[AT] Hey Ralph!

[Dean VP]

As I recall in the 1940's and  1950's  the frost line in NW IA was several feet deep. The last winter
we spent in IA we had 26 days in a row where it never got above zero with typical night time
temperatures in the -40 range.  How deep the frost line went was very dependent on how deep the snow
was on the ground as it acted as an insulator of sorts.  We usually had around 400 head of feeder
cattle  as well as Milk Cows on the yard 24/7/365. So had to have a ready supply of water.  The well
that fed the farm was across a gravel road and maybe 200 to 300 feet from where the cattle tank as. I
distinctly recall that supply pipe freezing up a few times and it was buried several feet deep.  I
don't remember now how deep but I want to say at least 6'.   No water was a disaster with that much
livestock in the yard. So Dad would hire a local mobile welder to thaw out the pipes.  It isn't clear
any more to me how that all worked but it did and we had water again.  It was very common to thaw
things with baling wire and a cob that had been soaked in Kerosene. I don't recall the little propane
torches being available then.  Just the Kerosene blow torch and soldering irons. Man I'm really old
that is almost 65 years ago. And yes we had running water and indoor toiles after 1948 and even had
cars and tractors that ran on gas.
. 


Dean VP
Snohomish, WA

If we can employ guards with guns to protect money, we can and should employ guards with guns to
protect people. Bernard Goldberg.

-----Original Message-----
From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com [mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of
charlie hill
Sent: Saturday, November 21, 2015 5:30 AM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: Re: [AT] Hey Ralph!

The frost line here is published at 8" but I don' remember the ground 
freezing that
deep since I was a boy, more than half a century ago.

Charlie

-----Original Message----- 
From: jtchall at nc.rr.com
Sent: Friday, November 20, 2015 6:04 PM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: Re: [AT] Hey Ralph!

Rare for the ground to freeze real deep here. Often times it will over
night, but thaw on top by mid-morning. I guess the fields were fairly flat
or he would have had trouble with the picker dog-tracking?

John


-----Original Message----- 
From: Don
Sent: Friday, November 20, 2015 9:57 AM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: Re: [AT] Hey Ralph!

On 11/20/2015 8:18 AM, charlie hill wrote:
> Ralph,  is there any chance that just after the freeze up you can get in
> the field and harvest it before it gets snow covered?

Sometime in the mid 50s we had a very wet fall so could not get in to
pick the corn.  This was before combine shellers, we used a two row
picker and stored corn in a crib.   My uncle made skids out of old dozer
blades and when the ground froze enough we used his D4 to pull the corn
picker.  It was not many years later we bought a picker sheller.

A huge corn crib we built was still standing when we visited the farm
last summer.

-- 
Don Bowen       --AD0NB--

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