[AT] Back on farm equipment! I need help finding... for my farmingoperation

Francis Robinson robinson at svs.net
Tue Jan 30 08:16:50 PST 2007


-----Original Message-----
 This year my need is for root
harvesting machinery. I grow Turnips, Rutabagas, Carrots, Parsnips, Beets
and a number of other root vegetable crops here in coastal central
California


-=-=-=-=-=-=-


	Don't worry, something will turnip...   ;-)   Sorry, the devil made me say
it...     ;-)    ;-)
	I have seen a few of those types of machines at a couple of shows but dang
few. They just were not used around here. I guess there might have been a
few closer around Indianapolis since veggies were grown almost in a ring
within about 5 miles of the city There used to be a lot seasonal vegetable
production here (1940's and 1950's) and canning factories were almost next
door to each other in places. Every little town had one and they were busy.
Most of the harvesting and canning both were by migrant labor. We grew sweet
corn for a canning factory at one time. They came out and harvested it with
an Allis Chalmers picker mounted on a WD. They said it was the only picker
that would snap it off with out tearing it up. I believe they bypassed the
shucking area somehow. They had a "train" of about 6 to 10 Cobey wagons they
hooked together. Now the law limits us to 2 wagons even behind a tractor.
Back in the 1940's my father grew tomatoes for another canning factory. One
time he was pulling a wagon full of maters with a little Model A Ford coupe
and got hit by a train near the canning factory. It was not as messy as you
might think. The engine died while on the track and wouldn't start. He got
out and ran the direction the train was coming from and the train hit the
car in the side. The impact snapped the tongue on the wagon and it just
rolled back down the grade and stopped. The train and car stopped about a
mile on down the track. He said he ran toward the train because he knew a
guy that ran away from the trains approach and was injured by stuff the
train tossed when it hit. BTW, in that impact the train won...   ;-)   They
still do...
	Growing for a canning factory is a lot different than "truck patch" stuff
that is grown for fresh marketing.
	Back in those days almost all of the stuff was handled by migrant labor
(all Mexican here) but there were almost no Mexican folks living in the area
and we only saw the migrant families at the grocery stores (no McDonalds).
Today there more Mexican folks living here than you can shake a "bast'on" at
but not a single canning factory in the area. I think the closest is about
40 miles north east of me and I can't even think of another. I still see a
few fields of tomatoes here but not a lot. Up by George Willer's (northern
Ohio) they grow zillions of them.
	One of my old school teacher's husbands used to have a large pea vining
operation also now long gone.
	I see a lot of those single front wheel tricycle tractors at shows here but
they are almost all imported from other areas. They didn't use to be used
around here at all. In the 1940's and 1950's even wide fronts other than
Fords and Fergusons were rare here. This was 2 front wheel tricycle country.
I suppose those veggie harvesting machines are also in small pockets like
that. If a labor shortage is making you look for some equipment I guess a
lot of guys in your shoes are looking too, possibly all across the country.
It could be a tough hunt.


--
"farmer"
Proud owner of several cordless hatchets and a large collection of
solid-state hammers.

"Axe me no questions and I'll tell you no lies"

Francis Robinson
Central Indiana, USA
robinson at svs.net

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