the livestock industry to gross over a million dollars.
26 bulls averaged $12,313 with a top of $87,500 for Baca Prince Domino 20
237 females averaged $3,377
263 lots averaged $4,260
regenwether
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I wonder what that would traslate in today's $$$. Kind of like buying race horse's. People with more money than they know what to do with :roll: . I wish I had that probelm 
.
.There has been some requests for me to give my impressions of the differences of ranching in Canada and the comparisons to the same in the US. I think that I should break that down into several categories and them relay my thoughts and experiences on each.
I really can't give a knowledgeable description of anything out of the central western ranch area of British Columbia. The area that we lived and operated in was called the Cariboo region and we were in the most western area of that region. The area immediately to the north is the Chilcotin, a large rolling mainly pine covered plateau with a lot of long somewhat boggy meadows. The surface mud there is locally referred to as "Loon sh!t. Another famous saying has been "Have you seen my horses?" Probably due to the lack of fencing in that very large area. There are a lot of ranches on that very large plateau and the people that inhabit them are a truly strong and unique bunch.
The Chilcotin River pretty well marks the southern boundary with the exception of a area northwest of the Gang Ranch.
The summers there are short and the winters long, snowy and cold. The hay is almost all native grass hay with a lot being pretty coarse.
Along the Frazer River and some of the Chilcotin there are much lower bench lands with a very different climate that allows alfalfa and some corn for silage. It is along the steep sides of these rivers that late fall, winter, and early spring grazing occurs. Where these two rivers converge south of Williams Lake there is a large area that is a reserve for California Bighorn sheep. This is probably the most famous herd anywhere and has been the seed source for many herds across Canada and the US. The rams coming out of there are beyond incredible.
On farther south after leaving Big Bar and especially Lillooet the Frazer's sides become very steep and only Mountain Goats and Bighorn sheep inhabit them.
As to comparisons to similar areas in the US I would say this area is colder with some more snow and a lot more ice. The Hell's Canyon area along the Snake River between Idaho and Oregon would be similar but warmer with the snow cover not lasting as long.
The Imnaha River in that area would also be quite similar. There is an area along the Columbia River between Washington and Oregon that would also qualify. This last area would lie south of Goldendale, Washington.
Back in Canada the hills along the Thompson River around Kamloops would be similar as would along a small part of the Columbia River in south east BC.
These area are all really quite similar and are my favorite areas for ranching due to the differences in elevation and the advantage of having a large variety of seasons and grasses and the opportunity to graze rotationally with going toward fresh grass nearly all the time.
I really can't give a knowledgeable description of anything out of the central western ranch area of British Columbia. The area that we lived and operated in was called the Cariboo region and we were in the most western area of that region. The area immediately to the north is the Chilcotin, a large rolling mainly pine covered plateau with a lot of long somewhat boggy meadows. The surface mud there is locally referred to as "Loon sh!t. Another famous saying has been "Have you seen my horses?" Probably due to the lack of fencing in that very large area. There are a lot of ranches on that very large plateau and the people that inhabit them are a truly strong and unique bunch.
The Chilcotin River pretty well marks the southern boundary with the exception of a area northwest of the Gang Ranch.
The summers there are short and the winters long, snowy and cold. The hay is almost all native grass hay with a lot being pretty coarse.
Along the Frazer River and some of the Chilcotin there are much lower bench lands with a very different climate that allows alfalfa and some corn for silage. It is along the steep sides of these rivers that late fall, winter, and early spring grazing occurs. Where these two rivers converge south of Williams Lake there is a large area that is a reserve for California Bighorn sheep. This is probably the most famous herd anywhere and has been the seed source for many herds across Canada and the US. The rams coming out of there are beyond incredible.
On farther south after leaving Big Bar and especially Lillooet the Frazer's sides become very steep and only Mountain Goats and Bighorn sheep inhabit them.
As to comparisons to similar areas in the US I would say this area is colder with some more snow and a lot more ice. The Hell's Canyon area along the Snake River between Idaho and Oregon would be similar but warmer with the snow cover not lasting as long.
The Imnaha River in that area would also be quite similar. There is an area along the Columbia River between Washington and Oregon that would also qualify. This last area would lie south of Goldendale, Washington.
