- Thread starter LittleD
- Start date
Adirondack case guy
Well-known Member
Looks like there are some women in the pic also.
Loren
Loren
Fred Werring
Well-known Member
Looks a lot like work
When men were men, and the women still cared. When I was young farm wives would have a seven course meal waiting for you at noon. That's counting the cake and pie for dessert. Now days the farm wives have jobs in town to make ends meet. So the men have to fend for themselves at meal time.
banjoman09
Well-known Member
Very cool picture; educate me more.....Looks to be "wheat"? threshing machine comes behind them or they haul this to the farm?
farmerjohn
Well-known Member
I remember my Grandfather telling me the story of his uncle going west to work in the harvest, he had three full meals a day, a large snack between meals, and lost 15 pounds.
Crazy Horse
Well-known Member
Littled ...... where did you find the photo? Any source or location that you could pass along?
neverfear
Member
- Location
- South Central MN
Right click on the photo and search google for the image. Looks like it is from Budapest Hungary.
Crazy Horse
Well-known Member
Neverfear ...... well now, a guy learns something every day. Never knew that little trick. Amazing .....
Case Nutty 1660
Well-known Member
I have plenty of callous's on my hands have had since I was 10 or less,, my body is far from wore out and I am way past 45
Keith True
Well-known Member
On my fathers side of the family they either ran or worked for logging crews.They would get up around three,have a little breakfast,and walk to the woods.They would work until about seven,then have a bigger breakfast.At ten they would have another,then a big dinner at noon.At three they would have a little something,then work until dark.Then they were on their own,they had to walk back home for anything else.If they lived more than 2-3 miles from the jobsite a lot of them just laid down next to the boiler and slept right there.My grandfather was the first one to get away from all that,he sold cars and then worked in the navy yard during the war.Most of those guys didn't live very long.The ones that did got out at 30-40 years old,but were mostly crippled up.
How much area could a good person cut in an hour? Dad liked to tell that as a young man he could take heat until he tried to keep up with an uncle cutting oats with a scythes. Dad wound up puking from overheating. I think he said his uncle could cut close to a half acre an hour.
A two foot scythe by a four foot swing, with a good rhythmic two second swing time, working 75 percent of the time (45 min per hour) would be: {(2 Ft x 4 Ft) x 1800/Hr x .75 efficiency ] divided by 43,560 Sq Ft per acre = .25 acres per hour, Whew!!!!! I could never do it.
What would a horse drawn binder cut? Would a 5 ft binder x 2.5 MPH walking speed cut around 1.25 acre per hour at 75 percent average efficiency?
A two foot scythe by a four foot swing, with a good rhythmic two second swing time, working 75 percent of the time (45 min per hour) would be: {(2 Ft x 4 Ft) x 1800/Hr x .75 efficiency ] divided by 43,560 Sq Ft per acre = .25 acres per hour, Whew!!!!! I could never do it.
What would a horse drawn binder cut? Would a 5 ft binder x 2.5 MPH walking speed cut around 1.25 acre per hour at 75 percent average efficiency?
Danielfire50
Member
Should have a look at "The Scythe Book" by David Tresemer.
Lots of good information on history and using the scythe.
According to the book "Thomas Jefferson's diaries recorded an average of 3 acres reaped a day with a cradle scythe."
Sounds like a lot of ground to cover in one day!
I've have a couple of scythes and once I learned how to adjust and use them properly they have replaced my weedeater and push mower.
Lots of good information on history and using the scythe.
According to the book "Thomas Jefferson's diaries recorded an average of 3 acres reaped a day with a cradle scythe."
Sounds like a lot of ground to cover in one day!
I've have a couple of scythes and once I learned how to adjust and use them properly they have replaced my weedeater and push mower.
1948CaseVAI
Well-known Member
And you were likely dead by 50! Those were not the good old days, those days were horrible! Good riddance to that whole era. Just iistening to my grandfather convinced me I was lucky to be born after mid-20th century.
Steve@Advance
Well-known Member
bradley martin
Well-known Member
Given the height of the grain, I would think that is likely rye that they are scything. I would imagine that fitness clubs were not a viable business in that era!lol
Bruce from Can.
