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Combines Old to Modern

C

crayton

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 20, 2007
Messages
70
Location
Washington
Occupation
Don't want one now, retired.
Steve, forgot to answer your question. When the pull machines were first built it took about 5 or 6 men to operate, A driver for the horses, Headerpuncher, the guy that raised and lowered the header to cut grain, a machine man who leveled the machine and looked after it and a sack jig who filled sacks and got them ready for the sack-sower. Then things got modern, the jig and sack-sower were replaced by a bulk tank and auger that offloaded the grain into a truck or bulk wagon. Of course the tractor replaced the horses. Later the headerpuncher took over for the machine man and did both jobs. About WW2 a fellow in Spokane Wa. invented the Hanson Automatic Leveler. It was a mercury board powered by a 6v battery that operated two solenoid valves that operated a vacuum brake can off a truck that moved the lever back and forth to control the leveling gear box to keep machine level. You may have heard of him, R.A.Hanson, He got the idea from the Auto Pilot on Bombers and he built it for his dad who was having trouble finding help during the war. Went on to be a manufacture of large canal digging machinery etc. He stopped by a couple years ago and said "boys,he's 80++, you have got to get those automatic levelers working and buy the way the guarantee is still good". We did and they work as good as new. From this stage with just two men the headerpuncher was replaced with a hyd, cylinder run off hyd from the cat and in effect became a one man operation. Used to operate the unloading auger and straw dump with ropes to the cat. One busy guy I'll tell you. Never could cut as much that way as it took a long time for one man to service both cat and combine and get anything done but help was hard to find so we did it anyway. Some farmers rigged up to operate the cat from the combine using flex cables adjusted so when the steering clutch was pulled part way it released and pull it further it put on the brake. also throttle, clutch and gearshift were operated this way. Some of those guys got pretty catty and it was a sight to see that outfit going across the field with nobody on the tractor. The guys that started this originally did it with just ropes to the steering clutches and would lock the header and jump off and climb on tractor to shift gears to pull a hill and then climb back on the combine again. One day he slipped and fell down and the combine ran over his leg. That stopped that BS. Like I said help was hard to find and we were fighting a war.Necessity is the mother of invention.
 
R

Richardjw~

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2007
Messages
319
Location
South Devon, U.K.
Well given the technological evolution over the past 80 years I wonder where we will be in food production techniques within another 50yrs?

Driverless combines, satellite controlled (which we more or less already have),
on board crop processing (drying to given moisture content) perhaps??

Hope I live to see it......then turn around and talk about the 'good old days' when 'summers were longer, sunnier and happier' :) and the fiver in my pocket bought a gallon of petrol, or two pints of beer but wasn't quite enough for a pack of cigs :)
 
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