[AT] off topic , really confused

[John Hall]

There is a hay hook hanging in the old shop, guess it was left over from 
the wire tie pitch fork fed baler days. To be honest scares me to be 
riding a wagon hanging on to something like that!

John

On 8/14/2016 9:50 PM, Cecil Bearden wrote:
> JJohn:
> Can I suggest something?   I can't move more than 3 bales now due to my
> back problems, but at one time I stacked over 1200 bales on a truck and
> put them in a barn in a typical 16 hour day...   Try a short hay hook.
> I would grab the farthest wire with the hook, then hook it with my
> gloved hand, shove my hand left as far as possible, then hook the bale
> at the right end between the closest wire and the long side of the
> bale.    It took me longer to type this than I can do it.   I also used
> a short hook that we used to call a "cotton Hook"    We made a lot of
> our hooks out of old sulky or scrap rake teeth and a piece of 3/4 inch
> black pipe.  The hook shaft would go between the first and second
> fingers of the right hand.  You learned how to place a bale and not move
> it again.   It is an art and since round balers, it is an art that is
> becoming lost very fast...
> I wonder if there is a youtube video of stacking hay.
>
> Cecil in OKla
>
>
>
> On 8/14/2016 7:47 AM, John Hall wrote:
>>     Not really wanting to get into this discussion but  I will add to
>> something Spencer said earlier. As my son is getting old enough to do
>> real work, I am having to find (and it ain't easy) the patience to teach
>> him. Yesterday we were baling hay, I had him packing on the wagon. He
>> knows the pattern well from riding the wagon with me. Now he has to
>> learn the technique. Anyone who has ever packed bales knows that you
>> don't sit a bale down and then scoot it into place--it doesn't work that
>> way, tries to spring back and loosens the pack. I never realized until
>> recently how long I have known that, or how how many bales I had to
>> handle until I learned that. It's slowly sinking in to his head. Also
>> techniques of putting a bale on the next layer before finishing the
>> current one just because its physically easier to clear a bale that is
>> not there.
>>
>>     I don't use any of the straw or hay we bale, I sell in small
>> quantities to the end user. Truth be told, most folks cannot pack bales
>> properly--they were never taught.  What is more shocking to me is how
>> many teenagers can't quite get the concept of handling bales. Some of
>> them ain't figured out  you don't grab it by you fingertips and hold it
>> away from your body and tote it 100 ft out of the barn to the trailer.
>> Then again I suppose that is a much better workout!
>>
>> To sum up, I find my time to get work done is always in short supply.
>> But if I don't choose the less efficient path of teaching my son instead
>> of doing everything myself, I'm running my farming operation (as small
>> as it is) wide open headed off a cliff.
>>
>> John Hall
>>
>> On 8/12/2016 9:06 PM, Spencer Yost wrote:
>>> Its hard sometimes I know - trust me I understand.  I hire local teenagers on the farm just to expose them to the lifestyle and hard work in the sun.  I promise they will brag about hauling hay in July, just like we do, one day.   Their performance sucks, but truth be told mine probably did do.  The baton we pass is a funny, fickle thing.
>>>
>>> Spencer Yost
>>>
>>>
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