Old Iron in Star Valley

Category: Videos

  • Mowing with the 38 and 5 Mowers and Model A Tractors

    Mowing with the 38 and 5 Mowers and Model A Tractors

    As I mentioned in a pervious video, I have two mowers that, just for fun, I wanted to use to do some cutting.

    In this video we cut about five acres with two different sickle mowers, a John Deere Number 5 on a 1938 John Deere Model A, and a John Deere Number 38 mower on a 1951 John Deere Model A. Both the tractors and mowers are talked about in previous videos.

    The crop is second-growth grain hay. The second growth is much less than the initial crop (it’s really only a one-cutting crop). The first cutting yields between 3.5-4 ton an acre, so it makes a really good rotational crop where I rotate fields out with alfalfa.

    Shortly after starting, the 38 lost a section. Where it’s such a small amount to cut and we didn’t have a lot of time, we didn’t replace it. The mowers did an okay job, but compared to our more modern rotary swather/windrowers, the sickle mowers definitely don’t leave as clean of a cut as our more modern machines. The field was also sprayed not too long ago, so where the tractor knocked down the crop made it so they didn’t cut as well either.

    All of those problems aside, using the old mowers and tractors was a lot of fun. It was pretty cool hearing the two old “Johnny Poppers” going, and I’m sure it turned a few eyes and ears as people drove by or could hear it going throughout the town.

    Needless to say, I won’t be parking the big modern 16′ cut rotary windrower any time soon–but taking a little time every now and then to just enjoy the old equipment is an enjoyable thing to do too! 🙂

  • Mowing Grain Hay with the Model A and Number 5 Sickle Mower

    Mowing Grain Hay with the Model A and Number 5 Sickle Mower

    If you watched one of my recent YouTube videos on the Number 5 and 38 mowers, I mentioned that I had a little grain hay that I wanted to cut with the mowers. In this video I am using the 1947 John Deere Model A (48 model year) to cut some second-growth grain hay for the purpose of some quality seat time and time running the old mower.

    The Number 5 mower that I’m using also has some sentimental value, as I got that mower from my maternal grandfather. It is a mower that he had when he was younger and has told stories of spending many hours on it, so it’s always fun to see it being maintained and used.

    In case you’re wondering what grain hay is–on my farm I run a hay operation, so my primary product is alfalfa hay. Where alfalfa needs to be rotated every few years, historically people grew and rotated out barley in the area, but grain hay has started to become a popular replacement for barley. Basically it’s a 3 or 4 variety grain cop plus sometimes pease (oats, barley, wheat are common). You plant the crop in the spring and cut it when the oats are in the milk stage and the product is still green. You dry and bale it as you would alfalfa or any other hay crop. Due to its variety, it is a healthy substitute or replacement for grass and alfalfa bales.

    Recorded with Dolby Vision 4K HDR on an iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro.

    John Deere A and Number 5 Mower Video
  • 1951 and 1948 with John Deere Number 5 and Number 38 Mowers Side-By-Side

    1951 and 1948 with John Deere Number 5 and Number 38 Mowers Side-By-Side

    In this video I compare the John Deere Number 5 and Number 38 sickle mowers, as well as a few of the difference between a 1948 and 1951 John Deere Model A tractors. I reference the 48 as a 47, as this tractor was the first one that we got running, and at the time I didn’t know as much about the model A lineup. At the time, the information I found on the SN listed it as a 47 (which I believe which was tractordata, but it shows it correct now), but I later found it to be a 48 model year, but manufactured in July of 47.

    Anyway, I apologize for any errors. I’m not an expert, but only draw on what I’ve seen and learned over the years, so please forgive any technical errors I may have said being off script.

    For reference, the John Deere Model A was in production from 1934 until 1952. It was then replaced with the John Deere Model 60, 620, then 630. During the production of the model A, it went through three major design changes, with several minor design changes during its lifetime (nearly some minor change for every production year–far too many to list here as there are entire books on the subject). The three major designs can be summarized as the unstyled, early styled (pan seat and battery under the hood for optional electric start models, or hand start for non-electric), and late-styled machines, which featured the battery box under the seat as well as electric starting and lighting as standard features.

    The John Deere Number 5 “Power Mower” was one of the earliest and highest-produced sickle mowers for its time. I’m not sure of the exact years or production numbers, but they are very common mowers (especially for yard art and junk piles). They were also a popular mower to be used on other brands. The John Deere Number 38 mower was produced later, I believe during the 30 series two-cylinder and early new generation years (the manual shows it being operated by a 2010). Though they are similar in operation, the 38 is a much simpler and mostly likely more reliable design.

