CHRIS JUDD
Many of man’s biggest breakthroughs in technology only lasted a few years. The typewriter revolutionized the communication industry when writing by some reporters was so bad it was almost . . .
illegible to the newspaper editor who selected the story, to a typed document that everyone could read.
A few years ago, the computer replaced the electric typewriter, and now a cell phone can accept voice and convert it into text that can be forwarded by email
Early vehicles were steam powered on solid rubber tires. Air filled rayon tires with tubes gave the automobile a much smoother ride. The invention of nylon, tubeless tires extended tire life and got us away from 90 per cent of flat tires.
When the first sundial appeared in Rome in 293 BC, it gave man a more accurate way of telling time than just looking at the sun. My grandpa and dad always carried a pocket watch so they wouldn’t be late for meals. Now most people don’t even carry a watch. They rely on their cell phone which automatically changes from standard time to daylight saving time and even changes every time we enter a different time zone/
Back on the farm, there have been some noteworthy inventions that only stuck around for a few years. Steam engines on the farm were as big a hit as the steam locomotive. Now in 2021, not only have both these inventions been replaced by diesel power but the most of the rail lines have been ripped up and farmers are using GPS to guide tractors that used to be kept in a straight line by a good eye.
All the major tractor manufacturers are now testing autonomous electric tractors that our grandchildren will take for granted. Even the caboose and the conductor have been replaced by some electronic gadget except on the passenger train where a conductor runs the show. My dad used to set his pocket watch by when the train passed our farm.
During the 1950s, there was a large movement of our labour force from the country to the cities where there was a never ending increase in industrial and office jobs that paid better than jobs on farms or in small towns.
Farmers and the farm machinery makers were looking for new inventions that saved labour. Little tractors had replaced horses, combines were starting to replace the large threshing gangs and the fun, comradery and the wonderful meals that were served at the harvest tables each fall.
Harvesting the hay crop was the most labour intensive job on the farms. Many a school boy worked some hard days on local farms during the summer hay season. Those young boys didn’t receive big wages, but they were well fed, learned the value of a hard job well done and that the day never ended until the job was finished. Many of these young men gained knowledge of commitment and what could be expected of employees and went on in life to be team leaders, department heads and start their own companies or farm.
With the scarcity of farm help, farmers were looking for a way to take the hay crop off by themselves. The hay loader was being replaced by the hay baler but small square bales were also very labour intensive. My dad used to get all the hay wagons stacked with bales during the heat of the day, but unload them in the morning when it would be cooler for the crew in the loft.
A one man hay machine was invented by the McKee brothers (two Ontario farmers), in 1949. This McKee Harvester was designed to pick up dry hay from a windrow and blow the dry hay into a large 24 x 8 x 8 roofed, enclosed wagon. The hay had to be very dry because it was blown into the barn loft and if it was at all damp it would spoil or even take fire by spontaneous combustion. The McKee Harvester came without knives to cut the stems shorter, but the farmer could buy a knife kit which bolted to the blower paddles and made pieces of hay about six inches long.
The farmer never unhooked the wagon when he pulled it behind the harvester to the barn. At the barn, he hooked the blower on the harvester to the pipes which went into the barn loft. Then the front of the wagon hinged down to meet a door that also hinged down on the back of the blower on the harvester. Then the farmer would manually fork the coarsely chopped dry hay back into the rear of the harvester blower. The farmer had to be very careful not to pick up any stones or anything else that could make a spark when contacted by the big fan. A spark could ignite a fire in the dry hay and burn the entire barn.
The McKee brothers later built a self unloading wagon with beaters that could unload into the back of the harvester without manual work. The long blower pipe in the barn could be directed to any area in the loft and hence fill the entire loft. The pipes on the McKee system were big, about a foot wide and didn’t plug. A field of grain could be swathed to dry and then be picked up with the McKee harvester and at the barn the harvester could blow the dry grain crop into a threshing mill so the grain could go to the grainery and all the dry straw and chaff blown into the loft.
The biggest complaint that an Eastern farmer had about a combine was, the combine leaves all the chaff in the field. With Barn threshing all the chaff from the grain was also blown into the barn with the straw. For animal bedding the chaff is better to absorb moisture than the straw.
Although the forage harvester was much more expensive than a McKee Harvester it could be used to make corn silage, damp haylage, and was much stronger, and faster.
The fun part of being an old farmer is to see what farm invention will come next.
Chris Judd is a farmer in Clarendon on land that has been in his family for generations. gladcrest@gmail.com
