SEGMENT: FARM EQUIPMENT
Jack Sarff>UIS Collection S>UIS Collection S, Segment 7
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- FARM EQUIPMENT
- Mentions Kilbourn and Havana's centennial celebrations, where you could see old farm machinery used locally. Describes a cradle and wooden pitchfork and how they were used. Describes hay balers and power balers of the 1930s that went down the windrows, picked up hay and pressed it into bales. Added self-wiring mechanism later on. Describes the round balers of the 1970s that made bales 1500 to 200 pounds in size, a follow-up to the Allis-Chalmers round baler of the 1940s. Compares the chisel plow to the moldboard. The chisel plow cuts deep, which makes it difficult to pull the planter through, but it also does not turn over the weed seed, necessitating an added cost for herbicides. Neighbors decided the old way was the best way. Use of fertilizers and hybrid seeds raised yields by 100 per cent over 30 years; corn crop from 50 to 100 bushels, wheat up to 85.
