Interview with Bob Even, Elkton, South Dakota
Q: What do you remember about farming with horses?
A: Horses were a big part of farming when I was growing up, they were used for many things.
My father used both horses and tractors; he plowed with a McCormick Deering pulling a 4-bottom plow
that had 2 more plows attached for a total of 6 plows.
Q: How long did it take to get them ready for work?
A: It took about 10 minutes to get them harnessed up.
Q: What jobs did you do with horses?
A: I mowed hay, raked hay with a dump rake, cultivated with a 2 horse one row cultivator
and a 4 horse 2 row cultivator and hauled bundles to the thresher.
Q: What items did you use to keep the horses comfortable and in control when you were
working with them?
A: We used a fly blanket or net to keep the flies off the horses, blinders and baskets
to keep them from eating while they were working in the field.
Q: What did you feed the horses?
A: We fed the horses oats for grain and hay.
Q: What kind of care did the horses require when you were done working with them?
A: We rested the horses at noon during lunch, they were unhooked from the implement and
given plenty of water and maybe alittle feed. In the evening the harness was removed and
they were curried and brushed, then they were fed and watered and maybe turned out.
Q: Between what years did you use horses?
A: I was born in 1926 and we used horses until about 1938-39. In the early 1940ąs tractors
really took off.
Q: What memorable experiences did you have working with horses?
A: I was unloading bundles at the thresher when a belt broke making a loud slapping sound
that scared the horses and made them bolt. I was thrown down in the wagon when the team
ran away and had to struggle to get up and grab the reins to get the team under control.
Another time my dad picked us up after school in a sleigh because the weather was so bad.
The weather and visibility became so bad that my dad tied off the reins and crawled into
the back with us in the blankets and the horses found their way home safely.
Q: When did you get your first tractor, what was it and who taught you to drive?
A: I used my dadąs tractor until 1950 then I bought a Farmall M. I knew how to drive from
using my dadąs tractors.
Q: What was the maintenance like on early tractors compared to taking care of horses?
A: You didnąt have to feed or clean up after tractors so it was easier.
Q: What did you think of the change from horses to tractors?
A: We thought that it was a tremendous step forward. Tractors were easier to take care of.
Q: How did your work hours change when you started to work with tractors?
A: It seemed to get busier the more we modernized. Farms started to get bigger and the
number of family farmers started to shrink. When we worked with horses, supper usually
signaled the end of the workday.
Q: Did you ever work with or around steam power?
A: No.
Q: What was your small tractor and what was your big tractor?
A: A small case tractor of about 30 hp and a John Deere of about 185 hp.
Q: Did the amount of workers increase or decrease when you started to use tractors?
A: It decreased. My dad used to own a thresher and men would show up looking for work.
They would work for $1 a day plus room and board. I remember the first combine that they
brought out to be demonstrated, all the old time farmers laughed and said it wouldnąt work
because threshers had to be dug in and leveled to work properly but the combine moved with
the land so it wasnąt always level so they thought it wouldnąt work.
Q: Did the size of your farm increase as tractors and implements improved?
A: Yes. There used to be a farm on just about every quarter but as farmers started to leave
farming other farmers would buy the land. The family farm has been shrinking for a long time.
Comments or questions, please e-mail us at:sdsu_agmuseum@sdstate.edu