Horse , mule , tractor have inspired much debate
By JERRY WEBB
University of Delaware
NEWARK, Del. - One of
the surest ways to start an
argument among today’s
farm boys is to issue a
challenging statement about
which farm tractor is best.
They’ll debate the merits of
the big green ones versus the
big red ones until the sun
goes down. Each being
totally sure that the brand of
tractor his father prefers is
by far the best.
Such debates have gone on
as long as there have been
tractors. I can remember
arguing the power and ease
of handling of a Farmall
compared to the unique hand
clutch and horizontal pistons
of a John Deere. As farm
boys, we were faithful to the
tractors of the day without
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1410 Hydra. Shift. 80 H.P. 80 Hrs.
1410 Manual Shift, 80 H.P. 135 Hrs
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benefit of the knowledge
required to make a
meaningful comparison
When the first little Ford
tractor came along with its
cute little three point hitch,
we rejected it without
another thought. After
seeing an inexperienced
operator set his field
cultivator so deep he
couldn’t pull it, we decided
the concept would never
work. Thus we, in our
teenage wisdom, excused a
concept that was ahead of its
time The three point hitch
has been accepted-m fact
adapted-by every major
tractor manufacturer in the
world. Meanwhile, the hand
clutch and horizontal piston
engines we defended so
stoutly are museum items.
Maybe that tells something
of what farm boys know
about predicting the future
We were able to foresee
the rise of tractor power and
the demise of horsepower.
That happened during my
youth and those of us who
spent some time following a
team of horses and then got
to drive a tractor knew that
horses were on the way out.
But they weren’t dead yet
And while the farmers of the
future argued the merits of
green and red tractors, the
older generation was still
trying to decide whether a
horse was a better worker
than a mule. Believe me,
that was a hot topic in the
Missouri Ozarks prior to
World War 11. It’s an issue
that to my knowledge was
never really settled. For
every good reason one
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farmer had to work mules,
another had even better
reasons in favor of horses.
Curt Williams was
perhaps the only farmer in
our neighborhood in a
position to decide such an
important question. You see,
he kept both horses and
mules and was known to
work them side by side,
borne of the oddest-lookmg
hitches ever seen were put
together by old Curt each
Spring
He was a mule trader by
profession-that is he bought
and sold mules and some
horses for a living. His
farming was done to provide
feed for the mules and to
give them some work. So on
the first warm day of March
when the ground was finally
dry enough to plow, Curt
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It was a high risk business
to say the least-there’s
nothing wilder than a three
year-old mule that has never
even seen a set of harness.
So the mule would be cross
tied m the barn hallway and
the harness lowered gently
in place from a large hole in
the loft floor. Than, if all
went well it would be
fastened in place through
some careful maneuvering.
If all didn’t go well, the mule
would be virtually hog-tied
and after much struggling
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Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 5,1977-
could be found breaking
young mules to work.
His favorite technique was
to put one wild, unbroken
mule between two large,
predictable draft horses.
The three of them would
than be hitched to a sulky
plow.
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and cursing would be har
nessed anyway.
Once secured between two
big horses and anchored to a
heavy plow, there wasn’t
much chance of a runaway
The mule would usually
lunge forward and then lay
back until he figured out the
plan. By the end of the day
he’d be doing his share. With
luck Curt could get all of his
mules broken to harness and
his ground tilled at the same
tune Then he would start
pairing up the good ones
matchmg them as to size,
color, characteristics and
work habits, and begin look
ing for buyers.
While most farmers in that
neighborhood clung
steadfastly to the merits of
i (Continued on Page 3g)
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