IH Tractors on Montana Farm

[twostepn2001]

12 hours ago, Old Binder Guy said:

I'm not certain how much larger the D-11 Caterpillar is compared to the D-10. It seems that after they get big, they're just BIG! The difference may not be outward physically? It could all be engine and power train?

l just asked a friend on FB that works for the CAT dealer in Tulsa, Okla. He said a basic D-10 is 700hp, the D-11 has 850hp. The overall track carriage on a D-11 is 21 inches longer than on a D-10. He also said there are lots of internal differences like clutches and hydraulic pumps. Here is a pic he sent of a D-11, D-10, D-9, D-7 and D-6 side by side.

[Old Binder Guy]

Some photos of bundle (sheaf in Canada) or shock (stook in Canada) loaders. I don't know if McCormick built any or not, but I'd bet they did! Dad said they had one back in the day. It sped up the process in the field when threshing was going hot and heavy. 

This was a bundle loader that I photographed at the Tyler ranch at Eddies Corner, Montana back in the 1950s. Gary😉

[twostepn2001]

Another mule question....  The  pics with the teams of 30 some odd mules pulling the old combines posted here and there, wonder how many men it took each morning to harness that many mules and how long?  Also, did they leave the mule teams harnessed all day? Or did they switch out teams during the day? And l'm sure they got watered and fed at least during the crew's lunch break..?  Just curious about different stuff today.

 

[Old Binder Guy]

23 hours ago, twostepn2001 said:

Another mule question....  The  pics with the teams of 30 some odd mules pulling the old combines posted here and there, wonder how many men it took each morning to harness that many mules and how long?  Also, did they leave the mule teams harnessed all day? Or did they switch out teams during the day? And l'm sure they got watered and fed at least during the crew's lunch break..?  Just curious about different stuff today.

 

twostepn2001, I'd be curious too, how many it took to get them harnessed, and unharnessed at night. I'd assume they treated the animals well during dinner's (noon) stop. I'm quite old. Not a heck of a lot younger than Anson was. But I wasn't blessed to be there to watch them harvest with horses and combined harvesters. I have an example of one outfit in central Montana that harvested in that manner. But again, that was long before I was born.  Gary😉 

EDIT: The photo in central Montana below of the Allen Brothers combining.

[Old Binder Guy]

I think it was 2011 when I posted these two photos of a McCormick Deering Farmall F-20 at the EDGTA National Show at Winfield, Kansas. Extremely Sacrilegious.

This contagion has now spread to Helena, Montana. How unscrupulous can McCormick-Deering owners get anyway? This old 10-20 has been red ever since I moved to Helena. Likely someone died and a grandkid took over? And a "PINK" mailbox?? I guess I'm getting too darn old... Gary😬

[iowaboy1965]

21 hours ago, Old Binder Guy said:

how many it took to get them harnessed, and unharnessed at

All of em!

[twostepn2001]

Well looks like it's getting close to time to start enjoying all the holiday foods and treats. But if you're not able to cook for some reason, no problem!!   Here are some "tasty" stuff to enjoy during the season!!

For a quick lunch, just open a couple of cans of pumpkin spice flavored Spam!! (the meat kind, not the e-mail kind)

Or for a mid afternoon snack while plowing or pushing snow, just grab a few potted meat flavored Twinkies.

And for desert or a late night snack, grab a hand full of some Spam filled Oreos cookies!!

Want a new side dish to go with the Christmas ham? Well look no further than a can or two of Dr Pepper flavored beans!!

ln the mood for some ice cream?? Nothing better than good 'ol French's mustard ice cream!!

[MacAR]

2 hours ago, twostepn2001 said:

Dr Pepper flavored beans!!

A friend of mine had us over for supper back in the spring, and they had those. They are, bar none, disgusting. 

Mac

[Old Binder Guy]

twostepn2001, your Spam items didn't excite me very much. But I've been eating REAL Spam since the early mid-1940s. I have four cans in the pantry right now! Every once in a while I get an urge for my world famous health food sandwich.

Recipe: Two slices of multi grain bread, slather some Miracle whip on one side of one, and add this!

I think some of the most appreciated Spam I ever ate was about 15 days after they removed the stage 4 malignant tumor from my skull, palate and my left upper jawbone, I was allowed to eat "semi solid food." That butterscotch pudding tasted great too.

I had to do a selfie holding the spam at our little apartment where Sharon had slept while I was in the hospital for 11 days. My arm is where they got my "new palate" to suture into my upper mouth. And a patch came off of my left leg to cover my arm. And notice that 8-16 IHC Mogul on my shirt!

