Unusual Discovery in the Woods: An Old Farm Machine

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the discovery of an old piece of farm machinery found in the woods, with participants sharing their experiences related to similar finds and speculating on the history and significance of such artifacts. The conversation touches on themes of exploration, nostalgia, and the impact of changing land use over time.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant describes finding a large, rusted piece of machinery, speculating it might be an automatic seeder, and questions how long it takes for rubber to start flaking.
  • Another participant shares their own experiences of finding various old items in the woods, including rusted pots and house foundations.
  • A different participant recounts a story about collecting parts of an old truck that were washed down a creek, suggesting a possible connection to a private car bridge.
  • There is a humorous exchange about the use of dynamite to free the truck frame, with one participant joking about the number of sticks used.
  • One participant reflects on the symbolic nature of the farm machinery, noting the decline of farming in the area and the encroachment of the forest on what was once farmland.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants share similar interests in exploring old finds and recounting personal stories, but there is no consensus on the exact history or significance of the farm machinery or the truck parts. The discussion remains open-ended with various perspectives presented.

Contextual Notes

Some participants express uncertainty about the age of the machinery and the conditions under which it ended up in the woods. There are also references to local history and events that may have contributed to the presence of such artifacts, but these remain speculative.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be of interest to those who enjoy exploring historical artifacts, local history enthusiasts, and individuals interested in the impact of land use changes over time.

BicycleTree
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Today I was walking out in the woods. In many places in the woods around here you can find old stone walls going between the trees. Today by one of these stone walls I found a piece of farm machinery. It was heavily rusted and the rubber tires were flaking. It was ten or fifteen feet wide and would have been nearly impossible to get into the forest and fit between the trees, unless dropped by a helicopter. It must have been left there decades ago and the forest grew up around it.

I think it's an automatic seeder.
 
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I love old finds like that...you must be on the east coast{stone walls}? On a trip to the cape, I ran across some walls, so I followed them and found all kinds of neat stuff, including a few graves.
 
Yep, east coast. Never found any graves, but I've found rusted pots and glass bottles, house foundations and a pile of cement. All out in the forest. Farm machinery though... I wonder how old that thing is. How long does it take rubber to start flaking?
 
We have a large, pre-55 Ford truck coming down the creek, one part at a time - I know its at least that old. I have one leaf spring, both license plates, two tie rods, U bolts, a spark plug, and a few other parts here and there. I hope to eventually collect the entire truck and put it back together. :biggrin:

For the longest time I couldn't figure out where these things were coming from. I followed the creek to the headwaters and never saw a thing. It turned out that the truck frame was used as the base of a private car bridge. Each year a few parts would fall off and make it down the creek to our place.

MIH and the LA crowd may be interested in hiking to the abandoned Allison Gold Mine, in the San Bernadino Mountains. When I last hiked up there many years ago, the near turn of the century mining equipment was still lying around where it was left back in the twenties or thirties. It was cheaper to leave it there, when the mine closed.
 
BicycleTree said:
Yep, east coast. Never found any graves, but I've found rusted pots and glass bottles, house foundations and a pile of cement. All out in the forest. Farm machinery though... I wonder how old that thing is. How long does it take rubber to start flaking?
It's a good thing you clarified which coast...because I was thinking maybe you lived near someone else (with rotting deers and tree stumps, and now pieces of a truck floating down the creek). :rolleyes:

The equipment could have ended up like that a few different ways -- I don't think it happened during the Farm Aid Concert, because that seems too recent. Also, I don't think it was from the Championship Tractor Pull during the National Farm Machinery Show either. Maybe it was a result of old George Yokum's going away party as manager of Acme Farm Machinery--it was in the papers as being "a little too jubilant." :-p
 
Last edited:
Ivan Seeking said:
It turned out that the truck frame was used as the base of a private car bridge. Each year a few parts would fall off and make it down the creek to our place.
Any day now a whole new car should come floating into your arms. :biggrin:
 
Danger said:
Any day now a whole new car should come floating into your arms. :biggrin:

:biggrin: No, I discovered the truck when hit with a huge blast wave one day. Seriously! A couple of jokers used about ten sticks of dynamite to blast the frame free from its concrete base. They just about took out all of the windows within a mile radius as well. :smile: It about scared me to death. I thought the local NG ammo depot had gone up.
 
Ivan Seeking said:
A couple of jokers used about ten sticks of dynamite to blast the frame free from its concrete base.
Idiots! Everybody knows that you only use 8 if you just want to loosen it.
 
Danger said:
Idiots! Everybody knows that you only use 8 if you just want to loosen it.
So I take it you weren't responsible...well maybe not for this explosion... :rolleyes:
 
  • #10
SOS2008 said:
So I take it you weren't responsible...well maybe not for this explosion... :rolleyes:
No, not this one. (Do you remember Tunguska?)
 
  • #11
Danger said:
No, not this one. (Do you remember Tunguska?)
I don't think you should be in the same state with Ivan either... So what were we talking about...farm animals, no that's another thread, oh yes, farm implements!
 
  • #12
SOS2008 said:
So what were we talking about...farm animals, no that's another thread, oh yes, farm implements!
Either/or. They're both just something to be used and left in the field.
 
  • #13
SOS2008 said:
I don't think you should be in the same state with Ivan either... So what were we talking about...farm animals, no that's another thread, oh yes, farm implements!

I better go find the thread on farm animals so I can comment on your new avatar! :biggrin:
 
  • #14
Moonbear said:
I better go find the thread on farm animals so I can comment on your new avatar! :biggrin:
I'm getting a novel idea for a petting zoo here...
 
  • #15
I thought that the farm machinery was particularly symbolic of the changing economy. There are hardly any farms around here anymore (not counting cranberry bogs). You can only wonder. The seeder has been standing there so long that it can no longer even fit between the trees of the forest that was once farmland--ground that it once, perhaps, seeded with crops.
 

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