Innehållsförteckning för June 2023 från Farm Collector

Sometime in December, longtime Farm Collector contributor Jim Lacey of Dell Rapids, South Dakota, read a query in our letters section about a dairy centrifuge. “So,” he wrote in a note he enclosed with an article on centrifuges (see Farm Collector, March 2023) “since it was nice and cold here, I bundled up, walked out to the barns at a temperature of 20 degrees below zero and 30mph winds out of the northwest, then walked back to the shop to get an LP torch to heat the combination locks so as to get into two buildings” to take the photos he would enclose with the article. For that, Jim wins the prize for going above and beyond. Had it been me in those conditions, well, it wouldn’t have been me…

The genius of pioneer inventors can confound us. Countless contraptions that revolutionized farming in the 19th and early 20th centuries have become contemporary curiosities, or even mysteries. Here are six sent in by readers. Do you know what they are? Answers to the June 2023 items will appear in the August 2023 issue. Answers for new items in this issue must be received by June 7, 2023. JUNE MYSTERY TOOLS A. Found in a field. Tool measures 7-1/4 by 11/16 inches wide. Marked with numbers 1-7 and made of brass or bronze.B. Tool measures 6 inches long. Wheel (which spins freely) measures 1-3/8 inches in diameter. Teeth are 1/4-inch wide. No markings.C. Tool on left measures about 30 inches tall; tool on right, about 16 inches tall.D. Tool measures 7-1/4…

When the European corn borer threatened to establish a foothold in the U.S. in the mid-1920s, the federal government responded with a massive spending bill designed to stop the borer in its tracks. A portion of that $10 million ($167 million in today’s terms) was used to purchase equipment – including pieces that today are an important part of the John Deere Model D heritage. By the spring of 1927, the corn borer had become well established in North America. The greatest losses occurred in a 1,200-square mile area in southern Canada, where the 1926 corn crop suffered losses of 50-100 percent. The U.S. Department of Agriculture launched an aggressive battle. Bids for 1,240 tractors were placed with companies that could make rapid deliveries, the tractors moving to the infested…

The New Idea 2-row mounted corn picker, a particular favorite with many farmers, was an established institution for decades. Efficient and well made, the picker represented a quantum leap forward from the days of hand picking corn. That said, the mounted corn picker did not do the work by itself. It could take a full day (or more) to mount the unit on a tractor, which was then out of commission for any other task. In the off-season, the picker needed to be stored inside. Once off the tractor, it rested on a stand and was about as portable as Mt. Rushmore. During harvest, the picker’s grease Zerks, chains and sprockets required constant care and attention. In use, the machine struggled in less-than-ideal field conditions. Mud was particularly treacherous for…

I bought my first tractor in 1963. The best I can remember, I’ve owned 21 work tractors over the years. My first tractor was a Case DC, purchased at a farm auction for $50. Then came a Massey-Harris 30, a Ford 960, Minneapolis-Moline Z, Ford 5000, John Deere G, Ford 6000, Farmall C, Ford 7600, John Deere 620, Case 611B, Ford 8600, Ford 9600, Oliver 1600, Farmall Cub Lo-Boy, Minneapolis-Moline M5, Minneapolis-Moline 670 Super, another Farmall C, Oliver 1755, Massey Ferguson 1533 with loader, and another Ford 960. Some of them I used long and hard, some I used mostly as chore tractors and some wouldn’t hardly hold together long enough at a time to use at all. Several were really good tractors, and a few of them should’ve been…

Could it be a Hayes planter? On Page 3 of the January 2023 issue of Farm Collector, Kelly Cawood, Moore, Oklahoma, asked about a planter in his collection. Does it have a cup to it or is it flat across the face? I only have a wheel a lot like those shown in his photo with round spokes and hub that are very similar and a cupped face. My dad used to say it was off a Hayes corn planter. It is covered up right now in our iron pile with snow over it. John Ernst, 3242 Utah Ave. NE, Iowa City, IA 52240 Unrolling and rerolling check wire I have fond memories of check row planting corn. My dad had a McCormick two-row horse-drawn planter. I used to help…

Almost everyone in America knows Elsie the Cow, the bright-eyed, smiling Jersey with a curl between her horns and a chain of daisies around her neck. Yet, few people know the fascinating tale about how the country’s most famous cow became a household name. Elsie first appeared in 1938 as a cartoon-like cow that advertised products for Borden’s Condensed Milk Co. During the late 1930s, three large milk companies – Sheffield Farms Milk Co., U.S. Dairy Products Co. and Borden’s – sold two-thirds of all the fluid milk consumed in New York City. Without outside competition, the companies cut the price they paid farmers who supplied them with milk. As a result, large numbers of New York farmers organized, declared a strike and began dumping their product rather than accept…

Kewaunee County Star-News USA TODAY NETWORK – WISCONSIN The arguably coolest, definitely most interesting and most historic vehicle on the lot at Algoma Motors last fall wasn’t for sale, but it drew plenty of attention. It had to, because you sure can’t miss it. Out on the front corner of the Buick-GMC dealership’s lot on State 54/Jefferson Street was a 98-year-old mechanical monstrosity. It’s “Big Jim,” a 24-75 Minneapolis steam engine built in 1924 by Minneapolis Threshing Machine Co. The engine measures 22 feet long and 12 feet tall, and weighs about 32,000 pounds. The Minneapolis is one of 12 antique steam engines built between 1890 and 1924 owned by 74-year-old Jim Rabas, who co-owns Algoma Motors with his brother, Jeff. Jim inherited the engines from his father, Jim Rabas…

THELMA PRUESS IS OUR FEATURED ARTIST FOR JUNE! Thelma Pruess, the daughter of Steven and Melinda Pruess, Ashland, Wisconsin, is this month’s featured artist. Thelma will receive a Farm Collector T-shirt: Congratulations, Thelma! Have a budding artist in your family? Send your kids’ or grandkids’ farm-related artwork to Farm Collector, and we’ll send a T-shirt to the monthly winner. Send submissions to Farm Collector, 1503 SW 42nd St., Topeka, KS 66609-1265. Please include the artist’s name, age and hometown and a recent photograph. A release form will be sent to the parents of each artist whose work is selected for publication; the release must be signed and returned to Farm Collector before the artist’s photo can be published. For more information, contact us at editor@farmcollector.com.…

Kenny Read’s collection of John Deere tractors in eastern Kansas would be considered an outstanding display at any time, but in 2023 – 100 years after the first John Deere Model D tractor was built – it stands out as exceptional. Model D tractors, after all, are at the heart of Kenny’s collection, which includes the oldest Model D known to exist. “The first Model D was built May 30, 1923,” says Kenny’s son, Justin. “This one (Serial No. 30404) was built on June 3, 1923. It was the fourth one built. Numbers 1 and 2 were taken back by Deere & Co. and destroyed due to main case issues.” The Spoker D – nicknamed for its spoked flywheel – was shipped to Minot, North Dakota, on June 16, 1923,…