[AT] OT: Flashback - Early Farmers Building County Roads

[JParks]

Larry..........pulling a drum behind graders is making a
comeback............we have had several contractors who do road work, and
even the US Forest Service and BLM guys, scrounging up old Galion drums from
the obsolete asphalt compactors.  The drums are usually about 5-6 ft across
and 5 ft diameter, and when filled with water, can become quite heavy and do
a great job trailing graders doing finish work.

The small contractors and operators, who often work either alone or with
little paid help, can look like an Okie caravan of the dust bowl days
driving a grader, towing a drum, and towing their pickup truck all at once.

You can usually pick these old rollers up for just a few hundred bucks, keep
one drum, sell one and break even.

John Parks
Boise, Id
----- Original Message -----
From: "Larry D. Goss" <rlgoss at evansville.net>
To: "'Antique tractor email discussion group'"
<at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Friday, January 27, 2006 7:32 AM
Subject: RE: [AT] OT: Flashback - Early Farmers Building County Roads


> Right, Dean, a Cub with a center blade really is a nice rig to run for
> leveling.  It leaves some things to be desired when it comes to fast
> adjustment for cant.  The model I had was OEM and you had to stop, get
> off, and turn a big horizontal bolt behind the blade to change the
> right/left elevation for cutting ditches.  When it comes to leveling
> without moving lots of dirt, nothing beats one of the new landscape
> rollers on a three-point hitch.  Those things will turn a pothole-filled
> parking lot or driveway into a skating rink by just driving around and
> around.  I'd love to have one of those for maintaining the long gravel
> drive we have at the church, but the next door neighbor at the church
> has one parked on the back lot line of his property that he lets us
> borrow whenever we need it.  That's a no-brainer.
>
> Larry
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
> [mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of Dean VP
> Sent: Friday, January 27, 2006 4:19 AM
> To: 'Antique tractor email discussion group'
> Subject: RE: [AT] OT: Flashback - Early Farmers Building County Roads
>
> Larry/Dudley:
>
> Due to the lack of a loader tractor here several years ago I purchased a
> new
> 3 point reversible scoop made by Lienback out of North Carolina. I got
> it at
> Whiskey Jim's place West of Marysville but it had a Meridian Equipment
> (Lynden, WA) Tag on it. I don't remember now if it is a 5 or 10 cubic
> foot
> version. But I have used it a lot hooked onto my JD 750 compact tractor.
> I've probably moved over 100 yards of material over the years. Huge
> Rocks
> first, then bark, then top soil, then dirt of all sorts, then round wash
> rock for my drainage ditches, then almost anything that needed to be
> moved.
> It still is in pretty good shape and I've abused it some but it sure
> isn't
> worn out.  I use it backwards almost all the time. I have tried to use
> it in
> the forward position and it just doesn't work that good that way in our
> rocky soil. I haven't figured out the right formula I guess.
>
> When I was moving the big rocks I could get rocks in it that were more
> than
> the 750 could lift or where I could keep the front end down. I have a
> pretty
> heavy blade on the front of the 750 too. What I found out is I could try
> to
> lift the loaded bucket enough to take most of the weight up and then it
> would skid to where I wanted to unload the rock. Some of these rocks
> weighed
> several hundred pounds. The scoop handled it fine but the 750 just
> couldn't
> handle the load all that well. The three point hydraulics on the 750
> aren't
> quite as strong as I would like.  I have used the scoop on my 60 and 620
> three points and those hydraulics are strong enough to hurt the scoop.
> But
> it is still in good shape.
>
> I now have a loader tractor but the scoop is so handy it gets used first
> before the loader. In addition to the Lienback scoop I also purchased a
> new
> HD boom, also made by Lienback. I got this also before I had a loader.
> That
> is when I fully realized the hydraulics on the 750 were pretty weak.  A
> boom
> really takes hydraulic power. Now, the boom gets put on to the 620 with
> front frame weights and there isn't much around here I can't lift.
> Plows,
> implements, rear tractor tires on rims, etc.
>
> I kind of laught at myself a bit for buying the HD version of the boom.
> The
> 750 couldn't even get close lifting more than the light duty boom could
> handle but the 620 is an animal and therefore it is probably good that I
> have the heavy duty version. I've had the front end off the ground with
> it
> and there is 350 lbs of weight on the front of it.
>
> We also built a new house on our farm in 1948 in NW Iowa and I remember
> using a slip scoop digging the basement too. As I recall it was pulled
> behind a horse with Dad running it. Like was said, it took three hands
> or
> more. I also recall using a plow to loosen up the soil.  But a loader &
> tractor was used as well. I suspect the slip scoop was used with the
> horse
> because it was easier to scoot around in a tight place. As I recall the
> slip
> scoop generated quite a few more swear words than did the loader. :-)
>
> The odd implement though that I remember the most was an old two axle
> road
> grader on four steel wheels that originally was designed to be pulled by
> two
> to four horses. It had been converted to be tractor drawn and we would
> police all our driveways and roads in the area with it. It had two big
> vertical adjustment wheels on it and a platform where Dad stood to
> operate
> it. He really new how to operate that sucker as he had worked for the
> Iowa
> State Highway Commission during the depression. He would spin those big
> wheels, one way or the other as the terrain changed or needed to be
> changed.
> I took the place of the horses, driving the tractor. The horses though
> probably understood the voice commands better than I did.  :-) It really
> wasn't all that heavy but the blade had just the right cant to it that
> it
> would really do the job. I don't think a back blade on any three point
> today
> would do nearly as good a job. The blade centered between the two widely
> separated axles really helped a lot for leveling things out. Maybe a
> Farmall
> Cub with belly blade would get close but it doesn't have near the wheel
> base
> that is required.
>
> You guys are really bringing up old memories.  My mother must have told
> me
> about this. I'm not old enough to remember this stuff!  :-) The 40's
> seem
> like they are prehistoric times lately. My God, that is before TV!  :-)
> Is
> that BC or AD?
>
> Dean A. Van Peursem
> Snohomish, WA 98290
>
> Forbidden fruits create many jams!
>
> www.deerelegacy.com
>
> http://members.cox.net/classicweb/email.htm
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
> [mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of Dudley Rupert
> Sent: Friday, January 27, 2006 12:31 AM
> To: Antique tractor email discussion group
> Subject: RE: [AT] OT: Flashback - Early Farmers Building County Roads
>
> Larry,
>
> I have one of the 3-pt scoops that I believe you are talking about
>
> <snip>
>
>
>
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> _______________________________________________
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> Remembering Our Friend Cecil Monson 11-4-2005
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