085
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Title
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085
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Transcription
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HAY SWEEP
"HARRY, keep your eyes open, I have a snake in this load", Harry is stacking the hay this morning, because I want to teach a new horse to work on the hay sweep. I have just seen a snake crawl under the first shock that I put on the sweep, and did not see it get out, it is probably a harmless bull snake, but we do have rattlers on the meadow. The new horse is doing very well, but it takes some time to teach a young horse to work on this ingenious machine we call a "HAY BUCK". I have no idea who invented this queer looking piece of equipment, it looks like a dust pan with a short handle, and instead of a solid pan in which you would sweep dust, it has teeth like a comb. There is a wheel on each side to carry the load, and a horse hitched on each side, that can move the machine backward and forward. The operator has a seat on the handle of the pan, and can move forward or backward to lift or lower the teeth.
The horses have to work differently than if they are hitched side by side, to turn to the left the horse on the left must stop, while the one on the right walks forward. A turn to the right requires the horse on the right to stand while the one on the left goes forward.
To load this odd looking piece of equipment with hay, and haul it to the stacker, so that it can be lifted to the top of the stack, requires a skilled operator. The operator will take the sweep to the area where the hay has been raked and bunched, and one bunch at a time is scooped up by the sweep. The load is evenly placed by loading first one side and then the other. Four or five bunches are usually enough for the team to pull. The operator can ride by sitting on the handle, close to the load. The load is then placed on the stacker head, which is the same size as the sweep. The team pushed the load forward until it is firmly placed on the stacker, the sweep is then backed out and the load remains firmly on the stacker head. The horses then back the sweep away, leaving the load to be lifted to the top of the stack.
Great care must be taken when loading the hay on the stacker. The teeth of the stacker head are the same distance apart as those of the sweep, and must mesh properly when loading the hay on the stacker. If the load doesn't stay on the stacker head when backing out with the sweep, the operator must sit far back on the handle, lift the teeth and shove the hay up tight. The operator is continually talking to the team, and a well trained horse soon understands: get up, whoa, back, and learns to stand while the other horse changes the position of the sweep.
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Rights
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Metzger Memories