Back in Canada the hills along the Thompson River around Kamloops would be similar as would along a small part of the Columbia River in south east BC.
These area are all really quite similar and are my favorite areas for ranching due to the differences in elevation and the advantage of having a large variety of seasons and grasses and the opportunity to graze rotationally with going toward fresh grass nearly all the time.
Steve.
Before we moved to BC a young man came to work for us in Colorado. He originally started as a fence builder and being a perfectionist he was very good at that. He had had some tough setbacks in his life and kind of dropped out of society for a while. At the time he was single and I believe living in a teepee on a mountaintop in southern Colorado. When we moved we asked Steve if he would manage the places and cattle we still had in Colorado to which he agreed.
He just did a great job and he expressed a desire to join us in Canada if possible. We started the process of trying to get his immigration status but it took 2 years to accomplish that. In the interim he had met and married a young lady by the name of Nancy and they moved together to Empire and started their Canadian experience.
Steve was basically the foreman for the whole operation but mainly working with the crops, fences, and then cattle in the winter. He fit in very well with the local natives and had enough of a sense of humor to lead them without crying.
One of the stories that I remember happened while our family was in the back country and Steve was at the headquarters for the summer. In the middle of the night he was awakened by a big disturbance with the dogs down by our house. We had a heeler that we had left at home so she wouldn't be gotten by the wolves who were famous for killing dogs back there. The commotion was caused by a cougar and our heeler in a very big struggle. When Steve gor to the scene the cougar had the heelers head its' mouth. Steve being a Mennonite didn't have a gun so he hurried to our house where he knew there was a arsenal. Not being familiar with firearms he didn't know which bullets went with which gun. Another of the employees showed up at that point and they figured it out. With the loaded shotgun they ran to the scene of the fight and killed the cougar. The dog was badly mangled around the head and died a few days later. We still don't know whether that heeler would have been better off coming to the back country to be eaten by wolves or staying at home and being killed by a cougar.
The cougar turned out to be a very old toothless female that was starved enough to come to where she might find some food. This a pretty common occurrence where there are lots of cougars. It can also be a young cougar that just never learned to hunt wild game and lost their fear of man.
Even in Idaho we have had cougar attacks in our yard and around the barns. One day my son and I were working on an ATV in the yard and we heard a loud rustling in the trees about 20 feet away. We went over to the area where the sound had come from and saw a young cougar with one of our yard cats in his mouth. I told my son to go to the house and get a rifle while I kept an eye on the whereabouts of the cougar. The cougar remained motionless until Tristan returned with the rifle and then I shot the cougar. Shooting through the brush I didn't get a killing shot but the cougar didn't run far but into a thick brush patch. We started into the very thick patch to try and find him but before I had gone ten feet Tristan told me to not put my foot down or I would be stepping on the cougars tail. I stood there on one foot but still couldn't see the cougar. Soon the cat took off and I tossed the rifle to Tristan who could get a better shot which he did and killed the cougar. That car had been hanging around the headquarters of all the area ranches and had killed several goats and turkeys. I had made my wife carry a pistol on her daily walks for some time before we eliminated the offending cougar.
Near that time over at the Gang Ranch an older cougar came into the headquarters went into the barn and perched up in the rafters. When school was over a bunch of the children went into the barn to play but luckily saw the cougar in time and ran for help and the cougar was quickly dispatched. This turned out to be a very large toothless female and her hide hung around the Gang for several years.
Nancy became the teacher at the Gang Ranch school and was very successful in that position. She bravely drove that 18 tough miles each way every day for several years. She survived very well but with a few close calls. Nancy has since started writing books and is very good at that also.
We had hired a young man to do some riding and fence building so Steve being his supervisor went out to inspect his fencing project one day. The fellow had just put in the posts for a brace for the fence and as Steve was visiting with him Steve leaned against one of the posts and it was put in so shallow that both he and the post fell over. This was a tough blow to a perfectionist fence builder and quite a discussion followed.
During his time at Empire Steve took up the business or maybe hobby of beekeeping. He was continually trying to capture another hive of wild bees and he found them in old buildings and hollow stumps. With this beekeeping endeavor he quickly became an enemy of the bears, although I don't remember his having any losses along that line.
