My Grandfather was a pioneer when it came to farming and was one of the first or maybe the first in the area to buy a tractor. It was a Moline, I think a 1919 model. He planned on out performing the horses but most farmers kept using horses into the 1940's.
My wife’s dad worked most of his life in the woods, until the 1970s he still had draft horses he used. Even when he bought the first skidded he kept the horses for certain areas. He had some crawlers too he’d use.
Also my grandfathers brother who I grew up next door to his farm still had horses into the early 80s. He did not use them for work but could not let them go. That was probably the most gentle pair of work horses I’ve ever seen. Loved to work and also loved to please the handler. I remember as a little kid feeding them carrots and they would kneel down to get them, never have seen that again.
That was my oldest Uncle on the tractor and my oldest Aunt with the bicycle. There were 9 kids in that family. I think Grandpa was taking the picture. He also developed the picture. My father also used to develop pictures when I was a little boy.
I think of them, once in a while, when I'm using my cordless drill to zip 4" star tip screws into wood. I remember seeing slotted screws, almost that long, at our old farm. They musta had wrists as big as my thigh... n that's big...
I saw an old advertisement from 1939 for a plat being developed around here. They were still moving dirt with horses then, which surprised me. Those are slip scrapers, right? So, if construction companies were using horses 20 years after Dennis's Grandfather bought a tractor, it makes sense that the farmers would be. Also used some mechanical power on the job. No guess as to why the horse teams were doing the dirt moving as well as the truck and crane. Is this why they call it the good old days? Yes, it's an advertisement, and they guy seems to being a lot of self-promotion, but I liked they way they worded the intro. People don't talk like that anymore.
Cool! My dad told me, my grandfather (mom’s dad) was one of the first in the area to buy a chainsaw. He remembers helping cut wood with a 2 man hand saw and the Pioneer really changed that. I still have that saw, thank goodness! It’s a 1959 610. Would be really neat to have pics like you do.
