Re: farming in the 1950s and 1960s ?

Posted by John in Mich on April 16, 2021 at 17:57:28 from (98.224.238.10):

In Reply to: farming in the 1950s and 1960s ? posted by swindave on April 16, 2021 at 08:08:23:

Wow! Dredging up many memories. You asked.
Both of my parents grew up on farms in mid-Michigan. Farming was with horses. They left farm life in the late 30's and went to work in Flint, Mich. They went back to the farm for a short time as my dads parents needed help.
In 1942, they moved to Ypsilanti, Mich and dad went to work in a Ford factory in support of the the war effort. The B-24 Liberator was being built about 3/4 mile, as the crow flies, from our house. He was at a Ford support factory making parts. (I have an ID card that says he was a certified aircraft generator repairman). I was born in 1943. Dad went to work for Kaiser-Frazer after the war. They were building cars in the former Ford B24 plant.
We lived in Ypsi until 1950 when my parents bought an old farm house with a barn and 27 acres about 5 miles south of the Willow Run Airport It included an old Oliver 70 Hart Parr and implements. The land was low/wet and there was a lot of brush. He started clearing it by hand and my older sister and I dragged the brush to piles to be burned.
Dad had gone to work for Kaiser-Frazer after the war. They were building cars in the former Ford B24 plant. So, he worked secruity for Kaiser and tried to farm in off hours. Kaiser folded about 1953 and dad was layed off.
He bounced a couple of jobs before being hired by Ford at the Warren, Michigan tank plant. A very long drive during those times. Fortunetly, he was only there about 3 months and got to transfer back to the Ford Plant in Ypsilanti in 1954.
Also in 1953 he had acquired the 1951 Ford 8N (which I still have) with an Economy 2-14 plow and two row Dearborn cultivator (they are long gone). That was when I started driving the 8N, cultivating corn and soy beans.
Meantime, I also hired out to the dairy farmer next door driving his Oliver 70 or Farmall H, helping to collect hay and straw and pulling the hay rope lifting 8 bales at a time into the loft.
Dad started renting additional nearby fields and our operation eventually grew to about 100 to 120 acres. Needing more power and a 2nd tractor, dad bought a Famrall H, 2-14 trailer plow, 8'disc and a 4 section spring tooth drag harrow. (literally, drag that down the road to fields a mile away) He also found an old Allis Chalmers 4' cut combine.
He later acquired a Woods Bros Dearborn one row corn picker and a Dearborn 6' cut combine with it's own engine. Wow! 6'! Goodbye A/C.
Through all of this, he was still working at Ford and I was taking on more and more responsibility.
By 11, I was taking the 1950 Chevy pu to the field and and was responsible to maintain tires for all family vehciles (3) and equipment that had tires.
We needed hay and grain wagons so dad and I built 2, 7'x14'. One was frame of and old wooden wheeled wagon that dad put pickup I-beam axles under. It was wagon steer, meaning the whole axle pivited to turn. The 2nd one was also pickup axles but had auto-steer. We auilt 24 high grain boxes that were removable for hay work. (OH! another story for another time)
I basically left home in 1963, coming home from schoolto help when I could.
In 1965, dad had torn town 2 barns and a toolshed about 8 miles from the farm and was using the lumber to build a 24x40 garage. I was home for the summer and working with him.
Oh, Oh! I met a girl/woman. I was 22, she was 25. 6 months later we were married (now 55 years). I went to work at Ford, the same plant as my dad.
In 1966 our son was born and dad was into another project (and still working at Ford). He bought a house in Ypsilanti that had to be moved or torn town to make room for a new hospital.
He had a foundation poured on a corner of the farm and he hired a house mover.
I helped him with the move and the putting of the roof back on (removed rather than $5000 to utilities for dropping wires etc) 24'x 34' move 8 miles in one hour and the rest of the day to get across a 4' deep ditch and set onto the foundation.
My wife and I bought the house in 1967, living there 17 years and raised our 3 childeren. It was fortunate that we bought it. My dad died in 1968 at age 53, second massive heart attack. Mom was left with my youngest sister, 14 years old.
Neighbors thought that I should continue to farm as my father had. Nope, I had enough.
In 1983 we bought 6 acres about 10 miles away and built a new house in 1985. Mom sold the farm a couple years later and moved to an apartment.
Well, you say, end of story. Almost. There is something about owning land and working the dirt. I had no desire to farm BUT, land was/is a magnet to me.
In 1993 I bought, on a land contract, the 6 acres adjacent to our house (then I told my wife) Three months later I bought, on another land contract, another ajoining 5 acres (then I told my wife).
NO! I did not try to farm it. We started planting trees and playing on the property. Annual hayrides and often a recreational fire.
We have since split the land, developed a road and parcels, and sold the property and only have 3 acres remaining. At 78, that's enough. I mowed it today with a new Gravely zero turn. What a breeze!

Replies:

Add a Reply! You must be Logged In to Post Name: E-Mail: Subject: (avoid special characters) Comments: Optional Link URL: Link Title: Optional Image URL: Optional Video Title: Optional Video Embed: Advanced Posting Options Email Notification: If you check this box, email will be sent to you whenever someone replies to this message. Your email address must be entered above to receive notification. This notification will be cancelled automatically after 2 weeks. No political comments, hate speech or bigotry of any kind will be tolerated. Violations will be removed and posting privileges may be permanently revoked without notice.   Advanced Posting Tools   Select Gallery Photo  Attach Serial No List  Return to Post  Upload Photos/Videos Choose Files from your local computer Upload one or more videos to your post. Photo and video filesizes should be less than 5MB. Formats allowed are gif, jpg, png, ogg, mp4, mov, and avi. Be sure to use filenames without spaces or special characters, and filetypes of 3 digits lower case.

TRACTOR PARTS	TRACTOR MANUALS

We sell tractor parts!  We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today. [ About Us ]