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Love the smell of hay

susiesusie Member Posts: 7,304 ✭✭✭✭
edited June 2020 in General Discussion

Fresh mown hay. I also appreciate not having to stack hundreds of square bales on a wagon in the Missouri heat. My dad baled hay for other farmers as I was growing up. I worked my butt off. Started as a driver of tractors pulling a wagon when I was 8 or 9. Graduated to wagon or truckbed duty, stacking hay and then unloading onto the elevator for lofted barns or just tossing into barns.

Daddy hired hands to help as well. They got paid. I didn't. I have plans to eventually put a few head of cattle back onto the farm.

Seeing if editing post brings it back to visibility.

Comments

  • jimdeerejimdeere Member, Moderator Posts: 25,583 ******
    I quit about 15 years ago. My neighbor puts it up now. He has three JD tractors and two of them cost more than his house. We got lucky with the rain and he got it up early.

  • hillbillehillbille Member Posts: 14,121 ✭✭✭✭
    edited June 2020
    used to help my uncle during the summer, he would freeze half a milk jug of water overnight, then in the morning fill it the rest of the way up to drink in the hayfield, only problem was it was sulfur water, smelled and tasted like rotten eggs, you would get so hot and thirsty it didn't matter and would drink it anyway. To this day over fifty years later,the smell of fresh hay brings back that taste in my mouth........... and itch on my back, we put it up loose back then, throw it with pitchfork on wagon, then to barn to throw it up in the loft, about half of every fork full would come back down on you, we couldn't build stacks in the field till the barn was full, doubt you could get a kid to do that today, we never got paid it was just something that was expected and you did because you were told to
  • dreherdreher Member Posts: 8,777 ✭✭✭✭
    You know you were the most expensive hay crew member your Dad had!!  I remember what I was paid to paint our house when I was 16.  We got paid the same amount.     :D
  • KenK/84BravoKenK/84Bravo Member Posts: 12,055 ✭✭✭✭

    I remember days where we would do almost 2000 bales. End of the day, Papaw would hand you a $20. 😥

    I also stacked on the wagon coming off the baler. (Seriously beat picking them up off the ground and having to throw them up on the wagon or truck.) Unloaded onto the elevator or worked up in the barn stacking. The worst of times, the best of times.

    Cutting/spearing hanging tobacco the same.

  • susiesusie Member Posts: 7,304 ✭✭✭✭

    My sister got paid the same amount as I did and she never touched a bale. 😆

  • hillbillehillbille Member Posts: 14,121 ✭✭✭✭
    susie said:

    My sister got paid the same amount as I did and she never touched a bale. 😆

    that would have been worth a black eye or two growing up...........
  • KenK/84BravoKenK/84Bravo Member Posts: 12,055 ✭✭✭✭

    At least you had flat ground. We were in very mountainous terrain. It was not unusual for a wagon not stacked right or tight, that all the bales would fall off the wagon on a steep slope. Nothing better than having to stack it twice. 😣

    Butchdog2 knew one of my relatives who specialized on putting up hay on steep terrain. Hell, we did that almost everytime, working with all the Hillbilly relatives.

    We traveled all over to put up hay on steep terrain.

    Look back fondly on all those times with Cousins, Uncles, Papaw, his Brothers (Great Uncles) etc. Hard work, but good times.

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