Cool Homestead Find! - Antique Farm Equipment
As most of you know by now, a few weeks ago we were working on the earthworks for our property. It was done over the course of several days and on one of those days I took a break from working (I was watching and directing mostly...) to explore the property.
While I had previously walked the property a few times, there is really no way to notice everything on a property this size in a short period of time.
This time, I was with my father-in-law and we were driving around the pasture areas and I was sort of telling him where the property boundaries were along with some other details. I'm pretty sure he was the one that spotted this gem sitting just inside the tree line.
What was this thing that was growing between several trees? Some of the trees even had distorted trunks because of it. It took us a few minutes to figure it out but when we saw the tubes running down the one side of it we figured out it was some sort of seeder. It is also very old. So old that the wheels have wooden spokes!
One side of the seeder had a bunch of these weird tubes running down from the seed box.
The wheels were wooden spoked. I am surprised there was anything left.I did a bit of preliminary research on this seeder and the symbol on the side plate is that of International Harvester. The company was founded in 1902 and the majority of the company was sold off in 1985. What remained was renamed Navistar International Corporation in 1985.
A little bit of a different view. On the right side, you can get a better idea of how many of those tubes there would have been when it was in better condition. There is also a lever in the center for adjusting depth or the seed drop rate.From what I gather so far, this was likely a grain seeder and, with the wooden wheels, I imagine that it is around 100 years old give or take a decade. In the 20's and 30's, most of the farm machinery came equipped with metal spoked and rimmed wheels so this is likely older than that, although I could be wrong.
Anyways, I feel like this is a pretty cool discovery and I think I might dig it out and see how it looks. With a bit of love it might make a nice lawn ornament. It would be great to have a piece of history sitting there as a reminder of how much things have changed in the last century.
Have you found anything that was really cool on your homestead property of travels? What do you think of this thing?
Nice find! My Dad has one of those. It was originally my great-grandfather's.
That's even cooler since it was handed down from the family. I imagine it is in significantly better condition then this one?
It's a bit younger than the one you located as it has the steel wheels.
This is mad cool. One time I was helping a friend out on her property, it's an old gold mining town in California and we used to find so many cool bits and bobs. We use to hang them all around the office, until we realised 100 odd scythes looked a little sinister!
Haha that would be a little eerie!
What an amazing discovery! I love old farm implements displayed around the homestead - especially in the gardens! We found what I call "the old plough" when we first bough our neglected homestead. I incorporated it in one of my herb gardens which is now aptly called "the plough garden". We even took wedding photos there! They really give an idea of how far we've come because that spot now has two huge carob trees and a very overgrown herb garden. Not to mention what has changed in the background! Happy memories
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Thanks for sharing. I find the old farm machinery fascinating even though I am not overly interested in the more modern stuff other then for its utility.
I like the wedding dress. It is unique, at least compaired to what is common around here.
Thanks. Hippie organic and home sewn. The shoes were heavy farm boots - almost barefooted but too chilly for winter
Probably an old barn's foundation not far from the old seeder. I found the remains of a very old barn on my property a couple years back, funny what you will find out there.
I didn't really think about it until now but I'll definitely have to keep an eye open for the remains of old buildings. Thanks!
Very cool find in deed! And I like that you were able to research a lot from it. It really would make a nice piece to lookbat as a reminder for sure.
We found after a few months, an old foundation looking thing. Everyone wants to turn it into a pool! I still have to date the bricks but I was told early early 1900's. I deducted It was the old water container on top of the hill to supply the area below.
I want to turn it into an underground greenhouse!
That sounds like a good use for something like that. Underground greenhouses are pretty cool. I actually have an old underground greenhouse book kicking around somewhere.