D2o—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 14,1984
Tl>e
. V ©airy
a 4 Business
JHewton Bair
MEMORIES OF SOME
MECHANICAL MARVELS
At different periods of my Me I
have had a senes of re-currmg
dreams, most of which I’d rather
not discuss. But there is one
nightmare that keeps cropping up
that should be passed along so that
a younger and more innocent
generation might understand
something about their crusty old
forefathers and how they got that
way It’s the stuff that those re
curring dreams are made of.
“U the age of ten years and the
weight of 65 pounds, a boy was
ready to take on the mastery of a
team of mules, and assume his role
as one of the farm hands. After all,
it must be a lot more satisfaction to
do work with those mechanical
marvels pulled by a real team than
to hoe the garden, pull weeds, or
dung out stables. Did I say
'Mechanical Marvels 9 ’ Well, they
were the best we had ‘way back in
the Twenties before the advent of
the Farmall F-15 and the John
Deere GP.
SELF LOCKING
FEED THRU FENCE
★ All cows can be released at one
time or individually
★ When handle is in lock position,
cow automatically locks as it
enters
★ No more chasing cows
ALSO AVAILABLE
• Standard Free Stalls • Fencing
• Gates (38” - 48" - 54” • Automatic Head Gates
high)
• Automatic Gate Latches
PAUL B. ZIMMERMAN,
Hardware • Farm Supplies
Custom Manufacturing
Crane Service
Papa owned two Syracuse #2078
walking plow. They had sturdy
cast iron beams that refused to
bend. Really good implements for
clean, level soil. Our farm was
hilly and riddled with limestone
ledges. The ledges all slanted
downward at an angle of 60
degrees in a Northeasterly
direction. Plowing toward the
south or west, the plow slid nicely
over the rocks- most of the tune.
But a 65 pound boy was always in
great danger of flying over the
wooden handles when the plow
hooked under a limestone ledge
going the other way. The mules
didn’t like it either, and some were
very smart about rocks. If they
were dumb, as some mules are, a
very expressive language was
developed to help one cope with the
situation.
The cast iron plow point was
always at peril over those rocks,
and often had to be replaced. This
was acomplished with the help of a
'monkey wrench,’ the standard
tool with which you couldn’t farm
* Heavy duty construction
* Stabilizer on bottom of yoke for
extra strength
* Custom built to your specifications
* You can release all cows or hold
cows that need treatment
Box 128 R.D. #4. Litltz. PA 17543
Wood Corner Rd
1 Mile West of Ephrata
Phone:7l7-738-1121
without. A real knuckle skinner, it
was a relic left over from the first
Model-T Ford purchased in 1917. It
was also used to adjust the front
clevis of the plow to make it slide
over the rocks easier when you
bore down on the plow handles.
Only the first time the plow hooked
a rock, the clevis bent into a
permanent veritcal position,
making it impossible to adjust. A
special language was used with the
We had tuur-nuise ior mule;
harrow, which stayed in use longer
than any implement on the farm.
The adjustable curved teeth kept
wearing down, but there was
always more life left if you kept
feeding more curve. We even
learned to cheat by bending the
adjusting levers. Bolts were of
every species and variety,
whatever was handy- if it had a nut
that fit. If an occasional tooth got
lost, we didn’t worry as it always
turned up the next time over the
field. The mower or hayrake were
sure to find it! You always had
your eyes on the ground and you
got pretty intimate with every inch
THREE
SIZES:
SMALL -
For Calves
Up To 15
Months Old
ADJUSTABLE -
For Heifers & Cows
8 Months And
Older (Pictured)
LARGE -
For Cows
15 Months
And Older
INC.
Enlli MISTBLOWERS
3UIII & SPRAYERS
Are Ideal For Spraying Crops,
Orchards, Vineyards and Tobacco
f 3HP& 5 HP
Models Available
★ Spraying distance
LANCASTER COUNTY'S
ONLY DEALER
SPECIALIZING IN
SPRAYER SALES &
LESTER A. SINGER
Ronks, PA Ph: (717) 687-6712
Hours Monday thru Friday 8-5, Sat ByApp’t
Dealer Inquiries Invited
HOSKINS MFG.
HOSKINS
/fufama&c-
D TO
VESTO - jr
WATERERS kj
•ID TOP IU« MOST
zw* u o^s
MODEL HC 14-26"
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K f
V
•P /-
& / 4 x '
/ / x VS
/ •/ ACiHI fQUIPMENT \^3
/ / ,Nr \
* 1
-4GRI
2754 CREEK HILL RD., LEOLA, PA 17540
PHONE: 717-656-4151
★ SERVING PA, N.J. and N.Y.
Store Hours: Mon.-Fri. 7:30 to 4:30; Sat. 7:30 to 11:30 (Parts Only)
of a field in those days.
The old land roller was a
delightful implement. One of the
few tillage pieces that you could
ride! The iron seat was rusty and
loose but it sure beat walking. I can
still hear The melodious tunes
squeaked by its’ unoiled bearings,
set to the tempo of the loose spoke
in the middle drum that flapped at
every revolution. It bounced right
over the hardest clods, and it made
a convenient vehicle to haul off an
occasional rock that was too big to
ignore. Anyway, a plowed field
was never smoother or prettier
than right after it was rolled.
Never mind that the first thun
derstorm fingered a random
design of gullies down every slope
that didn’t have a strip of sod to
hold it.
The other implement that still
gives me nightmares was the
walking corn plow. No other tool
could compete in building muscle
on a ten year old kid, especially
when cultivating on a steep slope.
It took brute force to keep from
BULLS EYE
fOR QUALITY
'
EQUIPMENT, inc.
digging out the row of com,
especially the first time over when
the corn was barelv out of the
ground and the team couldn’t see
the row. If the ground was hard, as
it often was, a dull set of blades
took enormous presure to
penetrate enough for good weed
control. And heaven help you if a
weed was missed the first time
over! The next time around it was
permanently established on a hard
ridge that defied any attempt to
cut it out. I was either get out the
old hoe or settle for weedy com.
There were other mechamcal
marvels sixty -odd years ago. The
best of all was the three and one
half horsepower Hercules gas
engine that we used to power the
washer, butter chum, wood saw,
fodder shredder and a few other
jerry rigged pieces. It never wore
out, and I’m proud to say it has
stayed in the family and is alive
and well. Modern machines should
learn a lesson in durability. Some
of those other marvels I’d rather
forget.
teMSP Machine Work ft,
fwc / Welding & fccrj), -±_|
Farm Supplies
, Hardware
CUSTOM BUILT WOOD &
COAL FIRED BOILERS
• Welders & cutting torches
• Custom made farm gates, etc.
• Custom built high pressure washers
• Stainless steel, aluminum and spot
welding. . UPS Service
HIGH TENSILE WIRE FENCING
PLATE SHEARING AND
PRESS BRAKE WORK
■ D.S. MACHINE SHOP
■ DAVID E. STOLTZFUS
■ 3816 E Newport Road
■ Gordonville, PA 17529
I 1 Mile East of Intercourse on Rt 772
ONLY ONE OF THE
MANY MODELS AVAILABLE
COMPLETE SYSTEMS.
EQUIPMENT. SALES,
INSTALLATION, SERVICE FOR
CATTLE. HOG. POULTRY
AND GRAIN