Tuesday "Extra" Pic

That is cool . I saw a pencil drawing of a John
Deere combine loaded on a truck just like that I wish
I could ever find another one .

Well the back truck is a 54-56 and the other one is an early 50s.

that is a great picture!!

And people wonder why DOT was invented.

What's the man on the far right doing?

Shake test for road worthiness? LOL

Wow is that ever a brave load. Both of those truck are out of the
spring chicken class already. Yesterday saw a huge head pulling out of
a field on a trailer with the big green thing just coming up the lane
behind it. A field of beans.

I agree--that is a great photo.
Thanks for sharing!

Those combines were a major investment for those farmers for sure. And could loose it so quick. LOL

Is that what "custom combiners" that followed the harvest looked like back in the late '50's......looks like a '56 Ford in the rear. I had a JD model 95
with a 24' header. What are those, 12s? Take awhile to make your fee with those.

I worked at a grain elevator in Altus, Ok. when I was younger and stationed there (moonlighting)....also washed crop duster aircraft....ugh! When the
custom guys were in the general area we were running 24/7 and had both trucks and railroad box cars of wheat to unload...mighty dusty unloading
boxcars with a power shovel....run up the pile dragging the blade....gotta be quick before the auto pickup starts pulling on the blade. Always hated the
first dozen runs when you had to bend over because the wheat was piled up close to the ceiling.

I have a 56 Ford truck like that one; same
color too. 312 engine, 5 speed trans. 2
speed axle. It was a TRUCK back in its day.
Still runs good, but I need brake wheel cylinders
for it. Another one of those one of these
days projects.

Out in the wheat belt there is a lot more room on the roads and along them by the ditches than there is back east of the river. OK has some of the smaller spaced roads I have run with a wheat crew. TX,KS and north it is pretty wide open. Besides if the radiator screen is pulled most of them were only about 10 feet tall so about 14 feet on the truck.
I worked for a guy from WY that used to load them like that with the side racks lied down between the wheels. He was telling about having a motorcycle along for when it was green wheat or rain days.
The combine wouldn't weight any more than a load of wheat,even less if you had 200 bushel on the truck. Wheat about 12000 combine about 8500 with head.

For what it's worth, the '56 Ford trucks had the wrap around windshield, and the front pillar of the door was vertical, like shown here. I think the one in the original photo is a year or two older.

Like someone said no DOT then, actually the beds are in dump position and probably blocked up a bit .I am guessing it took that to clear the cab with the header . Blow out on a back tire would have been bad news for sure.

Front one looks to be a 1951. The back one is definitely a 55. Beautiful machines, trucks and combines.

Texas Mark or anybody could you describe a power shovel. TIA!

(quoted from post at 22:57:51 11/13/18) Texas Mark or anybody could you describe a power shovel. TIA!

Click to expand...

Power shovel = steam shovel

It consists of a power source (clutched electric motor), a cable, and a board with handles of approximately 4'x4' and fairly heavy requiring you to drag it.

The power source source starts out with the cable retracted. The operator pulls on the cable as far as desired within a certain time line whereby the clutch engages the motor and it starts retracting the cable. When the boxcar is nearly empty, it's no big deal to get the board into position before the cable starts pulling. When wheat is within 4' of the top of the boxcar it is a real chore to climb up (through) the wheat dragging the board and make it in time for the clutch to engage. I have no idea as to the official name for the device. I just called it a shovel as that's what it does.

The boxcar sits on a siding and you use a "hickeydo" that fits between the rail and the wheel to work the car to the unloading chute (works like an old GI can opener), one guy on the hickeydo and another on the brakes. The car comes in with cardboard and 2x4s across the door openings. At the place of origin, the wheat was blown into the car until some metric was reached. At the elevator, there is a pit adjacent to the railroad tracks, similar to the pit where trucks are unloaded.

The unloading person(s), open the door, remove(s) the blockage and an initial amount of wheat falls into/through the grate to a conveyor below it and the conveyor takes it to the silo. When gravity has done it's job, the unloaders, usually 2 at a time, work the car, with the shovels and finish the unloading. I may recall a scoop was used also (like you probably use at your farm to hand move grain) to clean out the last little bit of grain.

Doors are left open, the hickeydo moves the car down the siding and the next one is jacked into position.