Cunningham Hay Crimper History

Colin King

Well-known Member
I'm looking for a little history on the Cunningham Hay Crimper and the company that built it and licensed the patent.

Thanks!
Colin, MN
 
(quoted from post at 13:23:57 11/16/14) I'm looking for a little history on the Cunningham Hay Crimper and the company that built it and licensed the patent.

Thanks!
Colin, MN

Dad had one. I started pulling it with the WD Allis before I was 10 years old. I hated that machine. It had small wheels and tires and any little hole or rut and the rolls would be in the dirt. You wanted a handful of shear pins with you. This was about 1963. That's all I know. Dad had a pair of deflectors made so he could use it to make a windrow but I don't remember as he ever used them. I do remember one time it coming into the yard dragging a length of log chain. Probably before I was old enough to start running it. I have no idea how they got the chain out but I can well imagine.
 
We too,like Nebraska Cowman, had one when I was a kid, and,it was my job to run after Dad mowed a few rounds.It worked fairly well,and it did shear bolts a lot,until Dad showed me to run engine at pto rpm on the tach!I was 8 yrs old! What I hated was when hay wrapped up on the lower crimp roller,and I had to cut it off. I had to use a linoleum knife for that.
It did speed up hay drying,so it paid for itself in that respect,but you had to have a knack for running it;like how you made turns and watch out for wads of hay before you ran over them. My Dad and Uncle bought it in the early '50s and it got used until the '80s when metal fatigue set in and it started breaking bars in rollers.I can not remember where Dad said they bought it.Mark
 
Would it a ray cunnigham and son machine? If so, I have a manure spreader manufactured by them. Dad and I restored it a few years ago....kinda spendy to do, but works great.
 
Can't tell you anything about the company, but a local IH dealer used to sell a lot of them around here. Meyer, NI and the Cunningham were the big sellers around here. I remember that the Cunninghams worked well on upland hay, but did not work very well on the tall, rank, Black River Flats canary grass. They were constantly plugging up. Could pick out the Cunningham owners up and down the flats, becuase they spent more time laying on the ground behind the things cutting plugged up hay off the rolls than they did running the them.
 
Wow I'm glad you guys brought this up. I had heard they were the best of those old fashioned crimpers.I've got a shot at a john deere that has sat out and hassnt been used in 20 years but i dont know what its worth.
 
I have seen them advertised but that is all, don't think they made it to this area of Ohio. First one around was a Vermeer and did not work good. New Holland was brought out to deliever, was so bad dealer took it right back and brought out a McCormick That both us and Uncle used for years. First one we bought was a Deere No. 1 worked good till it gave up, got an Allis worked good but did not quite do the job of the Deere, done about same as McCormick, Followed it up with a Deere No. 22, bad mistake, worthless design, went back to using the AC till got a Case 555 mower-conditioner. Neighbor had a Meijer mower-conditioner combo for a year, never worked. Finally figured out you had to have a 7' cutter bar for them to work and first years did not have those 7' cutter bars, that Yetter might have worked with a 7' cutter bar. Am now 71 so been around hay making longer than conditioners were around here.
 
Search: Ray Cunningham and Son MFG LaCrosse WI
or Cunningham Hay conditioner
There is info in archives this site.
 

I never would have guessed how much company I had when I was lying under one of those cutting the grass off the lower roller with my pocket knife. That is what I know about the history of them. Maybe we should have converted it to 3 pt. so that we could pick it up at the end of the swath.
 
In the heyday of hay conditioners, I think about every concievable design was developed and tried. Some worked okay, some worked well in certain types of hay and not well in others, and some never worked at all. I would venture that a lot of modern cuss words were invented during the hay conditioner era! (and a whole strip mine full of jack knives were worn out cutting hay off the rolls of those things!)
 
Thanks, Dunner; I did a Google search for the Cunningham Hay Conditioner the other day. Lots of results for used machinery and a few hits on ebay for manuals. I'll do some digging in the archives here and see if I can refine my google search with your info.

Much appreciated!
Colin
 
Sounds like we need a Cunningham conditioner recovery group!

Thanks, everyone, for your help and input.

My Dad ran across some information in the Winona, MN historical society a couple of weeks ago on the company and this got us curious. I guess the Cunninghams had some connection to SE Minnesota. I'll do some more digging and if I come across something, I'll post it.

Thank you!
Colin, MN
 
I don't know any Cunningham history but have a Cunningham crimper that I use. I mow one day and run it thru the crimper the next day. Saves rolling around on the ground with a box knife under the back of it if you let the hay wilt a bit. I use it to knock the due off in the morning to get the hay to dry quicker also.
 
Take a look at this
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/3105338.pdf

Also tractorumbrellas has a full page ad for one from the 60's? You can ever read it if you enlarge.
 
I don't have that brand but I just did that to mine this fall. The
other thing the 3 pt does is allow you to raise the rollers and run
the machine to throw out the clogs. Haven't used it yet but I know
it will work.

Just took the 3 pt frame off an old blade scraper I wasn't using. A
little scrap steel and time and walla.

Mark
 
That's pretty neat that you have a direct connection. Did you know the family when you were growing up?

Colin
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top