Picture Album for Today

John B. · Jun 3, 2013

Ok everyone I'm clearing out my one file and making room to scan more so I'm posting the last of some picture which some of them may be reruns if so I apologize. I hope you enjoy them and will have more coming soon.

John B. · Jun 3, 2013

Can anyone say why the flat belts were always so long between the threshing machines or shellers and the tractor powering them?

Ronald Anderson · Jun 3, 2013

One reason was to minimize the danger of fire with dry strw and dust.

twostepn2001 · Jun 3, 2013

Like Mr. Anderson said, get the power unit further away from the dust and straw, but also to get the proper twist in the belt so it would wear evenly on both sides.
At least that's what a old timer told me once.

John B. · Jun 3, 2013

One thing that I just remembered after I posted my question. The fact that the belts were so long is the weight of them is what kept tension on the pulleys without having the pull the belt tight.

Dave_Id · Jun 3, 2013

I was wondering the same thing while looking at those pictures.

gtractorfan · Jun 3, 2013

The good part had to be the comradery of team effort of all the guys, the good meals the host wife served and the satisfaction of what they accomplished at the end of the day. The downside, the dirty sweaty work. The good old days- like a woman bearing a child the pain is forgotten and the joy of having a new family member is remembered.

Mike Aylward · Jun 3, 2013

A threshing machine would require a fair amount of power. The reason the longer belts were used was to help eliminate slippage of the belt when the higher power was required. A longer belt, due to it's own weight, will transmit more power than a shorter belt will. A shorter belt is more likely to slip. Mike

Anonymous-0 · Jun 3, 2013

I believe the length of the belt was figured out in times of the steam engine so sparks were farther away from the thresher due to fire.

Wheat Farmer · Jun 3, 2013

The Bad News, Bad News was that a lot of the Men back then smoked, but during harvest they chewed. Think about all the chances of any kind of a spark.

JerryS · Jun 3, 2013

Every summer for four years when I was a teenager my dad and I worked for a contract baler. Dad and I cut the hay using Dad's tractors (Ns) and the contractor ran the rake and baler. We were on a different farm every day.

The hay fields were mostly small acreages owned by the rural folks in our area. Wouldn't really call them farmers; few row crops. They just ran a few cattle, and hay was whatever came up in the field. Even so, hay cutting/baling day was a big social event to late 50s country folk, so practically every day Dad and I got invited in to eat at the family table at noon. They really went all out with the fixings, too. Great memories.

GVSII · Jun 3, 2013

(quoted from post at 06:46:08 06/03/13) A threshing machine would require a fair amount of power. The reason the longer belts were used was to help eliminate slippage of the belt when the higher power was required. A longer belt, due to it's own weight, will transmit more power than a shorter belt will. A shorter belt is more likely to slip. Mike

Bingo- belt just hung on to the pulleys better,less slipage.The sag in the belt absorbed shock load.When shock load passed the belt would slap against itself.

LA in WI · Jun 3, 2013

I was just starting to drive tractors as the threshing era was closing out. Our threshing ring had a "D" JD powering a big Woods Bros. machine (you could pitch bundles in from both sides). One day an elderly farmer from across the road (not a ring member) walked over and leaned against one of the lugged back wheels of the D and watched the goings on. He farmed with horses and did not like tractors. After a while he told my uncle "That JD is almost shot, it is only hitting on two". The old man was dead serious.

To this day, when I hear a popper running I think of that description.
LA in WI

gene bender · Jun 3, 2013

You put the twist in the belt so the machine would run the right direction. Afew tractors did have the pulley that would run the machine correct. Long belts kept the tractor away from the machine so the wagons could pull up to the feeder also the longer the belt the less tension was needed and sometimes they would drive a post to keep the belt from flopping JD was bad due to the two cycls

Craig45 · Jun 3, 2013

Guess they knew that too much sun wasn't good for you. All seem to be wearing bib overalls and long sleeve shirts and a straw hat.

Dick2 · Jun 3, 2013

Partly for protection against sparks and partly to keep the horses as far away from the tractor as far as possible. Look at Pic #3, the horses are afraid of that belt. I've never seen horses driven in that direction so close to the belt.

We always drove the horses in towards the machine; they weren't as afraid of the rumble of the thresher as they were of the belt getting close to them. If the belt "slapped" together; it could scare the horses into running away.

SweetFeet · Jun 3, 2013

John B.,

All neat photos.

I especially like the shelling pic. Even though we did not begin farming until 1986, my husband always cribbed/shelled corn. Will have to dig out some pics to scan and post them sometime.

John in Nebraska · Jun 3, 2013

Long sleeves and keeping the sun off the head were just normal back then. Baseball caps didn't get popular til after WWII. Another thing, suntans, were not acceptable til after the 1930s when Hollywood started using color film. People, women especially did not intentionally get tanned, was not considered normal by society. If you were burnt red, it meant you did labor outside, or were too dumb to cover up.

twostepn2001 · Jun 3, 2013

Gene, guess I should've said it better, but I meant the "inside out" twist so the belt ran on both sides for even wear.

Anonymous-0 · Jun 3, 2013

many hands make light work!

Fred from MO · Jun 3, 2013

I agree with your statement. Back in the 70's we had a rather wealthy lady who lived next to my grandparents who had grown up as a rich kid. She was in her 90's. She always wore a big hat and long shirts when she worked in her rose garden. She once told me, the lord blessed me with white skin, why would I want it any other color? She said being burned or tan meant you had to work outside for a living. Funny how trends change with the generations.

NEKS · Jun 3, 2013

I heard that some farmers did not want a 2 cylinder tractor on a thresher because of the uneven pull.

BarryfromIA · Jun 3, 2013

Now your know the origins of the words Farmers Tan.

Picture Album for Today

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