Paul K. Dickman wrote:

50 lbs is way too light to be for cotton or hay.
From the picture, it looks like the scale the old hardware store used to
weigh nails in. Except it is missing the scoop shaped pan.

Paul K. Dickman

If one were to hang a counterweight on the loop shown to the right,
would that act as a multiplier? A small counterweight would say double
the reading shown on the slider and a large counterweight might let the
scale read say 500 lbs, max?

--Winston