What is it? CL

The hayhook that we used in my youth was shaped a little differently. But all parts are identical in terms of function and purpose. I wiped a little sweat off my brow remembering those days.

862. Can't quite see whether the things the arms move are paddles or chopping blades. However I think they just push the wooden cover in the tub down alternately onto whatever is filling it underneath. Maybe an early clothes washing machine.

864. Looks like it times how long it takes something to move along the upper scale. What though seeing as that's maybe not present. The scale reads down to up so it seems the timer should rise. Does that mean something in the base lifts up?

-- Dave Baker Puma Race Engines

Wes S

863 Weights to keep the power lines steady in the wind.

It would be a curious thermometer that had "distance = spot x 12:1" printed on the side of it.

-- Dave Baker Puma Race Engines

But that is indeed what it is. Search for Mastercool.

I use one all the time in checking temperature while curing the ink while screen printing.

Hmmm... looks to me like the left side of the 'front' table might be in °C (0 to 40°C = 32 to 104°F). The 'rear' table left side looks more like zoomed in comfort zone close up... ( equaling 42.8 to 81°F)

The analog scale at the end seems to have something to do millimeters, as do the tops of both tables.

I keep thinking something to do with adjusting control cable tension... but not sure.

Can anyone translate what the analog end text says?

Erik

863 Stabilizer weight to keep the lines from whipping in the wind. Spoils the natural resonance of the span.

oops, already one day late late this week, so only one silly guess...

greetings from germany chris

--riverman

Four of them have been answered correctly this week, still not sure about the other two.

Links, new photos, and an update from a few months ago have been posted on the answer page:

Rob

If I'm measuring the temperature of a certain part of an engine, I don't want the "spot" to be so big it includes other parts. 12:1 tells me how close I must hold the thermometer.

You're right, I removed the word bale from my answer. Hay balers weren't common until at least the 1940's.

Rob

And are disappearing now. You don't see haybales anymore, instead there are some sort of cylindrical things wrapped in plastic (I think). Probably improves immunity to rain.

Small square bales require too much manpower to move & store a ton of hay. The round things you see are called round bales. They can be different sizes and can weight over a ton. They can be handled by one man and tractor.

Hay balers were certainly around c.1885. A fine example of a horse-powered one is on display at the Heidrich Museum in Woodland, CA (a place very much worth a stop if you get into the Sacramento area). In those days, hay was put into the barn loose using a fork very much like the one pictured. But, if a farmer wished to sell hay, he generally baled it. Loading loose hay into a boxcar would be a real PITA...

OTOH, the fork pictured didn't work the best for bales, mainly because it could only handle a couple at a time. The Grapple Fork, designed in the early 20th century, worked much better. It could also take a much bigger load of loose hay...

Jerry

CBFalconer wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com:

"Round bales" were introduced by New Holland by the 1950s.

"Square bales" dated back to horse-drawn equipment.

The "round bales" gained in popularity as worker availability fell: too big to handle by 1 person, they could not be collected and stacked by a group of cheap laborers the way that "square bales" could. With the passing of the cheap labor supply [Welfare paid better] and shifts in Tax Laws, it became cheaper to simply buy the added equipment to handle the "round bales".

While both are still available, "round bales" - due to their ease if distribution as cattle feed (they're simply unrolled) and weather resistance

- have gained significantly in popularity.

Right now, I know quite a number of people who'd love to buy as much as they can - even at the exorbitant price being charged for the stuff.