On the Job Training: Boys and Bale Hooks

By James N. Boblenz
Published on April 1, 2007
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Several loads of hay ready to be unloaded on the Boblenz farm.
Several loads of hay ready to be unloaded on the Boblenz farm.
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Loading hay with a standard-length bale hook.
Loading hay with a standard-length bale hook.
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A seven-inch “Stubby” bale hook.
A seven-inch “Stubby” bale hook.
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Baling with a McCormick-Deering four-man baler.
Baling with a McCormick-Deering four-man baler.
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Back to the past: Fifty years later, the author revisits his boyhood job – poking wires on a four-man baler – during a 2007 show at New Haven, Ind. At the show, the John Deere unit was used as a stationary baler, with only the tractor driver’s position vacant.
Back to the past: Fifty years later, the author revisits his boyhood job – poking wires on a four-man baler – during a 2007 show at New Haven, Ind. At the show, the John Deere unit was used as a stationary baler, with only the tractor driver’s position vacant.
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A front view of the John Deere baler with pick-up attachment at the New Haven show.
A front view of the John Deere baler with pick-up attachment at the New Haven show.
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From top, 14-inch hook, 18-inch hook and the special T-handle 24-inch hook made to pull bales off the wagon. It was not used for loading or bucking bales.
From top, 14-inch hook, 18-inch hook and the special T-handle 24-inch hook made to pull bales off the wagon. It was not used for loading or bucking bales.
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Jerry Boblenz’s 14-inch hook next to his 18-inch hook.
Jerry Boblenz’s 14-inch hook next to his 18-inch hook.
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A standard D-handle bale hook compared to the Boblenz boys’ 14-inch hook.
A standard D-handle bale hook compared to the Boblenz boys’ 14-inch hook.
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The author demonstrates bale handling with his extra-long bale hook.
The author demonstrates bale handling with his extra-long bale hook.
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A standard D-handle 11-inch bale hook.
A standard D-handle 11-inch bale hook.

Bill Boblenz was one lucky farmer during World War II. He had a whole barnyard full of boys to help on the farm, while most farmers struggled for help. All the young, healthy men and boys had been called to service. Bill’s five sons were too young to serve, and some were too young to help much on the farm. But he had a labor force.

During the spring of 1943, Bill brought home a new McCormick-Deering Model 15 four-man baler. Essentially, this was a stationary baler powered by a small 1-cylinder International Harvester engine belted to the plunger and compression ram. The baler’s pick-up was chain-driven from the inside rear wheel.

The two-wire unit made a bale 15 inches wide by 19 inches high by 38 to 40 inches long, and weighing between 70 and 100 pounds, depending on moisture content and type of hay. The baler was so wide that it had to be “trucked” when it was moved from field to field or over the road. That meant disconnecting the pick-up unit, hitching it to the rear of the baler and towing it along behind.

How did the Boblenzes get such a machine during wartime, when most farmers could not get new machinery or even rubber tires for farm equipment? By default. No one else wanted it, especially at a time when help was hard to find. It took four people to run the thing: a tractor driver, a feeder, a wire tyer (a word coined by International Harvester) and a wire poker. Bill had five sons, so he figured he had adequate manpower to use the baler for years to come. In fact, the family used that baler from 1943 until about 1954, and did a lot of custom baling for neighbors as well.

A job for everyone

Bill was the owner, baler-master and feeder. Billie, his oldest son, was the tyer. Second son Bob drove the tractor. Younger son Jim started by poking wires. When Billie graduated from high school and moved on, younger son John was promoted to the tractor-driving position and Bob became the tyer. When Bob graduated from high school and married, the tyer’s position was vacant. Bill’s youngest son, Jerry, then got that job. Those four – Bill, Jim, John and Jerry – comprised the crew from 1948 until the baler was finally put out to pasture in 1954.

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