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The sledgehammer mechanics corner.
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Posted by moll on May 16, 2008 at 15:56:58 from (63.245.179.200):
Threshing crews, forgotten faces, magnetos and "neighborliness." Stationary grain threshing has always had a special place in my soul. Probably to the credit of my grandfather. He told me a lot about those times. His particular love of it involved the steam traction engine era. And his story was like many others of the period, working young in a crew, moving from water boy to bundle pitcher and then to engineer with other duties in- between. To this day i am stil amazed that a majority of folks in a community could go to such effort to help each other out come harvest time. Sure, there were the migrant workers and the ring workers that saw to many of the laborious tasks during the run. But many were neighbors that helped each other with harvest. And at a time when help meant back breaking work, not a cash donation. Today, i can't tell you all of my neighbors' names. I will have to take the time to remedy that situation soon. The picture today comes via the internet. I have looked at and owned many such pictures over the years. This particular one shows a threshing crew along with the landowners' family, near as i can tell you. My guess is only because many of these pictures no longer have names to go with them, only faces. Seems sad to me. I used to troll the antique stores in search of such pictures, and it sure wasn't hard to come by them. Also wedding photos, child photos, military pictures, you name it. All with no names..........After some time, i stopped buying them. I found myself enjoying them first, and then after some time passed i realized the stone cold stares and smiles without names both saddened me deeply and sent a chill through my bones. And...., sometimes a smile. But mostly they made me wonder WHY IN THE WORLD they were abandoned to a dusty box on a shelf in a antique store instead of a cherished shelf of a descedant. I suppose these common faces lived not to be engraved in the libraries of the world as souls of the famous or heroic. Sort of hits home. I know a lot of folks that will be forgotten in a hundred years or less, common as the cycle of the sun and seasons. These folks are the farmers of the world that live not for wealth or fame, but for PURPOSE!!!!!!!!!! Keep track of your ancestors identity if you can. Don't let them slip away to a bargain shelf at the junk store. I work on magnetos. It's not that hard. The screws are small, the test equipment is homemade and the time is generally too short. LOL. When i started collecting tractors there were several old fellers that could fix a mag for you. As those guys passed on, it became important to learn the trade for a lot of us old iron nuts. Looks like my fall mag pile is gone, but the summer pile has replaced it. I specialize in the International f-4 models, mainly because they are about the easiest and well made in my opinion. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to do em. BUT, don't tell everybody yet. One of our local mag men was gettin ready to give it up years ago and he told me; "why don't you just fix em yerself, i'm too tired.".................I think i'll do the same someday and see the states. LOL. "The question of bread for myself is a material question, but the question of bread for my neighbor is a spiritual question." Nikolai Bordyaev.
I'd give ol nickey a "dang straight" for thattun, how bout yall???? And remember; always support your local shadetree mechanic. You may have had one in your family 100 years ago............maybe today, maybe tomorrow. :^D
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