Spam/Phish> Re: [AT] Towing

charlie hill chill8 at cox.net
Sun Sep 3 11:13:00 PDT 2006


That's right David, those 4 wheeled "truck" I described earlier in the 
thread were sized to go down between 2 rows of tobacco behind a mule.  The 
"blank balk" or "5th middle" as we called it came along with tractors.   My 
first tractor job was also "trucking" tobacco with a B Allis at age 5.  Then 
I graduated to a D10 when Daddy bought it in  '59.  By then I was 9 and was 
soon spending the whole day, on saturdays or when there was no school, in 
the seat of the D10 plowing or discing.

Charlie
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Bruce" <davidbruce at yadtel.net>
To: <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Sunday, September 03, 2006 1:30 PM
Subject: Re: Spam/Phish> Re: [AT] Towing


> Your memory is just fine.  Here they were called tobacco sleds.  The first
> I remember was a narrow version that was pulled in the field by a mule -
> it would fit between the rows so no "blank balk" was needed.  My grandpa's
> mule would pace the man cropping the row next to the sled so it was always
> available for "unloading".  Later a wider version, requiring the blank
> balk was pulled in the field by a small tractor - Allis B, JD M or 40,
> Farmall Cub, 100, etc or one of those "pesky" Fords or Fergusons <g>.
> My first tractor driving experience was trying to pull a sled in the field
> with an Allis B.  Never could manage the clutch so the B was switched for
> the Allis D-14 (I was so small I had to depress the clutch, knock the
> tractor out of gear, release the clutch and then step on the brake.
> David
> NW NC
>
>> Hey Charlie & others---help me see if my memories from 8-10 yrs of age
>> are in the ballpark!  What I remember (from the early 50s, Wake County,
>> NC, was a tobacco "sledge"---or "sled"??  just a long skinny box on
>> runners..???  Pulled by a mule, and then later on by a JD M.   BTW, the
>> M's exhaust manifold was a wonderful device to watch those big ol
>> tobacco worms squirm on!!
>>
>> GeneW
>> Elgin, IL
>>
>> charlie hill wrote:
>>
>>> 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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>>>> Remembering Our Friend Cecil Monson 11-4-2005
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