Eventually Steve and Nancy returned to Colorado to operate her fathers ranch and they have made a very interesting operation there.
Before we moved to BC a young man came to work for us in Colorado. He originally started as a fence builder and being a perfectionist he was very good at that. He had had some tough setbacks in his life and kind of dropped out of society for a while. At the time he was single and I believe living in a teepee on a mountaintop in southern Colorado. When we moved we asked Steve if he would manage the places and cattle we still had in Colorado to which he agreed.
He just did a great job and he expressed a desire to join us in Canada if possible. We started the process of trying to get his immigration status but it took 2 years to accomplish that. In the interim he had met and married a young lady by the name of Nancy and they moved together to Empire and started their Canadian experience.
Steve was basically the foreman for the whole operation but mainly working with the crops, fences, and then cattle in the winter. He fit in very well with the local natives and had enough of a sense of humor to lead them without crying.
One of the stories that I remember happened while our family was in the back country and Steve was at the headquarters for the summer. In the middle of the night he was awakened by a big disturbance with the dogs down by our house. We had a heeler that we had left at home so she wouldn't be gotten by the wolves who were famous for killing dogs back there. The commotion was caused by a cougar and our heeler in a very big struggle. When Steve gor to the scene the cougar had the heelers head its' mouth. Steve being a Mennonite didn't have a gun so he hurried to our house where he knew there was a arsenal. Not being familiar with firearms he didn't know which bullets went with which gun. Another of the employees showed up at that point and they figured it out. With the loaded shotgun they ran to the scene of the fight and killed the cougar. The dog was badly mangled around the head and died a few days later. We still don't know whether that heeler would have been better off coming to the back country to be eaten by wolves or staying at home and being killed by a cougar.
The cougar turned out to be a very old toothless female that was starved enough to come to where she might find some food. This a pretty common occurrence where there are lots of cougars. It can also be a young cougar that just never learned to hunt wild game and lost their fear of man.
Even in Idaho we have had cougar attacks in our yard and around the barns. One day my son and I were working on an ATV in the yard and we heard a loud rustling in the trees about 20 feet away. We went over to the area where the sound had come from and saw a young cougar with one of our yard cats in his mouth. I told my son to go to the house and get a rifle while I kept an eye on the whereabouts of the cougar. The cougar remained motionless until Tristan returned with the rifle and then I shot the cougar. Shooting through the brush I didn't get a killing shot but the cougar didn't run far but into a thick brush patch. We started into the very thick patch to try and find him but before I had gone ten feet Tristan told me to not put my foot down or I would be stepping on the cougars tail. I stood there on one foot but still couldn't see the cougar. Soon the cat took off and I tossed the rifle to Tristan who could get a better shot which he did and killed the cougar. That car had been hanging around the headquarters of all the area ranches and had killed several goats and turkeys. I had made my wife carry a pistol on her daily walks for some time before we eliminated the offending cougar.
Near that time over at the Gang Ranch an older cougar came into the headquarters went into the barn and perched up in the rafters. When school was over a bunch of the children went into the barn to play but luckily saw the cougar in time and ran for help and the cougar was quickly dispatched. This turned out to be a very large toothless female and her hide hung around the Gang for several years.
Nancy became the teacher at the Gang Ranch school and was very successful in that position. She bravely drove that 18 tough miles each way every day for several years. She survived very well but with a few close calls. Nancy has since started writing books and is very good at that also.
We had hired a young man to do some riding and fence building so Steve being his supervisor went out to inspect his fencing project one day. The fellow had just put in the posts for a brace for the fence and as Steve was visiting with him Steve leaned against one of the posts and it was put in so shallow that both he and the post fell over. This was a tough blow to a perfectionist fence builder and quite a discussion followed.
During his time at Empire Steve took up the business or maybe hobby of beekeeping. He was continually trying to capture another hive of wild bees and he found them in old buildings and hollow stumps. With this beekeeping endeavor he quickly became an enemy of the bears, although I don't remember his having any losses along that line.
Eventually Steve and Nancy returned to Colorado to operate her fathers ranch and they have made a very interesting operation there.
