On 2/25/2019 12:11 PM, Scott Lurndal wrote:
....

Side view of threshing rig (with the Farmall B pulling the hayrack):

http://www.lurndal.org/images/thresh2-300.jpg

And a poor front view with the Farmall M running the belt

http://www.lurndal.org/images/thresh2-300.jpg

All circa 1972 or thereabouts.
....

We never bound/shocked grain crops, only feed sorghum for winter feed.
The stiff stocks with it made for a very nicely tied bundle. I'm still
amazed at how those metal fingers could tie such a nice knot almost
every time. That was a clever designer, indeed!

When/if feed got to be more than about 4-5 ft tall, though, the bundles
got to be awfully difficult to handle when they'd sat in a shock in
field all winter and blown full of sand at the bottom and then with a
snow...

That's really neat to have some of the pictures...I have only a very few
that show any of the equipment or action. There's one of grandfather
(we think) sitting on the wagon with mule team in front of the then
near-new barn (begun after WWI armistice was signed so could get the
lumber to go ahead).

Where is that geographically? Too many trees for SW KS.

We had four M's at the time I first was big enough to climb on one and
reach (with effort) the clutch. They were all wide-front ends.

In the 30s/40s, grandpa had three or four Cat 22s; a 22-drawbar hp
miniature modern-day-looking Caterpillar with the big cast iron radiator
and everything...looked exactly like a D4 or the like that got left out
in the rain and just shrank to about quarter-size. Used them for
rowcrop work with 3-row JD lister and cultivator. Still had one until
the '60s it was sold to a collector/restorer in town and now resides in WY.

I don't recall just exactly when but went to Farmall 400s and eventually
to the 560 (a real dog) before finally Dad made the switch to green with
the first 4020 for row crop. Had also gotten Case 990 wheatland for the
flatwork.

Grandpa as got older but still wanted to do some fieldwork bought a
little AC WD-45 with full line of the "snap coupler" toolbar implements.
In like '58-59 time frame traded it up to a D-17 and I did about half
the rowcrop planting and all the cultivating/knife-sledding with it
until left for college...unfortunately, all that was sold in the
retirement auction when dad retired; he kept only the JD 4440 which
still use for the hay work and mowing, etc., ... All our farmed ground
was put into Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) permanent native grass
at that time as well as all of the rented land we farmed so no longer
raising cash grain crops; "just" maintaining the grass and running some
cattle on that which is now-expired CRP while we decide what to do with
that ground going forward for longer term.

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