Peaceful and healing

I won't mention "Sickle Bars" again although I have mowed many an acre with them, and will mow many more, because that seems to cause a ruffle.

I have just come in from raking a field of Alfalfa after dark, and it is the best medicine you can buy. I was on the old 2000 with my NH 55 raking and the Tick Tick Tick is a wonderful melodic sound. I am so happy I can raise hay as a part time job. It has to pay its way but by understanding my market of Horse buyers, I have clustered a bunch of buyers.

My haymaking is a part of me that will always be there. I love it and I will do it until the day I die but it will always bring some of the best of days and some of the worst of days.

The old stuff may not make hundreds of acres but it still does tens of acres just fine. Making my living with it and enjoying it is two different things. I bet that message is still clear on the west side of Watauga lake as well. Know your customer and treat them with respect is a key to STAYING in business.

Sorry for being so long but raking that hay just made my day....

Brother and I farmed 400 acres with dad's old "88" and a Cat model 3T D7. No air conditioning or stereo. Those were some of the best years of my life, but they are gone now and probably always will be. With each passing season I get a little more tired and less enthusiastic to try to get back into harness.

I thnk the best times were when the grain just started popping through the ground and you could see an endless carpet of green. A real close second was when the harvest came and the now golden crop would flow like a river from the spout of the combine. Kind of put a finishing touch on the labors of the year.

Thanks for the memories.

It has been a pleasure to exchange these posts. Thanks for the thoughts shared.

I *love* my sicklebar no matter what anybody says, love to rake, plow, plant and harvest. I'm glad to hear there's others out there that feel the same way about it that I do.

enjoy life!
tom

We used to have a 14t john deere baler, mostly pulled behind a 60 low seat std JD, or one of dad's 4020's.

Now I have 17 acres of my own, including a patch of dirt about 1/2 acre in size that used to be a riding arena. I love using my 2N ford, and the 6ft 3pt hitch cultivator in the evening on that dirt, the smell of fresh turned soil is sweet perfume.. And Nope, there's no horse apples to make it sweeter right now... ;)

I'm sad to see that one of my favorite tractor jobs is now almost obsolete up here with the move to minimal tillage farming.

I loved spending hours summer fallowing land to kill the weeds with a John Deere 4020, and 21 Ft chisel plow. It was always cool to try and make the straightest job with the passes, and the tightest turns possible at each edge of the field. I'd challenge myself to only overlap one shovel on the cultivator, so as to get through the field quicker, and not burn too much fuel working ground that had already been worked.

I also remember one spring we used a set of harrows on a 35 or 40 ft drawbar pulled with a John Deere R, and there is nothing compared to the view from the Seat of an Open R, pulling strongly up a hill across a freshly seeded field, and coming in from the field with a fresh coat of dust covering you from head to toe...

Thanks for the memories, just typing this post, gave me a lift for the rest of the day.

Lyle.

So, haven't had the joy of it yet, but looking forward to it. Bush hogging the fields so far since the hay equipment is still in need of work - tired, old equipment acquired cheap - but even bush hogging has it's rewards, especially on a clam, wool summer evening watching a sunset.

South-central Washington state, Massey Ferguson 35 diesel, NI-30 sickle, Ford 503 rake, and JD 214WS wire-tie baler. The mower is the bottle neck right now - still needs work.

So far, only the gophers and ground squirrels, and too much cheat grass in my new field have dampened my enthusiasm, but I know there will be the days when the hay is down and the wind sends it all into adjacent fields, or the rains comesw to dampen it. But, that first bale out of the baler will make it all worth it.

Some of us city raised kids must have just a little dirt in our veins too!

Thanks for the pleasant encouragement Jerry!

If it's in your blood it never leaves you. There is a connection to the land that I fear many people will never feel, and those few that do will never forget it.

I'm that way about plowing.

Nice message.

--->Paul