Spam/Phish> Re: [AT] Towing

David Bruce davidbruce at yadtel.net
Sat Sep 2 16:57:41 PDT 2006


The version here was two wheeled, on a metal trailer chassis with a 
wooden deck angled from the sides into the middle of the "trailer".  The 
front and back were both made of wood and about 4 feet above the deck.  
They were narrow enough to fit in the field in a "blank balk" (one row 
was skipped during plant setting to make the blank).  Those that ran on 
the county roads often also had a trap as a cover so the leaves could be 
tied down to prevent loose leaves flying.
Mechanical harvesters are now moving in and the design of the "tobacco 
trailers" is changing again.

David
NW NC

charlie hill wrote:
> Al,  the first tobacco trucks I remember were 4 wheeled with a front 
> axle that pivoted under the front of the "truck". (For those following 
> along Al grew up about maybe 60 miles from where I did and I'm sure 
> he's seen these same carts)  The whole rig was made usually out of oak 
> or maybe cypress.  If they were made of pine it was probably heart 
> pine.  Even the wheels were wooden with a metal rim.  They were only 
> about maybe  10" to 1 foot diameter and about 2 1/2 or 3 inches thick. 
> The axle frames were wooden with a piece of iron rod about 3/4 
> diameter fastened to the bottom and extending through the wheel center 
> with a big washer and a nail or something holding the wheel on.
>
> The deck of the truck or cart  (depending on where you live), was a 
> flat wood deck about 30" wide and just above the small wheels.  It had 
> a hole drilled in each corner and one half way down each side. A post, 
> usually made of white  oak, was driven in the holes.  The top of the 
> post had a nail driven in it with the head cut off.  A burlap curtain 
> hung from the nails and encircled the truck to hold the carefully laid 
> tobacco leaves in place. These were made to be pulled by mules.
>
> Later on we went to a "truck" that was about 3 feet wide and had one 
> old car axle under the middle and a tongue to hitch it to the 
> tractor.  They had a bulkhead at each end and a burlap curtain 
> attached to a 1x4 that ran between the bulkheads at the top.  They 
> could be taken loose and rolled down out of the way when the load of 
> tobacco got to the barn.  Most of these were made of pine around 
> home.  They weren't intended to last as long as the old 4 wheel type.
>
> Charlie
>
>



More information about the AT mailing list