Farm scenes

[jonny_redhorse]

On a weekend ride last month,I came across this old hay rake(i think it's a hay rake but I'm not a farmer)..passed by it many times but finally figured I take a photo of it......countryside's full of these old "memorabilia"....sometimes make for some nice photo captures...jonny

[Steve Foss]

Jonny, it's a manure spreader, used to scatter cow [PoorWordUsage] all over the fields. Guess that makes your guess a "crappy" one.

Pretty image.

[MARINERMAGNUM]

yeah,looks good!

how many times in life do you get to say,"thats a purdy manure spreader"?

[Dotch]

You really have a wonderful flair for capturing the nostalgic when it comes to the farm of yesterday. Aside from the artistry, like your barn and other old farm building pictures, this one gets me wondering about matters such as what those times were like, who were these people that hacked out a piece of the woods, and where did they go. There are so many abandoned building sites and old pieces of farm machinery scattered across the country up north; each one has a story to tell.

The spreader you photographed is a ground drive model and was very likely originally horse drawn. Hard to tell because of its age and condition, but there also was likely a seat on the front of the spreader where the driver sat, reins in hand. If I'm not mistaken, one of the levers in front was to engage/disengage the mechanism driving the beaters and apron chain and the other was to control the speed at which the apron chain pushed the manure towards the beaters, governing how heavy the [PoorWordUsage] was spread. When it was really cold, my guess is they ran it faster!

And, manure spreaders truly are a thing of beauty, especially when they don't break down and you've unloaded that last load for the day or the season. Thanks for sharing the great picture!

[Steve Foss]

Dotch, my grandpa used one not unlike this (though grandpa's had rubber tires) when I was growing up on the dairy farm near Eastman, Wis. There was a conveyor floor in the spreader that moved all the manure back to the spinning tines. You DEFINITELY did not want to get too close to the spreader when it was doing its thing. I believe his operated off a PTO, however, not driven by tire rotation.

[jonny_redhorse]

Lol!..I certainly stand corrected! (my origins had more to do with logging then farming)...old implement still used on hay... slightly processed(via the animal!...lol!)... ....we learn everyday I guess.....glad everyone enjoyed the photo...jonny

[Dotch]

Those pto spreaders had to be the real deal when they came out with them. Up until about the mid to late 40's, most spreaders were ground driven. The lugs that appear to be on jonny's rear spreader wheels are partially what make me think it's probably ground drive. There are also small wheels on the front partially hidden in the grass which would've been attached to the steering apparatus & pole for the horse eveners. Never seen a pto on a horse I guess. As tractors replaced horses, some spreaders were converted for use with tractors but they remained ground drive as there generally was no easy, inexpensive way to convert the drive itself. Operations were getting larger already too so in the 50's, larger pto spreaders (a whole 100 - 150 bushel!) came into vogue here and worked well even on slop from feedlots or hard packed manure from calf pens or sheep manure. Unfortunately my spreader is no longer amongst them after this season. Guess what I want for Christmas?

Had to laugh last winter after staying overnight to see a musical at the Chanhassen, we headed home and stopped at the store in Hope to get a little feed on the way. While we were sitting there, some guy with a team of horses and manure spreader appears, crosses the road, drives down through the road ditch, engages the beaters, yells "g'dap!" and takes off down the field. Talk about a contrast in cultures! Not to hijack the thread but jonny's pic sure brings back a lot of history and memories.

[FISHINGFARMER]

Great old-time farm shot!

Thanks for sharing. Johnny, how could I search in this forum for other rustic farm scenes that you have shot lately? Would like to see some if I could possibly.

About the ground drive spreader, these are still in use around amish communities.( really nice site to see )

[Redstormy]

Great shot Jonny, that is an old one too. I think they are made of steel now days. Love the field too

Red