In-Grown Metal

Wudman · March 09, 2020, 01:33:19 PM

On the sawing side, I would guess that most of us have found some ingrown metal. This one is kind of to the extreme. The back story on this is the interesting part. We used to farm this tract when I was a kid. The deceased owner (now owned by his son) was a World War II vet. He was a gunner flying bombing missions in B-24s over Germany. He was an avid outdoorsman and was the individual that taught me to breakdown and clean my Remington 1100 when I was about 10 years old. He lived to be 91. A few years back, I saw him at a high school basketball game. He was in frail health and confined to a wheelchair and was unable to speak. I walked over to him and shook his hand recounting the time he had shown me how to clean my gun. His eyes lit up and it was obvious that he remembered. His daughter called me that night to thank me for coming to speak to him. She said he was very excited on their way home and knew that it meant something to him.

This gentleman was an avid wood carver. In his deployment, he had carved models of various German aircraft and distributed them through his unit. That way, his fellow gunners could identify the targets that were coming after them. Several boxes of these models were donated to the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, VA.

Back to the story at hand. As a young child (he told me he was about 10 years old), he was raking hay with a team of horses. He finished the job and backed the rake to the field edge to unhook. When he unhooked, the rake rolled back and down the hill. He was unable to recover it, and the rake found its final resting place.

You can see the edge of a wheel to the left hand side of the photo.

About 1/3 of the unit is embedded in that white oak.

A view looking back up the hill.

When I was a kid some 40 years ago, that wheel was clearly visible outside of the tree. It has just about grown completely around it now.

Wudman

sandhills · March 09, 2020, 02:05:12 PM

Thanks for the story and the pictures.

Pine Ridge · March 09, 2020, 04:30:19 PM

Yes, thank you for sharing with us !!!!!!

Southside · March 09, 2020, 05:41:47 PM

That is pretty awesome. Looks like the seat is being consumed as well? I wonder how much trouble he got in when he had to fess up where the rake was as I imagine it was a rather valuable item.

thecfarm · March 09, 2020, 06:00:50 PM

Nice story.

btulloh · March 09, 2020, 06:03:55 PM

Pretty wild. I bet that makes for some interesting grain patterns.

moodnacreek · March 09, 2020, 06:32:52 PM

That was a good story.

WDH · March 09, 2020, 07:11:54 PM

That is amazing. The inexorable march of time.

jeepcj779 · March 09, 2020, 10:54:33 PM

That sure is some good steel.

Wudman · March 10, 2020, 08:44:35 AM

http://southsidemessenger.com/nathaniel-harvey-jeter/

Read this link and you will understand why these gentlemen were "The Greatest Generation". I believe it appropriate to memorialize him along with his living monument on the farm. I was blessed to have a number of these gentlemen to touch my life as a kid. As for his water color paintings, I have one hanging in my living room. My Dad gave it to me as a Christmas Present some years back. I'll grab a picture of that and post it as well.

Wudman

bwstout · March 10, 2020, 09:06:40 AM

He was an outstanding man what a story. I live 40 miles from Ashdown Ar. Isn't it amazing that we can be hundreds of miles away never met one another but still have some connection in life, life is truly amazing. You are blessed have know such a person.

Pine Ridge · March 10, 2020, 01:28:09 PM

He was a busy man. Men like him deserve our utmost respect, i would have loved to have met and visited with him. I've had alot of older friends that i enjoyed listening to their stories and life experiences, sadly many of them have passed on. That generation was a tough bunch.

Wudman · October 11, 2021, 07:28:43 PM

Thought I would add a complement to this story. I have known about this horse drawn sickle bar mower for a few years. It is located along the boundary of one of the tracts that I manage. I got back by there a few days ago to take a picture.

That tree has started to claim it.

That's a little yellow poplar having it for lunch.

Time marches on.

Wud

moodnacreek · October 11, 2021, 09:55:28 PM

I've mowed fields with a sickle bar on a tractor most of my life and have a few horse drawn ones but have never mowed with horses. A few weeks back I mowed around a large white faced hornets nest that I spotted the last go round. They say getting into that with the horse drawn mower was something.