But there's a crowd of Spam chef's here in the Helena area too. My dentist is the leader of the pack. He has all sorts of spam recipes. However, he was enviously jealous that I toured the factory's museum in Minnesota. Back in 2010, when I stayed at the "Byrne Bed & Breakfast," Roger took me there! (My dentist has a photo of me there too!)

While I was touring the factory, Roger snapped this photo of me visiting with a couple of troops and General Eisenhower, discussing the blessing Spam was to our troops during WWII. And mostly women operated the plant during the war too. Ike said that US "flying boxcars" parachuted out thousands of cases of Spam over Russian cities during WWII. They had no source of protein there.

And keeping this page on track, here is a little upright steam engine that had powered some kind of machinery in the factory that I'm inspecting. Gary😉

PS: I got this notice on Facebook:

[twostepn2001]

5 hours ago, Old Binder Guy said:

. I have four cans in the pantry right now!

OBG don't misunderstand me!!  lol  l love Spam!!  Guess l have perverted taste because l like potted meat and vienna sausages too!!  One of my favorite Spam recipes is to chop it up into small cubes and mix it with some frozen au'graten potatoes and then fry it. And l have tried "your" recipe of sliced Spam and Velveeta cheese. Love it!!  One story l read many years ago was about a Navy C-47 loaded with cases of Spam heading to a Marine base somewhere in the south Pacific crash landed on a small island and was abandoned. The natives of that island got the cases of Spam and they loved it. So to get their help in locating downed US airmen the Navy started dropping cases of Spam weekly to the natives in return for their help.

[MT Matt]

Spam is pretty good, don’t know why I never buy it. My Aunt made a casserole with diced spam, onions, potatoes and cream of mushroom soup covered in shredded cheese. 

[MT Matt]

I finished my fall plowing this morning. Had a little headland strip that was blocked by 6 round bales. The bales shipped yesterday so I finished the field and moved the W-9 and McCormick model 70 home. 

It snowed just above our elevation last night, you can see it on top of Bald Mountain in the background.  About 20 of this 30 acre field went under.  I’ll plant orchard grass and alfalfa there next spring.  The last ten acres will get broke up next fall.

I used the SMTA and a Case 4 btm plow at a couple other fields over the weekend.  This is a more comfortable combination and runs a little faster then the W-9.  I plowed a little under 50 acres this year  

I spent some auction sale money today also. Bought a tandem New Holland rake setup. This will cut my rake time in half next summer!

Its located in Ennis, MT so a bit of a ways away to pick up but the price was right for a hydro-drive unit.

And finally, the A earned her keep a couple weeks ago digging taters. 

I dug four types and put almost six 5-gal buckets worth in the root cellar. So that’s my fall work wrap up of IH tractors on this Montana farm!

[Loadstar]

Spam, or the various other 'potted meats" are something I never get tired of. During busy seasons when I'm in the tractor or combine all day I'll live on spam and pickle sandwiches. Or spam and tomato if they are ready to eat. 

I'll throw in a picture of a stook loader from Canada. Manitoba I think. 

[Old Binder Guy]

On 11/2/2022 at 8:00 PM, Loadstar said:

Spam, or the various other 'potted meats" are something I never get tired of. During busy seasons when I'm in the tractor or combine all day I'll live on spam and pickle sandwiches. Or spam and tomato if they are ready to eat. 

I'll throw in a picture of a stook loader from Canada. Manitoba I think. 

Ralph, Thanks for sending along the photo of the "Stook Loader." It looks remarkably like our "Shock Loaders!" 🙃🙃😁😉 Gary

[VacDaddyt]

Engine cooked food reminds me of the crew that was tiling my farm. They dropped a can of beans down the stack but did not take into account the green blue clay they were going to run into. It blew everything into the field when the exhaust temp shot up. Boy they were hungry then.

[Mike H]

aint nothing better than setting on a log in your favorate trout streame and cracking open a can of spam for a snack

 

Mike

[twostepn2001]

23 hours ago, Art From Coleman said:

Some of the cementers, tool operators, or treaters, would have their own little BBQ pits that they had made out of a short length of 9 5/8 or 10 3/4" casing.  And the frac crew(s) if it wasn't catered, most camps would have their own BBQ trailer, anything from a little two, or four wheeled trailer, on up to one camp where they had made an old flatbed into a pit.

l have one of those BBQ smokers made out of some "18 inch casing that came off a rig. Not real big but it will smoke a good sized ham or a turkey.

l know a guy that does catering to rigs and pulling units. He stays really busy going all over west Texas and eastern New Mexico. Art From Coleman , you may know him. His name is Steve Chaney and his catering business is named Cactus Catering.

[Tubacase47]

Tubacase47 has returned; I've been off for several years as I forgot my password and was having trouble getting in touch with someone who could help me out; I finally succeeded a few minutes ago.

