does any one else collect farm tools? my living room walls and beams are full with hand thrashers,buck saws,scales,draw knives,traps,yokes ( both human and ox)hay knives ,hooks,a mule referee,and other treasures
the kitchen is full of kitchen utensils the dining room is full of oil lamps and colored glass items, My wife's gardens have horse drawn plows, cultivators,small levelers , hand plows cultivators,foot driven grinding wheels an old inertial wheel of an old JD, old hand pumps with cast iron buckets ,old seeders .I just wonder if I am the only one that goes overboard. I can not have one of anything it seems,I have 50 hess trucks, I started on linesmans tools now  and the last two years i have even started collecting medical problems.ALL THIS BESIDES A GARAGE FULL OF TOOLS  msybe I do need help    LOL   BOB W,

Ok, Amertrac, I have to ask, What is a mule referee? Maybe something that goes by a different name down here?

I have a fair amount of farm "stuff" but I keep it in my "buggy shop".

Thanks, Bill Davis

I don't exactly collect farm tools, but a few have collected around me.   Draw knives are a favorite of mine, and I have quite a few, starting at a couple with 4 inch blades (qualify for the 4 inch club?) up to 12 inches.  I used to have a 24 inch mast knife, but sold it in an economic emergency.  Couple of traps, one a muskrat single spring trap.  Couple of buck saws, one that belonged to my grandfather and used to make firewood for us.  At least one hay knife.  Found a maple sap bucket some years ago.

I'd like to see some pictures of the human yokes!   Always wanted to make one of these.

I have a few farm tools, from hog ringers, to snouters, dehorning tools.   Kickers for milking cows, my dads milking stool, and a number of wrenches with IHC and JD on them.  The foot powered grinders, and hand crank models, are in my shop, along with the hand crank post drills.   What was discarded in the city by 1920, when folks got electricity, was still in use on the farms by 1950, as many farmers didn't get hooked up to electricty  til 1955, some even later.  So, how about a bull lead?   Horn weights?  Cutting knives for, uh,, making steers?   Anyone else have an iron well diggers bucket?  The auction I was at on Sunday also had a row of hog oilers, mine went on the farm sale years ago.  Did you mention post diggers, and borers?   Potato forks, hay knives, cob forks, and oat scoops?  Where does it stop!

I only have a few Ford and IH wrenches (and a Fordson wrench) that I picked up over the years from working on those machines. But a while back I dragged an old metal wheel Deere hay rake out of the woods behind my house. Trees were growing up through it and the hitch bar was engulfed in a tree trunk. I pulled it up to the back of my yard. The birds and rabbits like to hang out in it. Al.

Ok, Amertrac, I have to ask, What is a mule referee? Maybe something that goes by a different name down here?

a long steel rod that fastens to the inside of the bridle on mules. It keeps them from fighting in harness. we always called it a referee.Tt worked well for straight work bur was h--l on turns there are proper names for it depending on area

I'd like to see some pictures of the human yokes!   Always wanted to make one of these
the ice tomgs ane the rope oist do not go with it

I am really short on room so had to make the rule that if I cant pack it in one hand I don't buy it. That of course doesn't apply to boxes of small stuff. I'm into hand tools and the wife is into glass and ceramics. Most anything old is tempting to one of us.

The human yokes I have seen were for carrying water buckets.   Usually made of wood, smaller in size, for women and children, was hollowed out to fit over the shoulders, then short ropes with hooks on them dropped down from the ends.  Where they assisted in holding up water buckets.   In some parts of the country all household water was carried to the house, sometimes from a quarter mile away, if they couldn't hit a water well in the farmyard.  Today they greatly resemble those false mannequins in dept. stores, the kind that are nothing but shoulders to hold up sweaters.

Amertrack, I have heard those called jockey sticks around here(Oklahoma). They were a light pipe or piece of wood with a snap on each end, I do not have one though!

Thanks! B.D.

Quote from: john k on May 01, 2012, 03:33:10 PM
The human yokes I have seen were for carrying water buckets.   Usually made of wood, smaller in size, for women and children, was hollowed out to fit over the shoulders, then short ropes with hooks on them dropped down from the ends.  Where they assisted in holding up water buckets.   In some parts of the country all household water was carried to the house, sometimes from a quarter mile away, if they couldn't hit a water well in the farmyard.  Today they greatly resemble those false mannequins in dept. stores, the kind that are nothing but shoulders to hold up sweaters.

I think if you look at the picture you will see one  bob w.

the stick (referee) is along the bottom of the beam hard to get deasent pictures when the sun is coming the windows ,  bob w.

Quote from: amertrac on May 01, 2012, 06:23:31 PM
hard to get deasent pictures when the sun is coming the windows ,  bob w.

It is also very hard (for me) to focus on the pictures of tools with all that wonderful looking woodwork :)

Quote from: OilyRascal on May 01, 2012, 06:38:16 PM

Quote from: amertrac on May 01, 2012, 06:23:31 PM
hard to get deasent pictures when the sun is coming the windows ,  bob w.

It is also very hard (for me) to focus on the pictures of tools with all that wonderful looking woodwork :)

the whole first floor is open beams full 4x12 floor joists and 6x12 beams.we like it and try to keep it as is     bob w.

Quote from: amertrac on May 01, 2012, 06:23:31 PM
the stick (referee) is along the bottom of the beam hard to get deasent pictures when the sun is coming the windows ,  bob w.

Picture's clear enough to show that machete I'm looking at.   I picked one just like it a while back.  Is yours an Alligator?  That style is
listed as being exported to South East Asia, and I 'spect mine came from the Philippines.