hurleyjd
Well-known member
In 1946 or 1947 My Father and two of his brothers cut and baled a hay meadow owned by their Sister Lil Osborn. I will try to explain the operation as follows. Uncle Carl cut the meadow with a horse drawn sickle mower with a four foot bar. After the hay was cured they borrowed a baler that was powered by a horse. The transport wheels were taken off and the baler set on the ground it was maybe forty or fifty foot long on the ground. Set up in shade for evening work. The horse walked in a circle at the far end of the baler opposite of where the hay was fed in walking in a circle pulling a lever that powered a bell crank that moved the plunger head back and forth. There were wooden blocks made with grooves that wire were fed through to tie the bales. A block was placed between each bale. The bale hooks in the baler would catch the block and keep everything from backing up. My Uncle Earl drug the hay to the baler with a sulky rake and My Father and Uncle Carl fed the baler with pitch forks.The wire being used was in a long bundle and place along side and inline with the baler. My cousin Ladale Hurley would poke a wire through the backside of the block that divided the bale and when the next block showed up that divided the bales I would poke the wire back through on the front side of the block and Ladale would tie the bale off. Two wires for each bale. My Father paid me a penny a bale for my work. I made $7 that summer and bought a pair of Yellow Acme cowboy boots. My older Brother Cecil drug the bales and stacked them away from the operation and kept the horse walking. Each brother divided the bales equally. I can remember this as it was yesterday sure wish my mother would have taken a photo with her Kodak for history's sake.