OT 20 Horse Power, Really

[20cows]

When "20 horses" meant twenty horses!

[Blaine]

Thanks! That's really cool.
Is that TERRY on the back of the rig?

[pokey]

those were the days.

not a hi-rise or subdivision to be seen.

[kimwcook]

Wow. I can only imagine what it'd be like running that team all day. Just holding the reins would be a work out.

[Pete44ru]

That pic bring to mind the old "20 Mule Team Borax" ads of yesteryear - when I wuz a "yout" !

.

[Marc]

I lived in that area many years ago. The world would be a better place if it still looked like that!

[44magHunter]

Horse power is a pretty funny term. If you think about it, there is now way my dad's 250 HP pickup truck could ever match the power of 250 horses. They would just pull his truck right out of the way.

[bogus bill]

Today that area is solid city! Somewhere I have a similar picture of my great great grandpa`s farm in wisconsin with about 15 guys with a steam engine. He was in the civil war and died in 1906, so I belive the picture was in the late 1880s or 1890s.

[J Miller]

It would be interesting if one of you Californiaites could go there and try to find that spot or one close to it and take us a "now" picture facing the same way.

Joe

[AJMD429]

Anyone know how in heck that machine worked? Looks like maybe it's weighted down in back. Was it just a cutting machine?

[bogus bill]

I used to live in the area and knew it pretty well. You would have to get on top a tall building and compare the mountain ranges with the picture in the background. You would never see those mountains from street level for the buildings. I probley could take you within a mile though with the 1st try. Lankershine is the main street that runs north & south through north hollywood, also called the san fernando valley. Van nuys is both a blvard and city in the center-west of the san fernando valley. Years ago when I worked and lived there, most the time you wouldnt have been able to see that mountain range for the smog. I think that did get better though with the mountain of auto remission restrictions etc. In the 60s I worked both for lockheed aircraft and universal movie studios there. Security on both jobs. I also used to fly out of there. Once I flew in and as I settled through the smog my eyes watered up so bad I needed my guardian angle to land!

[bogus bill]

That is far more than a cutting machine. A one or two horse cycle cutter could do the cutting. It must be the earliest of combines. Usualy roll the hay in huge rolls, but soon after, bail it. Large steam engines or tractors were in use for some time before that picture was taken useing horses. (At least where I was from in wisconsin.} My dad & grandad before him were large farmers and told me about it. The farmers would help each other on the opperations. When I was a kid you would hear about "threashing crews". Young guys would follow the harvests across the midwest in the big rigs. The women would always outdo themselves as a matter of pride feeding the large crews, they worked super hard and would eat a mountain of food! I belive we are talking about the mid 1890s to 1950s or so untill the machinery got down in price to where even the larger farmers and ranchers could afford the equipment. Now there is only the large farmers can afford to stay in business. Years ago in wisconsin a family could live off 80 acres. Now the sucessfull farmers need to control a square mile or better yet, two to survive. Those old time farmers also raised their own slaves. My dad was one of 16 kids! (That was a little extreem even back then.)

[FWiedner]

Seems like whatever they're harvesting would be trampled to dust by all them nags before a cutting blade or the tine of a rake ever got near it.

[Gobblerforge]

Seems like whatever they're harvesting would be trampled to dust by all them nags before a cutting blade or the tine of a rake ever got near it.

Now that's funny, right there. I thought the same thing.
Gobbler

[jeepnik]

Here's a map showing how the area was subudivided. The major "intersection" is San Fernando Road and Tujunga Blvd. Today, the streets no longer intersect. The link it to a google satallite map (couldn't figure out how to git it to show as an image) today.



http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source= ... 19205&z=16

[Bruce Scott]

Seems like whatever they're harvesting would be trampled to dust by all them nags before a cutting blade or the tine of a rake ever got near it.

This pic will clear that up -

[FWiedner]

That makes much more sense.

Even having been raised on a grass farm, I had no idea that such a contraption existed.

[gimdandy]

Also appears that the driver is using a jerk line but I didn't think they used that in farming . If you look you can see the lead team (right )is hooked together with a pritch stick which you then only reign one animal with jerk line (right animal , steady pull , turn right , series of short jerks turn left (jerk line)and the ones connected by the pritch stick follow that animals movements because the head goes and the rest follows (literally)You actually could use the left animal for jerk line if needed but that animal was broke to turn left with steady pull etc.Oh don't forget that if a particular animal was broke as say off side wheeler then thats where he went day after day until you changed him to brake team or lead team etc. The leaders are also connected with a short chain connecting them at the surcingle. In Bruce Scotts picture you can clearly see two reigns and they used them, one reign each on the outside animal of the lead team and you steered them with a pull on that reign and if you look close you will see a chain between the leaders (3) pull right , he turns and the connecting chain to the next two moves the lead team right and the rest follow .The weights that you mentioned doc is the sacked grain out of the thrasher. the two men standing on the ground , one would hold and fill sacks , shut the gate ,set sack to the side ,and second fellow would sew the sack top with cotton string and then lay them down around the machine til wagon would get back , and wagons would pull up to thrasher , load , then freight the sacked grain - field to grainery.Some of the thrasher crews would pile up sacks on thrasher and then set them off 4-6 whatever in small piles and then move on so that the thrasher wasn't waiting on wagons , just depended on size of machine/crew . Would take a few wagons to keep up with this crew and of course it depended how far it was to grainery .Great pic' s20cows and Bruce Scott .

[Sixgun]

Thanks! That's really cool.
Is that TERRY on the back of the rig?

--Good one dude!