Changes in Farming

My BIL, Alan, loves old machinery. He recently bought an old combine...which is still working, by the way.

According to my FIL it's probably from the early 1940s. He and his brother had one similar to it in the late 40s and this one was a bit smaller than they one they had, so he thought it was probably from the early 40s.

Anyway, I thought the contrast between this combine and the one that we use today was really striking.

Wooden Pick-Ups

Pulls behind the tractor

Even though this combine had an engine, the engine actually ran the pick-ups (which funnel the crop into the machine to be cut and thrashed. There was no engine driving the machine forward, so it had to be pulled behind a tractor.

Look at all those pulleys!

The combine that we use.

Makes me glad that we live today. The "hopper" which held the grain that was thrashed was only about 20 to 25 bushel. It had to be emptied often, but of course, the yields then were a small fraction of what we get today. The "hopper" on our combine holds over 300 bushel.

I took these pictures this morning on my way over to pick up my van. Hubby was getting it ready for the trip on Wednesday.

This is what greeted me right outside the door, lol.

kittens and mommas

This is only a fraction of the kittens that we have, lol. They were cuddling for warmth early this morning.

We have six momma cats that all had kittens within days of each other. They bore 18 kittens and they all nurse whoever latches on. It's quite humorous as the momma cats can't sit down for a moment without getting mobbed by whichever kittens happen to be in the vicinity.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures of the combines. Hope you're having a quilty day!