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Post by zanygame on Mar 4, 2023 16:54:59 GMT
Hmm, very interesting. Actually to be frank with you it does not surprise me in the least. I live out in the country and the local farmers are really dense. I believe our industrial decline set in most likely before the beginning of the 20th century. This is why the Americans took over and we are now so poor. The same was repeated for the invention of the jet engine. It was the Americans who foresaw the revolution to come in cheap passenger flights. We invented it and made nothing. Americans have a more forward-thinking brain. The tractor has been measured to give 40x the production. Why would you not use one? Because most small farms couldn't afford to buy one. Also they didn't want to deprive so many people of their livelihoods. A tractor can replace 10 ploughmen and their horses and work for longer without needing rest. It was non-agricultural necessities and free tractors that accelerated the move from horses to mechanised farming. By the 'tractor' do you mean the steam engine? They took over from the horse in the 1850's |
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Post by zanygame on Mar 4, 2023 16:57:02 GMT
My uncle & aunt bought a farm in 1960, their first tractor was a Little Grey Fergie and it was working all the time. It was the first motor vehicle I ever drove aged, nine or ten probably. They had other bigger tractors over the years but they kept that Little Grey Fergie until they retired. Aunty absolutely loved it. When I was a lad the manager of Chivers farms had a little Fergie, he used to let us lads drive it round the yard as a treat after we helped out on the farm. Happy days |
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Post by Baron von Lotsov on Mar 4, 2023 17:07:27 GMT
Hmm, very interesting. Actually to be frank with you it does not surprise me in the least. I live out in the country and the local farmers are really dense. I believe our industrial decline set in most likely before the beginning of the 20th century. This is why the Americans took over and we are now so poor. The same was repeated for the invention of the jet engine. It was the Americans who foresaw the revolution to come in cheap passenger flights. We invented it and made nothing. Americans have a more forward-thinking brain. The tractor has been measured to give 40x the production. Why would you not use one? Because most small farms couldn't afford to buy one. Also they didn't want to deprive so many people of their livelihoods. A tractor can replace 10 ploughmen and their horses and work for longer without needing rest. It was non-agricultural necessities and free tractors that accelerated the move from horses to mechanised farming. Yes as I expected. We have Luddite tendencies and love the past/hate change. |
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Post by Baron von Lotsov on Mar 4, 2023 17:08:45 GMT
Because most small farms couldn't afford to buy one. Also they didn't want to deprive so many people of their livelihoods. A tractor can replace 10 ploughmen and their horses and work for longer without needing rest. It was non-agricultural necessities and free tractors that accelerated the move from horses to mechanised farming. By the 'tractor' do you mean the steam engine? They took over from the horse in the 1850's Yes. It's replacing human power with mechanical power. |
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Post by Red Rackham on Mar 4, 2023 17:16:43 GMT
My uncle & aunt bought a farm in 1960, their first tractor was a Little Grey Fergie and it was working all the time. It was the first motor vehicle I ever drove aged, nine or ten probably. They had other bigger tractors over the years but they kept that Little Grey Fergie until they retired. Aunty absolutely loved it. When I was a lad the manager of Chivers farms had a little Fergie, he used to let us lads drive it round the yard as a treat after we helped out on the farm. Happy days Yes, long time ago but they were indeed happy days. |
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Post by Montegriffo on Mar 4, 2023 17:21:59 GMT
Because most small farms couldn't afford to buy one. Also they didn't want to deprive so many people of their livelihoods. A tractor can replace 10 ploughmen and their horses and work for longer without needing rest. It was non-agricultural necessities and free tractors that accelerated the move from horses to mechanised farming. By the 'tractor' do you mean the steam engine? They took over from the horse in the 1850's Not in any great numbers they didn't. Most farms were still using horses at the start of WWII. Ploughing with steam engines was pretty inefficient. They were too heavy to work the land by towing a plough or a cultivator directly behind them unless the land was bone dry and had to work in pairs using winches to move a plough back and forth between them. |
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Post by Montegriffo on Mar 4, 2023 17:25:12 GMT