    Also seen in the video, but not mentioned, is a John Deere BW and John Deere 5020.

  • Rolling Alfalfa with the Farmall F-30 N

    Rolling Alfalfa with the Farmall F-30 N

    Each spring we cultivate alfalfa fields. This is typically done with some sort of danish harrow (spring tooth), drag harrows, and a heavy liquid-filled roller. This is due to our long winters and the damage that is done to the alfalfa fields, as well as the large amounts of rocks that we have in our fields.

    On a typical setup, the cultivator levels out the mice mounds and breaks up last years stubble. Then, the roller flattens it out and pushes down rocks, as to make the field less bumpy and to have less rocks for the swather (windrower, mower, or whatever your area calls them) to have less rocks to damage the cutting bar. However, this alfalfa field was only planted last year. Due to the plants being young and the roots not deep, we don’t use a digger on the fields for the first full year of the crop growth.

    That being said, needing to only pull the roller made for a great excuse to get out and use one of the old tractors. Where the F-30 hasn’t had a lot of tasks on the farm as of yet, we thought it’d be a perfect opportunity to put it to work and have a few hours of enjoyable (though bumpy) seat time. It also made for a good opportunity to take some photos and videos. The video also contains a John Deere 2010 Utility, which we eventually finished out the field with.

    Rolling Spring Alfalfa with the Farmall F-30
  • 1950 John Deere MT

    1950 John Deere MT

    Over the weekend I acquired a 1950 John Deere MT single-front. I already had two parts MT machines, so I thought this would be a fun one to add to the collection. In this video we load it up with the Ford F-350, haul it home, and run it for the first time.

    The MT was the row-crop version of the John Deere M. The M is unique as it was a two-cylinder vertical engine with a foot clutch. The M also replaced both the models H and LA. The H was the smallest of the horizontal two-cylinder machines.

    John Deere Model M

    As I mentioned earlier, the MT was the row-crop version of the M. The M was considered a “standard”, meaning non-adjustable wheel tread and a lower stance. One of the things that interests me about the M is that we used to have a model M on our farm. The photo above is the model M that was once on our family farm. They were popular utility machines, as they were small and easy to use as they had a standard clutch to operate. In the photo above, you can see it connected to a manure spreader. Back then they had an old dairy barn with the large large rounded-roof loft. The cows would be milked and also were fed in the barn. This created a good deal of manure which needed to be removed daily. The M in the photo shows it hooked up to a manure spreader. This would have been the daily task of the tractor–to drive through the barn and haul out the manure. I recall my grandfather talking about the process, mentioning how they would manually shovel the manure into the spreader each day. There’s plenty of manure to be seen on the tractor as well.

    Shot in 4K HDR Dolby Vision. If you have an iPhone 12 or later (or HDR compatible Android phone), then the color and brightness should really pop.

  • Mowing Alfalfa with the Model A and Number 5 Sickle Mower

    Mowing hay (a mixture of alfalfa and grass) with a John Deere Model A and Number 5 sickle mower. We have a nice rotary swather, but thought it’d be fun to spend some time and shoot some video of the A and No. 5.

    Mowing with the Model A and Number 5 Sickle Mower

  • Feeding After Dark with the John Deere A

    I was a little later getting to the feeding tonight, but it gave me a good opportunity to use my newly installed LED lights. They are a lot brighter than the originals, yet still fit in the same housings (and look “original”). Also, the snow is getting deeper. It’s been pretty cold lately, so the tractor still goes through it okay. It was around 10 degrees F when I was feeding.

  • Feeding Cattle with the Model A

    Last year, I used the 630 to feed with. However, I thought it would be fun to try the A as well. I think the A is one of my favorite two-cylinder models.

    In this video I’m feeding beef cattle (Herefords and Angus) with the A and a custom-made feeder. The feeder used to be a round bale bagger. I converted it to work with the 3x4x8 large square bales. Bales are loaded with a 3020 PowerShift.

  • Peregrine falcon Nearly Takes Out Drone

    I was flying my drone (DJI Mavic Air) up a canyon to get some nice shots of the beautiful mountains. While I was reviewing the footage, I was surprised to see a Peregrine falcon had decided at the last moment to not try to have the drone for lunch. I’d say they both got pretty lucky!

    I as fortunate, however, to get some footage of such a beautiful animal!

     

  • 630 Driving Through Water

    The past few days have been very warm and have received what seems like non-stopped rain. That is very unusual for this area. It has basically turned most of the fields into standing water puddles.

    In this video, I am taking the cattle out a bale of hay. Where I fed the cattle was a high spot without any water. Getting there, however, was quite interesting!

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