Re: Re: O.T---Combine Crews.

Posted by Paul in Mich on May 25, 2004 at 12:36:57 from (68.188.227.110):

In Reply to: Re: O.T---Combine Crews. posted by scotty on May 25, 2004 at 10:40:07:

Scotty, My Grandfather bought a D-4 Caterpillar and a 12 ft IHC combine (similar to the JD in the photo) in 1936. It was the first field combine in our county, and it goes without saying that Grandpa and my Dad did a lot of custom combining as well as plowing. The Homestead consisted of 180 acres plus anywhere from 200 to 400 rented ground, so even for that time, my family's operation was considered large for its day. By the time WWII came about, less than half of the farmers in our area had combines which ranged from 5ft to 10 ft. My Grandfathers 12ft remained the largest combine in our county until after the war and the self-propelled combines hit the scene. Still it was not until after 1950 that the last of the stationary threshers ceased to operate. (That same thresher still exists today and the family runs 2 acres of oats through it every year) Threshing crews still exist, but it is much different than the crews of yesteryear. I myself am part of a threshing crew, but I drive semis' to the grain elevator. The operation I work for has 3 combines in the field, with 4 semi grain trucks with 2 drivers. As soon as we return to the field from the elevator with one truck, we jump in to the first loaded truck and go again. This way, none of the combines have to wait to dump. Each combine is capable of harvesting over 100 acres per day barring breakdowns. I remember that 20 to 30 acres per day was considered good for that old 12 ft side table machine, plus the table had to be folded to move it from field to field or on the road. With steel wheels, 5mph was tops when moving, and the Caterpillar had to be trailered if going further than a mile even on gravel roads.

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