| Author | Message | ||
     12r |
Just thought I'd share this with you. This Summer has seen some great weather here in England and consequently there's a bumper crop in the fields that the farmers are busy harvesting. There are a lot of farm vehicles about, festooned with blades and spikes and caked in sh*t which is basically the last thing anyone wants to meet around a corner on our twisty rural lanes. The farmer's favourite however is the trailer. The sole purpose of the trailer is to convey a whole mountain of hay from one field to another at 5 mph, accompanied by several literally barking mad farm dogs. Bales of hay are piled onto the trailer in an incredibly high but unexpectedly narrow stack, but hey it doesn't matter because the journey is only 0.5 miles  Anyhow I was bowling along yesterday evening, enjoying another world-class ride out on my Firebolt, when the first tell-tales pieces of straw bounced off my visor. Sure enough a few corners later I could see some bales above the hedgerows but curiously they appeared to be stacked even more precariously than usual. I backed right off and as I rounded the next bend I saw that one of these hideously overloaded trailers had succeeded in dumping it's entire load of straw right across the road and into the adjoining field, where a herd of cows were happily munching on this unexpected evening feast. The farmer, his 'helpers' and his mental dogs were doing their best to clear it all up but it was kindof breezy last night and the straw and debris was freakin' everywhere. It wasn't exactly the kind of rural English scene that would've had Constable reaching for his canvas and palette.  Oh to be in England now that Summer's here | ||
| Bomber |
12 -- thanks for the laugh this AM -- we have similar challenges here in the Midwest US -- hay wagons abound, but, I'll admit, MOST are stacked and secured a bit better than what you described -- perhaps beacuse their intended journey can be quite a bit longer than half a mile (approx 1 click ;-} ) causing a bit more danger are the large argo death machines -- combines, disc harrows, and like that -- even when configured for road-running, they are generally about 1.3 times as wide as a lane. This doesn't appear TOO bad, until you factor in the concept that their suspension and steering geometery is designed for opertion on fields a 0.00005 mph (or 2 furlongs per fortnight). while running from one end of ht efarm to the other, they sometimes reach speads as high as 30/35 mph (too damn fast in Euro measures), and, at this speed, they bob and weave and dart around the road in a completely unpredictable manner (unpredictable to both innocent standbys and the pilot of the infernal engine). Good fun. the next county over just wrapped up it's county fair (celebration of all thing argicultural drawing carnies, oddballs, and mullet wearers from three states). The Grand Finale (one might say Coup De Grace) was a Demolition Derby for Combines. Only in America! (one hopes) ;-} enjoy the riding sir! | ||
| 12r |
The combine Demolition Derby sounds like a good idea, it should be an international event held every few weeks. Interesting that you say they occupy more than 1 lane in the USA - everything over here is smaller but in the same proportion, so to speak. They are invariably driven by Jensen Button wannabes and it's quite a sight to meet one (or sometimes two) of John Deere's finest bouncing along a country lane, blades at head height... Safe riding, Bomber  | ||
| Bomber |
you betcha, 12! | ||
| Cowboy |
Thats just what I say. I am tired of eating bread, pies, cakes, rice, ect.Down with farming water and air must be enough for any one, Happy dinning | ||
| Cowboy |
By the way with our those farm machines BEER would be about $50.00 a pt. | ||
| Bomber |
Cowboy -- I wasn't slaggin farmers, sir, not at all -- more of a humorous discourse than anything else (though clearly failed at that humor part) . . . . once you're out in that neck of the woods, it's THEIR road, and I"m just visiting -- gotta keep you head up, though, as the farm traffic has the right of way | ||
| Cowboy |
No ofence taken as a farmer I though it was funny to. I was quietly laughing to my self. Ride hard and safe. | ||
| Cowboy |
If you think the cagers hate combines. You should hear the curse when you start down the road with a herd of cattle. I often wandered what most of them were thinking. he he he | ||
| Mb182 |
I was traveling I-74 last fall when I came up behind 2 semis stacked with cages full of Turkeys! Was bombarded with feathers for a good 5 miles while the slightly faster cars got around them.. Some of the turkeys on the outside stacks were almost devoid of feathers MB |
