After I left the Farm, I used to go to my cousins in the holidays and help him with his dairy farm and stopped there for two weeks at a time. I used to help him with the mowing, hay turning, but first thing in the morning I had to clean the sheds out, brushing and shovelling and putting it on pile in the yard. The I would go on to the field works. He didn't have his own baler, the next door farm did that. Then we'd carry the bale. We had a bale grab, pitch on the trailer. I did the loading. Bill put them on the trailer with the grab, I put them in place on the back. We used an ex-railway train trailer, just like the one in the picture,
which had a dolly made for it, it was just made from a piece of beam about 3ft 6 inch which went under the axel and pinned to the turntable. A bloke used to make these trailers out of railway vans and trailers and sell them for £250 per time, in the 1970s. I think he had a contract with the railways to buy them and sell them for farm 4 wheel trailers, they were called 'A' wagons. My cousin bought one, and he thought it was a lot of money for the time. The bloke he bought it off was a friend of his, his nickname was winky! Once the trailer was full, we'd take it to the farm and unload it with a Leicester Bale elevator
and Bill and Alan would stack it in the barn. The most bales I ever handled in a day would 3000, which I had tomove twice. Each bale was weighted about 40 lb. %0 bales would equal a tonne. The drier the bales the lighter they were.
which had a dolly made for it, it was just made from a piece of beam about 3ft 6 inch which went under the axel and pinned to the turntable. A bloke used to make these trailers out of railway vans and trailers and sell them for £250 per time, in the 1970s. I think he had a contract with the railways to buy them and sell them for farm 4 wheel trailers, they were called 'A' wagons. My cousin bought one, and he thought it was a lot of money for the time. The bloke he bought it off was a friend of his, his nickname was winky! Once the trailer was full, we'd take it to the farm and unload it with a Leicester Bale elevator
and Bill and Alan would stack it in the barn. The most bales I ever handled in a day would 3000, which I had tomove twice. Each bale was weighted about 40 lb. %0 bales would equal a tonne. The drier the bales the lighter they were. 
6 comments:
'Hay' up Ken
You certainly have had a fascinating life. Your memory of those times is so detailed.
Although your farming days have ended, it is very good that you are still keeping active, as best you can. Or as you said to me: "keeping active in the mind."
It was a great pleasure working with you at the office. I think we had a very pleasant chat. Hope you could understand my accent!
Happy blogging Ken!
Hi Ken,
Thank you once again for sharing your memories with us.
I have learned so much from you with regard to life and work on a farm....you describe it all so well! I look forward to the next installment.....Best wishes D
It really is fascinating Ken - how you remember all this information is astounding! Please keep writing, I'm learning a lot.
hya ken,
i love the nostelgic 'back in the good old days' theme to your blog. its really insightful for a 'spring chicken' such as myself to see how different life once was, not all that long ago!
purkul
x
hya ken,
Thanks for that comment - you made my day!
purkul
x
Hi Ken, it was nice reading your blog. I enjoy seeing you at Mind. You are a very jolly person and a joy to be around. It is nice to remoniss about the past. I do it myself all the time. Take care. See you soon.
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