Hay Hauling

What do you think of when you consider hauling hay?

hot

sweaty

dirty

tiring

long days

pray for clouds

fresh air

cool front to move below 100 degrees

water 

bale loader

Now I know this is difficult to see but it is a loader for hay bales.  It attaches to the side of a truck and as you drive by it picks up the hay bales and takes them to the top via a chain with small spikes in it to secure the bales for the ride up.  This may seem like a small thing but before this contraption it was a lot more difficult.

Prior to the hay loader (above) there was another hay loader and it looked like this: Yes, young folks who could run along a moving truck picking up hay bales and throwing them (called bucking hay) onto the truck where another one of these folks would be stacking the hay.  You see it use to take three to four people to load a truck.  One driver, one stacking on the back and two running along side with one on each side.  Now stacking sounds easy but those were large flat bed trucks and you were moving so you had to make sure you did not get thrown off when the truck hit a hole or rut.  No wonder we could never gain any weight and our parents did not worry about us gaining enough weight for football.  Back then we did not have any girls playing football (side note).  We would have loved to have them as there were a lot of guys who would willingly tackle them, just kidding.  

that girl in red is my wife at the Pumpkin Patch that use to be in Edmond, our farm.

I know it is a little hard to see but the hay bale on the right of this picture is a straw bale and the easiest of all hay to haul.  Typically in Osage County we hauled alfalfa or prairie grass hay which would weigh between 50 and 80 lbs. and most likely close to 80 lbs. per bale.  Anyway, you should understand that hay loader was like going from a phone that had to be plugged into the wall to a mobile phone.  Not only did it save one to two people from having to work to load the hay but it saved two backs (get it).  It was hard work especially when the temperatures got up to about 100 degrees.

Now this is going backward but prior to hay bales (made by a hay baler see picture below) you had to load the hay with a pitchfork and pile it:

square hay baler

hay stacked with pitchfork

Old fashioned round hay baler

Well what did we learn from this lesson on hay hauling?

1. technology can be a real time saver

2. hard work is good for you and makes you appreciate things

3. it might be hard for you to see but free enterprise and that Osage ethics makes life better

4. I love where I grew up!

Thanks for your time,

gary@thepioneerman.com

Take a rest to day and smell the roses.  Lay outside and smell the air.  Walk through those fields and visit the Osage.