I talked with MT Matt Wednesday evening.

 

[Tubacase47]

We are coming up on the 16th anniversary of OBG''s nonsense as he calls it; actually, I think it's one of the most informative threads on the internet.

Now I need to have him post a picture of me and why I call myself Tubacase47; Gary, I think you know the picture I'm thinking of.

[iowaboy1965]

Good to see you back Tubacase! I agree I love this nonsense. Hope oldbinder guy and everyone else is having a good day. 

[twostepn2001]

40 minutes ago, Art From Coleman said:

since Joe Allen's closed

Art, far as l know Joe Allen's is still in business. He has moved though. He used to be on Treadway street (hwy 83) but to S. 11th street. (hwy 36).

 

44 minutes ago, Tubacase47 said:

Tubacase47 has returned; I've been off for several years as I forgot my password and was having trouble getting in touch with someone who could help me out; I finally succeeded a few minutes ago

Glad to see you back!!  Not sure what all you've missed on here but there has been some great debates about stripedy vs. pokey dot engineer caps and the Mississippi Missing Melon Mystery. And of course Gary and Roger are still trying to teach us "uninformed but curious" about steam and the big wheel tractors.

[Tubacase47]

 

I have stayed in touch with Gary by phone and whenever I go to Helena I try to stop out at Farmall Kid's place for an hour.

I've been an avid reader of the thread even though I could not post so I'm up-to-date on what OBG calls nonsense.

Art, I saw your mention of McCook;  I grew up just 30 miles SE of McCook on the Kansas side of the state line and I remember when that area was a hot bed of oil activity.

[Tubacase47]

Our family farm is 12 NE of Oberlin.  I don't remember the Halliburton yard and I lived in or near Oberlin from birth until 1974.

I went to the Norton toy show twice since I came to Montana.

[Old Binder Guy]

5 hours ago, Tubacase47 said:

Our family farm is 12 NE of Oberlin.  I don't remember the Halliburton yard and I lived in or near Oberlin from birth until 1974.

I went to the Norton toy show twice since I came to Montana.

Tubacase47... Keeper of the "odometer" for this thread. I'm so glad you finally found a way to get back on here to join in our fun! I'm thankful you made it back. You've been gone for years, here. However you did visit me at Silver Creek occasionally!

This is how Tubacase47 came into this world. Born in a tuba! (don't ask me how!??!!!)

I didn't know Tom back then. This is about the time we became acquainted. He's driving some model of a "chicken roost" Case tractor in a parade at Choteau, Montana back in 1991.

I think I took this picture of Tom leading the parade at Choteau in 2012? I believe it is a 500 Case?

Numerous times since he's been off line with Red Power, he's come to Helena and finds time to come visit me at Silver Creek.

In August of 2019, on our threshing day, Matt Eisenbacher aka: MT Matt came and brought his own pitchfork so he wouldn't be putting wear on my bundle forks. Tom Railsback often comes for the threshing and was here that day.

I like this view of threshing.

This is nephew Randy and Matt pitching bundles into the threshing machine.

Sometimes IH Tractors on a Montana Farm get in on the threshing scene too. Mike's Farmall M, Toot was hauling drinking water to the Case steam engine.

Matt was one of the ones who took turns steering the Reeves when they disked the cropland after we'd threshed.

Matt pulling the disk in straight lines!

Now, Tom or Tubacase47 did something that really touched my heart. While Mike was commanding a Kandak in Afghanistan in 2018, Tom drove the nearly 100 miles to use Mike's IH 300 Utility to mow the dry grass to eliminate much of the fire danger at Silver Creek.

Since Veteran's Day is up and coming in a week, Son Mike in Afghanistan is the reason Tom Railsback mowed the dry grass at Silver Creek.

His Bronze Star authorized by the USMC Colonel in Kabul, overall commander of the Kandak of Afghan National Army Soldiers, Montana National Guardsmen, US Marine Corps troops. A Montana National Guardsman pinned Mike.

This was Mike's Kandak and their T-72 Soviet Union (left behind) tanks. 

Oh, and since Tom was born in a tuba, he also grew up with them. I think he said he owned 7 of them?? I took this with our 15 hp Case steam engine several years ago.  Gary😉

 

[Tubacase47]

Thanks Gary for the kind words.  The last picture is the one I was thinking of.  That's my 1895 era King tuba  which I bought for $50.00 in 1970.  I've a couple professionals play it and the said it's a great horn.

Something else musical:  today is the 168th anniversary of the birth of the March King, John Philip Sousa; he was born on November 6, 1854 in Washington D.C.  I'll listen to several of  my favorite Sousa marches including The Stars and Stripes Forever, our national march.

On the topic of the odometer, I predict that we will reach 1000 pages around thus time next year.