Well-known Member
- Location
- Woodville, Ontario, Canada
I would almost be that photo was taken of either Hutterites , or Dukabour women cutting grain on a colony farm in western Canada, sometime in the 1920?s.
Our family farm had a lot of orchard on it , around the turn of the 20th century. My Great Grandfather grew grain in between the trees. Of coarse Apple trees were very tall then , not like the dwarf trees you see now. My Grandfather had 5 brothers , my Grandfather being the oldest. Great Grand father and Grandfather would cradle the grain, while the younger boys would come behind tying sheaves , and stooking the grain to dry. My dad told me this story. And he also said that after much of the orchard was cut down and a grain binder purchased, his dad would still always cradle the outside round, so the horses wouldn?t tramp it. My dad would go behind hand tying the sheaves. My dad said he could never hope to keep up with his dad cutting, and my dad could tie sheaves really fast. For those that do not know what a cradle is. A Cradle is basically a scythe with a kind of cage on it to catch the cut grain, each swing should yield enough to make one sheave.
Our family farm had a lot of orchard on it , around the turn of the 20th century. My Great Grandfather grew grain in between the trees. Of coarse Apple trees were very tall then , not like the dwarf trees you see now. My Grandfather had 5 brothers , my Grandfather being the oldest. Great Grand father and Grandfather would cradle the grain, while the younger boys would come behind tying sheaves , and stooking the grain to dry. My dad told me this story. And he also said that after much of the orchard was cut down and a grain binder purchased, his dad would still always cradle the outside round, so the horses wouldn?t tramp it. My dad would go behind hand tying the sheaves. My dad said he could never hope to keep up with his dad cutting, and my dad could tie sheaves really fast. For those that do not know what a cradle is. A Cradle is basically a scythe with a kind of cage on it to catch the cut grain, each swing should yield enough to make one sheave.
Crazy Horse
Well-known Member
Neverfear (below post) right clicked it and it appears to be a Hungarian photo ..... at least taken by a Hungarian photographer many years ago. Man, don't tangle with a Hungarian woman holding a scythe.
Andy Martin
Well-known Member
You insinuate women don't care now. Because their husband can't earn a living and they have to go to work in town? I guess if they cared they could run home during their 30 minute lunch and fix a seven course meal.
I have my grandfathers sythe that he used when he was young and still cut grain with a sythe. The blade is worn down by over half. Must have cut a lot with it to wear it out that much. I put the blade on a new snath, and learned how to draw the edge out with a hammer. I've used it a little, but I'm too crippled up to stay at it for very long.I also have a shorter blade that, I was told, was used for cutting hay.
john in la
Well-known Member
I am glad you guys pointed out that is a picture from Budapest Hungary.
My first thought is it was slave labor.
Sure reminds me of pictures of the early 1800's and a cotton field.
My first thought is it was slave labor.
Sure reminds me of pictures of the early 1800's and a cotton field.
Rex Simpkins
Member
Tired Men
Southern Ray
Well-known Member
The closest I've come to doing this type of work is walking into a wet area of the field and cutting milo maze heads and putting them into a sack.
We would then bring those sacks of heads back to the combine for threshing.
What I notice in the picture is all the windrows are laid over to the right. Watching the videos the windrows are laid over to the left.
Is this just the nature of the grain or a technique of the operator?
We would then bring those sacks of heads back to the combine for threshing.
What I notice in the picture is all the windrows are laid over to the right. Watching the videos the windrows are laid over to the left.
Is this just the nature of the grain or a technique of the operator?
when my parents were young they still cut grain that way, daddy said that each stroke of the scythe cradle was laid on the ground then the women and children would come behind tying the cut into a bundle with straw, if you cut to much at a stroke they would have to spilt it into 2 bundles which slowed the bundling, he said if they got to crowding him he would cut more at one stroke than need for a bundle and wouldn't many times to create a little distance between him and the ones bundling, grain matured around the middle of june in our area usually it was getting hot by then, granddaddy said he was glad to see the mccormick reapers come around.
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