I dug around a yard sale today an found a bunch of random stuff I never new i needed!

a bunch of books, a coin collection from the late 1800s to the 1930s, antique scissors ect…

but then there was this whatchamacallit they ask me if It was a old branding iron an I said I don’t believe so but I ain’t gotta clue what it was

It looks to me like it was bolted together, you can kinda see the old bolt heads on both ends of it,

After looking at it I believe it had the star shape on both ends but one broke off, and I believe they were parallel

Only thing that comes to mind is maybe a fancy forged towel bar. SWAG

Lol well I guess I’ll that’s possible! 

Sorry I forgot to say, they told me they dug it up out in a 200 field though, so I was thinking it might have something to do with old farm implements? But I can’t figure what?

That brings a little focus to it. I have seen pictures of horse drawn wagons and carriages that had railings around the seat and foot boards. So that's a possibility part of a seat railing that holds the seat cushions in.

Definitely NOT a branding iron!

  Maybe it fell off one of those ancient wooden sided manure spreaders.  I'll tell you what it did.... It rusted....

11 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

Definitely NOT a branding iron

Yeah I didn’t think so, I’ve found old branding irons before an they were forge welded, ive never seen one bolted together an I would think you wouldn’t want Two bolt heads on your brand either

Scott,

it’s possible, weve got a million of them old spreaders around here, I’ve never looked one over so I dunno if there’s any parts on them like this or not,

an yes it most definitely rusted! Lol

  Billy, old manure spreaders have some interesting parts on them as I'm sure you know.  I had an old seed planter for a yard ornament at the farm.  They are interesting as well.  I couldn't take the whole machine so I cut off the front wheel and a few other item's.  I actually felt a little bad about destroying the looks of it.  But that wheel is now a nice addition to my yard deco here.  The dog walkers are starting to stare at our place....  

I had a friend years ago who found a use for old, horse drawn farm equipment.  He and his wife had a BIG garden, a couple acres IIRC, which was too big to tend by hand.  So he reconditioned old horse drawn equipment such as plows and cultivators and pulled them with a small tractor.  His wife drove the tractor while he manipulated the old machinery.  It worked very well but his wife did not appreciate being compared to a horse.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

If the dog walkers staring bothers you Scott, wheel the BBQ into sight and give the dogs a long scrutinizing gaze as they walk past. Maybe invite them over for lunch, BBQed dogs are on the menu. Hmmm? 

That's an unfortunate comparison George, might have been better raving about how much better the view was.

Frosty The Lucky.

Better than a Mule!

 Jerry,  if those dog walkers start yelling at me I will have a problem.  I have no grill and my smokers out of commision right now.  There goes one now.  I suspect they don't like the way we turned the yard into a garden either.  We already have tomatos and pepper coming on. 

  George, I hope they mounted the implement operators seat well behind the working parts.  I almost fell under a disc one time.  

 

I'm sure they'll adjust, most folks just don't like change. 

I assume the implement seat you're referring to above isn't a manure spreader. 

Frosty The Lucky.

If you don't like change, put it in the tip jar.

  

1 hour ago, Frosty said:

I assume the implement seat you're referring to above isn't a manure spreader. 

  That would probably be a design flaw.

Wouldn't that depend on how you feel about the person using it? Perhaps that particular farmer doesn't pay his bills without being badgered. Might earn himself a design flaw or two. 

Frosty The Lucky.

  I've known a few peeps that could use a good flawed seated manure spreader ride.  Everybody else might want to use a tyvek suit and goggles.  I suppose it would be advisable to keep your mouth shut while in operation..... 

I live "downtown" myself and my house could pass for something you would see in a holler in KY. Small town and no HOA's or any of that nonsense so i can get away with "If you do not like it, i really do not care. My house, my property... " Dont get me wrong i keep the grass mowed and trim the bushes back from the mailbox occasionally. 

Speaking of hollers in KY, when i was a kid growing we had a garden next to the house, about 1/2 acre or so. The farm grew tobacco and we raised pigs, the garden was for us. That is where we got our beans, corn, tomatoes, cabbage, etc. to get us through winter. Nothing better than a fresh picked watermelon that had sat in the creek with the cool water running over it all day, but i digress. I spent more than a couple days with a plow harnessed up to a horse to plow that little piece of land. 

  I was at the farm supply yesterday and got to talking to the fellow that runs the plant nursery and he said long ago all the tobacco farms around brought their crops in to be processed and the whole town smelled like it.  

  We decided next year to try chickens.  I wonder if they will eat fire ants.  That would be a win-win.  Neighbors can't say anything because the city allows it.  No roosters a crowing though.

  Our garden is doing suprisingly well considering all the obstacles to growing around here.

Mmmm....  watermellon.

Cantaloupe fresh off the vine, sliced and deseeded and chilled with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. Mmmmm.

I was visiting the folks when they lived in Chehalis Wa. Dad was indulging himself in a huge garden, probably close to half an acre for the two of them. I'm tagging along as he shows it off row by row. I asked what kind of insecticide he used. The only ones legal there are short acting, they lived surrounded by apple orchards, so certain fruit trees were banned as well. 

He's walking, pointing ad talking and I'm grazing along behind him with happy pooched out cheeks. He points at a row of green beans and tells me I can eat one right off the vine if I'd like. He turned around when I didn't reply to find me with a mouth stuffed full of fresh warm veggies. I pointed at the spot in the row he'd indicated, nodded and mumbled I'll get to it next. 

Dad and my Uncle Fred had been engaging in a family melon and strawberry competition since they were kids. Dad's strawberries were heavenly but Uncle Fred's pencil eraser sized strawberries were so intensely flavorful they were hard to eat. Seriously one tiny strawberry would almost bring tears to your eyes it was so strong. Dad had him beat hands down with his cantaloupes and other melons. 

They had MY kind of sibling rivalry. Who can grow the BEST food! Now if I could've only convince Mother to steam veggies instead of boil. <sigh>

Frosty The Lucky.

Frosty, Martha had a story about 2 elderly sisters she was related to in western NY who had a hired man who transplanted wild strawberries from the woods to the garden where he tenderly cared for them and they produced berries the size of commercial berries but still had the intense flavor of wild berries.  I can't imagine what you could sell those for if you could produce them in commercial quantities.

He worked for the sisters for many years.  They finally got rid of the cow when it got to be too much for him when he turned 100.

GNM

  You guys are tempting me to show photos of what I gave up to move to the land of fire ants.

  I won't because life is what you make it.  

  Did I mention centipedes and snakes?

The only time I had much success growing strawberries is when I planted them on the sill board of the log cabin I was staying it. The 2" x 12" I'd spiked to the roof to keep the sod from dripping . . . stuff on you if you got too close had a number of knots. So, I knocked them all out and next time I came out after it thawed I brought a flat of strawberry seedlings and poked them in. Within days leaves were poking out the knotholes and within a week they were showing over the sill board. The rest of the seedlings I planted in the area I'd prepared for a strawberry patch languished all summer and I toted water almost daily.

Anyway, by mid summer strawberries were hanging out of the holes and over the sill board. Walk up to the cabin and pick a fresh strawberry, other folks in the area started planting on their sod roofs. Not everybody had a sod roof or could reach them without a ladder, still. Last I talked to one of the owners of the cabin -  late 80s I think - they said the entire roof was a strawberry patch. That was more than 30 years ago I wonder if they're still growing. 

I wonder how chickens eating fire ants will effect the flavor of the eggs and meat.

Ducks LOVE ants, slugs, centipedes, etc. 

Frosty The Lucky.