Hello from Hazard!
Item No. 1278 stirred up even more feedback this past week.
Butch Eick, of Salem, Ohio, responded: Item No. 1278 is a John Deere 999 horse-drawn planter with a check row attachment.
Herman Sprague, of Bidwell, Ohio, told us his father had a Dearborn corn planter and wire checker like Item No. 1278. He never saw his father use it — he planted corn and hoed it by hand. But he explained the wire roll was used to check the corn, ensuring the hills were the same distance apart, so the plow could clear the weeds in both directions. Herman and his father farmed with horses until his father died in 1956.
Tony Yurina emailed to say Item No. 1278 is a check wire planter, explaining that the wire was stretched straight for each direction of planter travel and then carefully moved a measured amount for each subsequent row. The check wire tripped the mechanism to precisely drop each seed. If done correctly a farmer could cultivate corn in multiple directions without damaging the fledging corn growth.
James Marshall, of Spencer, West Virginia, called Item No. 1278 a check chain, and said it was used to tell the planter where to drop the corn.
Steve Carpenter identified Item No. 1278 as a John Deere 999 corn planter. He said the roll of wire was strung across the field and staked wire was threaded onto the planter. The knots in the wire tripped the planter to drop grains of corn every 40 inches so the corn could be cultivated in two directions. he noted the planter had a seat on the framework and the planter was manual lift with a handle that had several notches for depth. He also shared that his dad purchased one when he bought his farm for $10. His dad then put a hydraulic c cylinder on it, took the dolly wheel off and pulled it with his $150 John Deere, while he rode on the seat and watched it work.
Bruce Killian emailed that Item No. 1278 appears to be a check row planter used for corn, explaining it was a precision planting system utilized so that the field could be cultivated both with the row and across it.
Fred Moore, of Seward, Alaska, thought Item No. 1278 may have been used as a horse-drawn implement for stringing fence wire when it was not in use planting corn.
Jason Watkins believed Item No. 1278 may have been pulled behind a vehicle, horse or mule to string barbwire.
Calvin Breyley, of Streetsboro, Ohio, came across the corn planter in question at an auction, noticing it was the only one with a spool of wire hanging from the back.
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Our next submission comes from Travis Deetz in Sugarcreek, Ohio. His dad found Item No. 1279 in the woods on his property of 50 years. They have been calling it a “whatsit” and believe it may have been something a logger would have used. They found a broken piece of rope in the casing.
If you’d like to share your thoughts on Item No. 1279, email us at editorial@farmanddairy.com, comment on this Hazard A Guess? post at farmanddairy.com or send mail to Hazard a Guess?, in care of Farm and Dairy, P.O. Box 38, Salem, OH 44460.
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If you have an item you’d like identified, please submit it to editorial@farmanddairy.com.
