"[SMF]" wrote in message
...
On 4/20/2010 3:48 PM, Colbyt wrote:
I bought 2 bales of straw at Lowes for a seeding project. Surprise the
bale
was bound with baling wire and not string. I am 60 years old and never
seen
baling wire used and I worked on the farms a lot as a youngster.

What type of modern combine uses wire? Is it a regional thing?

I am curious.

Colbyt



I've seen it used, in the past 20 years, in the west.

Here in Southern Utah, the ranchers used so much of the baling wire that
when they took it off the bales, they tossed it in piles to keep their stock
from becoming entangled in it. I have seen piles of it larger than four
pick up trucks, and ten feet high. At first, I couldn't tell what they
were, so got out of my truck to go investigate. I do not know if they sold
it for scrap, or, like any rancher, didn't throw anything away. On some
ranches, there are four to six of these humungous mounds.

But I, like you, thought that they used twine now instead of wire, probably
for cost considerations, as well as safety for the stock.

Steve