Hay Mower
Homer
Jones seated on his horse-drawn mower – A successor to the scythe, this mower
employed a sickle-bar onto which were riveted many sickle blades. These sickle blades looked like giant sharks
teeth and made swift work of any standing vegetation in their path. In the above picture the sickle-bar is raised
for transporting and only five or six of the blades can be seen in front of the
nearest horses back right leg.
The
mower required a fair amount of horse power to operate. Notice the exterior lugs on the wheel of the
mower. These would ‘bite’ into the
ground when the mower was pulled to keep the wheels from slipping and loosing
power to the mower.
The
mower was not limited to mowing hay, of course, although that was its main
use. The mower was also used for
cutting grain stubble, mowing weeds, maintaining roadways, and similar
applications.
This
photo also provides a good picture of the horse harness including the neck yoke, the horse collar, hames,
and other items pictured on this site.
Provided by Dorothy
Bayes
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