Spam/Phish> Re: [AT] Towing

[charlie hill]

Hi David,  we had some like that here too.  I almost believe those were 
manufactured or at least started out that way and were copied.  We  started 
seeing them about the time we started seeing the first "harvesters" not the 
new, automatic mechanical harvesters we have now but the old ones that 
several people rode on that had the big chain drive front wheel and usually 
a Wisconsin engine pulling it.

Charlie
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Bruce" <davidbruce at yadtel.net>
To: "Antique tractor email discussion group" <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Saturday, September 02, 2006 7:57 PM
Subject: Re: Spam/Phish> Re: [AT] Towing


> 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
>>
>>
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