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southern MN | The neighborhood got together and did manure days and silage chopping days.
4 of them.
For silage uncle had the chopper, I was a little kid of 5 o so the last time I saw the setup. It was kinda Oliver colors, or new idea, I don't remember green and orange or cream.
Pulled by his Oliver tractor.
After opening the field they turned tge spout (4 bolts) and then the other three neighbors and someone's kid would drive the wagons beside. They were all 100 bu wood barge boxes, converted for silage with the rear removed, sides added on, big flip end gate, and the wooden false front put in and cabled to the pipe bolted on the back.
Was a red long hopper blower, IHC I would imagine. It was belt drive, at our place dad put the Oliver 88 or the IHC H on it. Sure had a long belt on it.
To unload there was a pto shaft that would fit to the pipe on the back of the wagons, spin and wrap up the cable very slowly and pull that false wood front to the back. The other end ran to an old pickup,or car three speed tranny. It is on an old engine cart, I still have it here in a shed. The other end of the tranny went to a tractor pto. So it was 3 speed unload. I think high gear wasn't used.... The very last year my cousin had rigged up an electric motor and sub shafts to replace the tractor for this. I can't remember if they still used the tranny - it did offer a nice 'off' switch with the big gear stick...... No clutch tho so you couldn't shift it in, you need to use the tractor.
Dad liked to chop the corn off the sand hill, as it never yielded much grain. I'm not sure if that was a good thing or not. It was hard to put manure back on the sand; more valuable for the 'good' ground to grow something, so the sand kept getting mined.
Dad quit silage as the silo lost its air tight coating. Couple years later 2 of the others also slowed down, while the forth one got a lot bigger and more modern equipment. Sometime in the late 90s I saw the long silage blower still sitting in the back of that neighbors shed.
I still have the barge box, and the 'conversion' parts are still sitting around in 2 sheds, the extended sides, rear flap, pipe, and false front.
Anyhow, memories of a 5 year old.
Paul | |
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How were the silo's filled days gone by?
