I think CB Hay built his first bean machine in about 1926-27  made out of wood but switched to metal pretty soon after these were all 2 and 3 cylinder rigs and all were side feed into the front cylinder which they stayed with until 1940. A very good friend of mine and his brothers bought a 1937  2 cylinder for   $3700 ,in the winter Manny would go to San Jose and work for CB, he said he would fish with CB  one night by the fire he started telling CB the improvements he should do to new machines so he said he got his pencil out and figured it and it would add 500 dollars to the price and nobody would pay it 500 dollars was ALOT in the 30s.   In 1941 they went to the straight feed or straight shot standard model it was not the best design it had a split main straw rack  caused a lot of trouble I have spent hours inside that thing tightining bolts it also had a lot of chain drives NOT a fun machine to run. In 1947 and 48 they had a different design standard model they were pretty nice machines after we put Diesel engines on them with V belts they would get a lot of work done!  I think sometime in 1949 they came out with the Big Bertha they had a Cadillac machine a big Bertha is 491/2 inches wide they also made some 2cylinder 491/2 inch Juniors  they also made quite a bunch of 36 inch Juniors of which a lot went to Idaho and even some were exported they also advertised a model LB which I think was about a 24 inch machine I don’t think very many were made CB Hay retired in 1965 Baptista Bros. in Hughson ca. got the last Bertha Hay built. Hart carter bought it out but never did much luckily some of the employees saved the prints and the company paperwork that Hart Carter threw in the trash and was able to take it over in 1974 in Stockton moving to Linden the next year  if Gary in CA can correct me on some of this would be Good!   One final note with all of the throw away junk they sell today those CB HAY harvesters with care and maintenance will literally last a lifetime and more.  17afarmer

Thanks 17AFarmer. I’ve seen a couple with a power wheel similar to ones used on hay bakers. I wish to say they were called Rankin driven, and makes one wonder if our departed George Rankin of sheet metal fame created those as well.
A couple of photos I found somewhere of some bean machines in Ventura? Not mine, just sharing.
I’ve seen custom harvest guys tow these bad boys from central California all the way up to Red Bluff to thrash beans! Thanks for sharing your knowledge of these machines. I used to go past their small shop on Hwy 26 in Linden CA.

Juiceman what do you mean by a power wheel on a cb hay?

fly wheel prehaps. most balers have a big flywheel. the big massey and krone square balers used today have a flywheel that weighs a few tonne.
or is he referring to a ground wheel that drives the machine as its drawn along. many spreaders and seeders were done that way before pto drives were common. you raised or lowered the wheel to start or stop the drive.

17A: I saw one in the Sutter Basin, which is one of the most productive areas in N. California that did not require a tractor to pull it (amazing). In place of the tiller wheel/turntable, they had adapted a hydrostatic wheel motor to pull the harvester along. I don't recall seeing another power source for it; the operator sat above with the pickup to his right. I don't have any idea how well it worked, or didn't for that matter, as basin ground was usually sub irrigated, and if you broke thru the top layer, you could get stuck easy. I also noticed another wheel running off of the main ones in the back, possibly to help propel the machine or just friction wheels to make something else on the machine work. I wished I owned a camera back then, so I could share photos. Most around here would tow with at least a D-4. Throw away machines? Yes, the Lilliston PTO machines were common here as well, but not durable compared to the monsters. There is a company near me called S&W Threshing, they have machines painted a faded green color; I might have to stop by and inquire. They are a specialized harvesting company that does many types of seed. Interesting note, is they have some super modified IH rotor style grain harvesters only operated by a couple of nice ladies; they are the only ones allowed to operate them, and highly sought after to gather up the valuable seed. JM

Price built a few bean harvesters that were self propelled called a turn a pull.Hoffman brothers in Tracy Ca. used to have several Price bean harvesters.
Still a lot of Price machines going.They were different looking than the CB Hay machines
 

Juiceman you jogged my memory, when CB Hay was in linden they had pictures in the office of some very different machines probably from the 50s early 60s there was some small machines that were self propelled very few built. I have seen the time in sandy ground when a D6 could struggle to pull a 3 cylinder. and on hilly ground at least a D6 and if it’s steep a D7 is comforting!! Have had them try to jackknife the front wheel I had the same machine slide sideways the guy on the machine thought he was a DEAD man and I was glad I was sitting on the 17a so long as the hitch pin did not break! 17afarmer

Very interesting stuff 17A. Never had the opportunity to have combined beans. At one time garbanzo beans where a big thing here, but as far as I know just regular grain combines used.

I was in the "Valley fog" with JM big wheel, but the second post brought the sun out. But it helps I have seen a Rankin one wheel drive, he created for hay balers. For those never around any none self propelled combine look at JM's first picture and you can see a front wheel on the CB Hay bean thrasher machine. The Rankin conversion replaced that wheel with one with hydraulic drive to make it a self propelled machine.

I believe all the bigger combines from all makers had the front wheel on all there pull type combines as they left the factory. But in the sidehill world 99% of them where removed. Then you needed a bigger tractor that could handle the tongue weight. As my dad found very soon a RD 4 was not enough tractor to carry a Holt/JD 36b around.

If my memory is right a 3 cylinder standard weighs around 12 ton I think.a Bertha pushes 15 plus 100 sacks of beans a lot of weight to pull around, We were taking level land machines and doing hill ground with them they were never made for that! But we had very little trouble, Gary in ca. has done this I know he can add to this. I have some friends that had 36 inch Juniors with stiff tounges that worked very well 17afarmer

I think I found my own personal Heaven forum about C.B. Hay here lol.