Because most small farms couldn't afford to buy one. Also they didn't want to deprive so many people of their livelihoods. A tractor can replace 10 ploughmen and their horses and work for longer without needing rest. It was non-agricultural necessities and free tractors that accelerated the move from horses to mechanised farming. Yes as I expected. We have Luddite tendencies and love the past/hate change. It takes a cold heart to lay off men who have worked with you for generations. Pre welfare state laying off a man meant real poverty for him and his family. |
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Post by Montegriffo on Mar 4, 2023 17:38:46 GMT
When I was a lad the manager of Chivers farms had a little Fergie, he used to let us lads drive it round the yard as a treat after we helped out on the farm. Happy days Yes, long time ago but they were indeed happy days. The oldest tractor still working on this farm is a 1950s Fordson Dexta. Still needed because it has a pulley wheel (rather than a PTO) to drive the threshing drum and the corn grinder which are both belt driven. There is also a Fordson Major which may come out of retirement as it also has a pulley wheel and it will mean that the Dexta can remain in the threshing shed while the major takes over the grinding duties. It's only in the last few years that the Major was parked when a teleporter was purchased making the hydraulic forks on the Major obsolete. This is a similar aged Dexta although it looks in better condition than ours.  |
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Post by Red Rackham on Mar 4, 2023 17:51:44 GMT
Yes, long time ago but they were indeed happy days. The oldest tractor still working on this farm is a 1950s Fordson Dexta. Still needed because it has a pulley wheel (rather than a PTO) to drive the threshing drum and the corn grinder which are both belt driven. There is also a Fordson Major which may come out of retirement as it also has a pulley wheel and it will mean that the Dexta can remain in the threshing shed while the major takes over the grinding duties. It's only in the last few years that the Major was parked when a teleporter was purchased making the hydraulic forks on the Major obsolete. This is a similar aged Dexta although it looks in better condition than ours. My uncle had a few tractors over the years. I remember one was orange with a long steering column, another was blue, so I imagine it was a Ford. As kids we had lots of fun on the farm, but looking back and I'm sure you agree, it was a dangerous place to play, especially years ago when safety was less of a concern than it is today. |
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Post by Montegriffo on Mar 4, 2023 17:52:23 GMT
Ah, found some photos of the Dexta in action.   A break in the action while we wait for the belt to go back on the binder. It amazes me that the belts don't come off more often but it's actually very rare.  |
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Post by Montegriffo on Mar 4, 2023 17:57:23 GMT
The oldest tractor still working on this farm is a 1950s Fordson Dexta. Still needed because it has a pulley wheel (rather than a PTO) to drive the threshing drum and the corn grinder which are both belt driven. There is also a Fordson Major which may come out of retirement as it also has a pulley wheel and it will mean that the Dexta can remain in the threshing shed while the major takes over the grinding duties. It's only in the last few years that the Major was parked when a teleporter was purchased making the hydraulic forks on the Major obsolete. This is a similar aged Dexta although it looks in better condition than ours. My uncle had a few tractors over the years. I remember one was orange with a long steering column, another was blue, so I imagine it was a Ford. As kids we had lots of fun on the farm, but looking back and I'm sure you agree, it was a dangerous place to play, especially years ago when safety was less of a concern than it is today. It's funny going from the farm where belts are unguarded and we often work 20' off the ground on wobbly straw stacks to go and work at Sizewell where every morning starts with a health and safety lecture and working more than 3' off the ground requires a safety harness and several risk assessment forms.  |
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Post by Orac on Mar 4, 2023 18:02:54 GMT
This is all well and good, but I fail to see what farming has got to do with tomatoe shortages
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Post by Montegriffo on Mar 4, 2023 18:03:28 GMT
I remember one was orange with a long steering column, Probably a Nuffield or maybe an old Massey Harris like this one....  |
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Post by Montegriffo on Mar 4, 2023 18:05:16 GMT
This is all well and good, but I fail to see what farming has got to do with tomatoe shortages  Ps A tomato is like a disappointed raver. It has no e. |
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Post by Orac on Mar 4, 2023 18:08:46 GMT
This is all well and good, but I fail to see what farming has got to do with tomatoe shortages Ps A tomato is like a disappointed raver. It has no e. oopps |
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