|
I remember my Dad, a tough little man about 5'3" digging basements for folks with one of these contraptions. He called it a "tumble bug" and it was pulled by a team of horses. The typical basement hole was always much bigger when he finished, than needed, and the pile of dirt that came out, turned into huge hills on either end of the excavation as the horses struggled up the pile and down the other side with my Dad flipping the tumblebug over and dumping dirt at the top, then turning and heading back down the hole for another cut. Lots of cussin' when he hit an imbedded boulder and the thing suddenly jerked out of his grip and dumped itself, but the horses were used to it and never took offence! They knew the drill, and had to work all day without much guidance becase Dad always had both hands on the handles and the reins flipped over his shoulder. As for the color, well, if yours has a nice coat of paint, it sure wouldn't look like the one Dad used, it was scoured to a mirror finish from all the use.
|
