Buckaroos in Paradise: Ranching Culture in Northern Nevada, 1945-1982

Item 1 of 1

Buckaroos in Paradise: Ranching Culture in Northern Nevada, 1945-1982

[Rights and Reproductions]

Play this item     Help
Choose Format   bandwidth/file Size
realplayer icon Play 56k or higher
quicktime icon Play 6 megabytes
mpeg icon Play 12 megabytes

Item Title

The Baler

Author/Creator

Narrator: Nichols, Jesse "Tex"
Fleischhauer, Carl
Purser, Margaret, interviewers.

Created/Published

July 10,1982

Notes

Tex Nichols drives a hay baling machine and then describes its operation.
The hay that Tex Nichols is baling in this video is mostly alfalfa, but Les said the field had deteriorated in the last few years as bronco grass crept in. There had been a bit of rain after the swather cut the hay, and it had been turned with a rake to help it dry. The moisture was beneficial. If hay dries excessively, the leaves will fall off the stems. Haying in Nevada often occurs at night after the dew falls. Nichols said that he had some trouble baling this batch. The windrows formed by the V-rake were too wide for the baler and they were hard to pick up.
Nichols said that he had previously worked with other balers, but had grown to like the Freeman machine shown here. A machine of this type will cost $15,000 or more. Like many balers used in the West, the Freeman makes a large, three-wire bale weighing about 130 pounds. This is in contrast to the lighter, two-wire bale often made in the East. Each of the six boxes of rolled baling wire carried on the machine weighs one hundred pounds, and Nichols figures they will make twelve hundred bales.
Nichols described himself as a "ranch hand" on the Ninety-Six. He assisted with horseback buckaroo work but prefers machinery and what he calls "farming." He contrasted himself with his father, who used to say, "If I can't do it from a horse, I won't do it." Nichols began working at the ranch in 1980 and left in 1984.

Subject

Activities
Haying
Balers
Ethnography
Motion Pictures
Ninety-Six Ranch

Object Type

moving image

Medium

3/4 inch video

Language

English

Call Number

NV82-VT1

Digital ID

afc96ran v021
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.afc/afc96ran.v021