Reader responses from What was this Used For?
Regarding Gary Tennant’s request for help identifying an implement: The pictures shown above and below were taken at the Irish Agriculture Museum that we visited during the 2018 Farm Collector tour of England, Wales and Ireland. The four-row unit was labeled “beet thinner” and is ground powered. The yellow item next to the Ferguson tractor is PTO-powered. I am not sure what its purpose is; I presume it was a thinner.
Galynn Ferris, Montgomery, Texas
Could it be a bog disc?
Regarding Gary Tennant’s letter in the January 2021 issue of Farm Collector: I have one laying in my pasture. It was there when I bought the farm 51 years ago. I was told that it was a bog disc to level off low ground. I never tried to use it. I was told they didn’t work very well.
Henry Soenneker, P.O. Box 72, Bluffton, MN 56518
Roller harrow used in logging application
My uncle, Bob Ackley, Homer, Michigan, worked with a few sawmill outfits in his younger years and loved to talk about sawing and logging. He had described a tool that was used up north on the logging trails, after they become hardpacked and icy, to roughen up the surface so teams of horses would have better traction, yet the log bundles would slide fairly easy. Flipped over, it could be easily moved from road to road. I think the roller harrow Gary Tennant asked about (Farm Collector, January 2021) was used for that purpose. Thanks for the great magazine.
Tim Cook, Marshall, Michigan
Implement likely used for discing
In the January 2021 issue of Farm Collector, I have some information on the implement sent in by Gary Tennant. This implement was indeed skidded out to the fields for discing and was then flipped over for discing. I recognized this implement as I have seen two others in rural Minnesota. I work in the utilities in rural areas and I met both of the different owners of these and they did not know what they were, as there were no manufacturer’s tags on them. I believe these date to the turn of the last century, as both units that I saw had been on the farms since the late 1800s. As for the brass tag on Gary Tennant’s, it does not make sense to me, as I am from Duluth, Minnesota, and I would have known of this company. I am going to search this out and will report back!
Scott G. Peterson via email
Ready for a demonstration
Gary Tennant wrote a letter to Farm Collector (January 2021) inquiring about a Duluth built “roller harrow” and its ineffectiveness. I’ve visited Duluth a few times in my life, and I’d have to believe that I do not have the skills necessary to farm there. I don’t know what harrowing means to someone with a 78-day growing season, but I’d buy a ticket to watch.
Doug Fuller, Washtenaw County, Michigan
Mystery implement a good fit for corn
I could see Gary Tennant’s implement being used to take out weeds between corn rows. It’s obviously horse-drawn.
David Ruark, Pomeroy, Washington
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