[SEL] Nice Wheels/ cable plowing

[Dave Croft]

>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: sel-bounces at lists.stationary-engine.com 
>> [mailto:sel-bounces at lists.stationary-engine.com] On Behalf Of 
>> Arnie Fero
>> Sent: 01 August 2006 16:28
>> To: The SEL email discussion list
>> Subject: Re: [SEL] Nice Wheels/ cable plowing
>> Hi Curt,
>> Rather than an individual farmer buying two traction engines 
>> and the cable
>> plowing rig, I wonder if it might have been done on a local collective
>> basis?  Maybe a couple of entrepreneurs who went farm to farm 
>> and did the
>> cable plowing?  Perhaps something like what was done with threshing?
>> See ya,  Arnie
>> On Tue, 1 Aug 2006, Curt wrote:
>> 
>> > Have been to several steam shows here in the states and, to 
>> date, have
>> > yet to see a steam traction engine with a cable setup under 
>> the belly.
>> > So it might have been done, but it was sure on small scale. 
>> In our early
>> > culture of entrepreneurial / no government involvement, what farmer
>> > could afford to buy 2 traction engines!? It would be 
>> interesting to know
>> > the extent that government subsidies were involved in cable 
>> plowing in
>> > Australia.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Peter Scales" <peter at loud-n-clear.net>
To: "'The SEL email discussion list'" <sel at lists.stationary-engine.com>
Sent: Tuesday, August 01, 2006 5:27 PM
Subject: RE: [SEL] Nice Wheels/ cable plowing


> Hi Arnie
> This is certainly how it was done in the UK - a "contractor" would turn up
> and plough your fields / dredge your pond / thresh your corn, etc..  It
> still gets done that way today - most smaller farmers do not have the spare
> cash for the capital costs of the equipment, so the bigger boys buy the gear
> and rent it out (usually with driver).
> Regards    Pete
> Peter Scales  


I can remember in the 1980's this was still the method used to dredge the
bed of a lake just to the rear of the current 1000 engine site.
ISTR that they only used one ploughing engine with a movable anchored 
return pulley on the opposite bank.

Dave Croft
Warrington
http://oldengine.org/members/croft/homepage
http://community.webshots.com/user/crftdv