Blasts from the past

Keen observations! You are right about ramps as well. Very few farms in my area have one. Myself, I am tempted to build or buy one, for as many times I have to transport from the yard, it saves some time even though I have hydraulic ones, slide axles etc. I get an occassional neighbor wanting to unload/load onto a flatbed, stepdeck.

CR: You also made mention of large tomato growers buying out a dealerhip? Were you referring to the Oji family that purchased Inland Tractor, the JD dealership? If so, quite a story. The entire family was incarcerated due to WW2; released and built their farm back, doubled/tripled in size and diversified it into real estate, race car division (yes!), investments, you name it. Talk about resiliant. Lives torn apart and they got up and made up for lost time. JM

I don’t know the names of my uncle George’s partners or even the dealership’s name… let me get back I that one.

The islands used to have quite a few loading docks for the asparagus growing, some were quite long and had sort of an L shape so you could side load an implement on a flat deck trailer or drive a tractor on the end of the trailer. That’s how I was told we took equipment out to the “islands” back 80 years ago. Flatbed truck was the primary transportation option. There was one ramp on the gruenauer ranch, one at my great grandparents home place, one in Vernalis and one in Five points. Most of the ones in the islands on asparagus operations were built with nice concrete walls and a concrete top surface. Ours were just cribbing of railroad ties with a square deck the width and length of railroad ties with a ramp made of railroad ties. I might have to dig out my computer for a picture. That all became obsolete with tilt deck semi trailers after the war for moving tractors and implements or tool carriers to pick up and move implements. Looking at traffic now, might be wise to go back to flat deck trailers. Neighbor down the way has a loading ramp for loading his almond equipment onto his gooseneck trailers.

I couldn’t imagine being incarcerated for your ethnic background in a country like we are supposed to be. The sad thing is these families came here to get away from what was happening there decades prior only to get treated like that here.

From Calisphere - Estman Collection

Location not stated -- appears to be Caterpillar dozer pushing snow to a Rotary Snowplow

https://www.pbs.org/video/americas-heartland-821/

Wallace Ranch - Woodland -

Were you there? -

Hi, cts.

Was I there??? I spent a week helping Jess Gilbertson, his family and others put the show together - all good fun.

Just my 0.02.

I did not attend. Many comments to this day about the mule skinner with the team and drawn harvester.

The "warm" weather was unforgettable too. JM

Hi, JM and cts.

Those muleskinners with their 33 mule team were certainly worth a look. It takes a LOTTTTA skill to put that many mules, MANY of which were strangers to each other, into a team and get them to work together.

The mule people themselves were GREAT people too. I was invited to two very nice feeds at their encampment during the week I was helping to put the show together. There is justa faint chance that my doing a little clearing/clean-up and earth work for them may have had something to do with that. 'Teamwork' doesn't just apply to working with mules.

Just my 0.02.