1987 Seed Oat, Wheat Harvest with 1941 John Deere 36A Harvester and 1966 D6B

I turned the picture for you. I agree with you, not all changes are good.
Craig
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I can barely remember the 36's here in the rice - Massey Harris was one of the first "push rigs" and then the JD 55 came along. Many used the Massey to "open up", the first pass along the levee's (checks as we called them). Both the Massey and JD 55 were tracked machines, the JD 55 using Caterpillar D2 tracks.

If memory serves correctly - JD made a 17 -- very similar to a 36 but 17 had straw walkers, 36 - rattle rake?

One farmer in the southern end of Colusa County told about having the combines on sleds - these were placed beneath the machine to allow them to be pulled through the mud where wheels would just bog down. That was indeed long before laser leveled fields and the crops were of taller stature and longer growing season. He spoke of cutting rice in standing water - I would like to see one of these modern machines do that - computer would have fits!

The harvest crews were tough people - no cabs, tough conditions, long hours.

I.G. Zumwalt Co. had a "bone yard" that was packed with the pull rigs - some sixties and some sixty conversions along with a lot of other "junk". Of course, there were many other pieces of equipment but those stick out in my memory.

Today - I wish I had the foresight to take pictures of that long gone era and equipment.

CTS

Thanks for the memory. There are a couple of old JD green pull combines out here in the rice country, not sure which model, seem to be fully intact. Maybe thankful reminders of the owners how well they served them prior to the monster track machines available today, as I know some had scrapped out other iron, but would not have their employees take a torch to any of them. I really like seeing the track pads shined up from the straw. BP mentioned to me about some guys coming from WA just to play in the slop too; skids worked better that the wheel on one side? Yes, precision farming and advances in rice varieties have allowed many to minimize water use and "cut" rice on perfectly level fields. Ahh, the good old days. JM