GREENHEYES PAST
Haymaking was the important activity in July and you saw the mower last month. We prepare our hay using a Haybob machine to spread and turn the hay prior to baling.
It is actually to be found at Graham’s farm "NORCROFT" where they use it as a “fence”. It would have originally been horse drawn but has been converted to tractor. This large hand rake would be what they used before the horse rake. But this picture shows a NEW machine a hay turner. This machine the “Blackstone Horse Turner” was the Haybob of its day and was a revolution with its ability to turn over a row of mowed hay. The old rake was a bygone from the days when the grass was cut by hand. When dry it was loaded onto the trailer using a pitchfork. Quite different to our baler and flat eight system I think. Pitchforks unlike everything else are still made and sold today and can still be used for loading small bales if you only have a few to move. Hard work though and funny to watch someone trying to lift a bale when they have never used a pitchfork before. With nice weather the same result, a crop of well made
hay in 2003 as in 1940, however as the saying goes “YOU CAN ONLY
MAKE HAY WHEN THE SUN SHINES” Phil:-) |