How they used to collect hay in the old days

gryphon1911

Hall of Famer
Location
Central Ohio, USA
Name
Andrew
1) Hitch Up The Horses To The Wagon
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2) Hook up the machine
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3) Run it through the fields and have it pull up the hay
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4) guy in the back uses pitchfork to put hay onto the wagon
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5) smile for a job well done
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Hey All,

Hmmm...

I don't understand how that machine fastened to the back of what we in Montana called a hayrack picks up hay unless there are some rotating tines that pickup what passes beneath the horses hooves and hayrack. Or maybe there are guys pitchforking hay onto it so it delivers hay onto the rack. Then of course you have to unload that rack - somehow.

Irrespective it looks to me like you end up with really crappy hay - mostly stem very little leaf which is the nutritious part.

Suffice to say my grandparents used horses well into the 50s and even into the 60s a bit. Horses start tractors don't always. I had many hours holding onto the reins of a team of horses when we fed hay off a rack just like that one to hungry cows and sheep during Montana winters. Later I steered and drove the tractor - I was about age 6 to 12. I remember well my grandfathers team of horses. My other grandfather also used horses but not as much mostly for running the overshot stacker.

It was a great way to grow up.

-Ed-
 
There are rakes on the back of the device. The rakes pull the loose material from the field and on to the back, which has a conveyor system that pulls it to the top. My monitor at home went down, so once I get a new one, I will post some additional images that show the back of the device.

There is another machine, closer to the barn that they use to unload it.

I always seem to mess it up, so correct me if I am wrong, but hay is for eating and straw is for bedding???
 
Hey All,

The difference between hay and straw... Well I think most would consider straw to be the over mature stalks of cereal grains and some other crops after the - generally - seed heads are harvested. Hence we have wheat straw, barley straw, oat straw, canola straw, etc. You are right that generally straw is of such low nutritional value (protein, digestibility=energy) that it is usually used for bedding type purposes. That said some feed straw as part of a diet especially if hay is in short supply but usually with a protein supplement to help digest some of the straw. Hay usually includes seed heads prior to maturation and is generally for feeding if of high quality but really low quality hay can be used as straw if there is enough good quality hay around.

Hope this helps as I did not want to dive into an extensive explanation of ruminant nutrition (different than monogastrics like man and pigs) on this the wrong forum for that kind of thing.

I look forward to seeing pictures of the other side of the machine...

-Ed-
 
Yes, it helps, and I understand that it can get quite complex. Thanks for the information, it is much appreciated.

I also hope that the additional image helped you see enough of the workings to get an idea of its functionality.
 
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