The '24 Iowa Harvest thread
- Thread starter Turn2
- Start date
The entire bean plant is cut 1-2 inches above the ground and it all goes into the combine.
Who else drove a tractor (probably technically illegally) long before they drove a car?
As I get older I get more nostalgic for my upbringing in rural Iowa.
To me. It was the perfect childhood
As I get older I get more nostalgic for my upbringing in rural Iowa.
To me. It was the perfect childhood
I drove tractors as a young pup. I've told this story on here before, but I was probably 10 or 11 years old, and my dad needed me to help move equipment a few miles to the another field. He drove the tractor or whatever and I followed in his pickup. Probably went about 12 mph but I thought it was a big deal.
I went home and told mom about 'helping dad.'
A few weeks later, we had to do the same thing, and he told me to hop in the truck, and I "didn't have to tell mom this time." This story made more sense as I got older.
Thanks, city boy all of my life as all I had heard of was harvesting beans.
Drove a tractor before I drove a car. Drove a “farm truck” (4 speed) before I drove a tractor. Tractor and truck were around age 10/11/12.
A friend of mine from school was doing the same thing with his dad and they got pulled over by a deputy. I forget our age at the time, but it was nowhere near close to getting a driver's license.I drove tractors as a young pup. I've told this story on here before, but I was probably 10 or 11 years old, and my dad needed me to help move equipment a few miles to the another field. He drove the tractor or whatever and I followed in his pickup. Probably went about 12 mph but I thought it was a big deal.
I went home and told mom about 'helping dad.'
A few weeks later, we had to do the same thing, and he told me to hop in the truck, and I "didn't have to tell mom this time." This story made more sense as I got older.
Deputy: "I'm sorry, [Dad], but I can't let you do this."
The dad: "Ok. [Son], go get in the combine and I'll drive the pickup."
Deputy: "Nevermind. Carry on. You guys have a safe drive."
Think I was 7 when I learned to drive an 8n Ford pulling a hay rake. Not too long and learned to drive the pickup in the field when we installed a new fence. My dad would tell us what he wanted, but we had to be particular else he would let us know about it. In the end it just taught us how things worked, what to watch for, and some of it is the knowing how to manage some dangerous circumstances and equipment so we didn’t get hurt.
When I was 14 I took drivers instruction so I could get a school permit to get home early to help on the farm. My driving instructor said to me, I wish we could give you farm boys a pretest out of this course as you all have been driving for several years and know how to drive. We don’t teach you how to drive.
When I was 14 I took drivers instruction so I could get a school permit to get home early to help on the farm. My driving instructor said to me, I wish we could give you farm boys a pretest out of this course as you all have been driving for several years and know how to drive. We don’t teach you how to drive.
Two things to be careful for. The autumnal equinox is a dangerous time to drive in the morning and at dusk on east west roads with farm equipment on top of it. The other thing with the advent of four lane roads and 65 mph speed limit is very dangerous in the spring and fall. In southeast Iowa the stretch on 163 between between Pella and Oskaloosa has a ton of serious accidents. People put their car on cruise at 70 and then they run into the back of a combine or tractor hauling wagons.
Not a farmer but have been on a farming kick lately. I got to visit Clarkson's Farm in the Cotswolds earlier this year (if any of you have watched that show on Amazon). I live around a lot of bean and corn fields and am curious how the drought is affecting things here (Ohio).
I do like to watch this channel for my ag fix: https://www.youtube.com/@SonneFarms
I do like to watch this channel for my ag fix: https://www.youtube.com/@SonneFarms
spent weekends as a teen shelling corn out of a crib, $2.50 an hour!
It was perfect. Even baling hay on a warm humid summer day with the loft around 100 degrees, has left a fond impression on me. I never got attached to the old MM tractors, JDs, or Olivers. Meadowlarks, Bobolinks, Horned Larks, and Vesper Sparrows made music. Moles, Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrels, and Pocket Gophers made a nuisance.
This Iowa Harvest thread has me recalling mountains of golden-yellow corn, smooth gray soybean fields after harvest, harvest moons, and oak leaves turned purplish brown in November. Then came Halloween, and on into the Holidays.
Last edited:
When I was feeding cattle in the early 80’s in a fence line bunk, I had an IHC H tractor pulling a feed wagon. Simple tractor with no cab. I would put my 3 year old son in the seat, put the throttle as low as it would go & put it in gear. He knew how to guide it near the bunks because I’d let him do that on my lap daily. I’d jump in the feed wagon where I was shoveling a small amount of top dressed special feed on top of the feed already in the bunk. When we got to the end I’d go up and take it out of gear. He wasn’t 4 yet. Every farmer has stories like this as necessity puts kids behind the wheel in trucks & tractors due to lack of available temporary workers and the need to move multiple types of equipment between fields.
I remember shelling ear corn from cribs and the farm cats lined up to annihilate the mice as they tried to escape.
Mice? I think you mean rats. Big. Stab em' with the pitchfork and they gnaw on the handle while dying.
Nope, mice. My grandpa and I would occasionally move the hog feeders and the chicken house and pump anhydrous down the rat tunnels. Anything that made it to the surface was quickly dispatched via #12 grain scoop.
I was not raised on a farm, but my dad was. I love hearing all his stories about life on the farm. In 1969, my grandfather sold the farm and moved to town. I vaguely recall going to their farm when I was young. I always thought it would be cool to sit in the cab of a combine and harvest corn during a cool October night. After all, I love the Fall.
