Personal attack? If you say so, I apologize! I wish I hadn't gone as hard as I did at sports and I should have sat out games instead of playing every minute to be "tough". My body is worse off now because of it. I guess I'm lucky to live in a area where I don't see what youre talking/complaining about all the time. Or maybe I just look for the good in people instead of crapping on them because their not good at the same stuff I am. I've noticed that over time people start to think what they do is the most important and if someone is is good at something different they don't care because it not the same job/strengths they have?
Americans getting softer? What’s your opinion?
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oldnslo
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Hay Dude
Let’s use dairy farming as an example of people being less physically fit.
50 years ago we baled all of our hay with small square bales and hand stacked every load behind the baler and in hay mow or hay shed. Then hand carried the bales to feed the cows.
threw silage down from the stave silos by hand and then fed the cows by hand carrying it to them in bushel basket.
cleaned the gutters in the barn with shovel or pitch fork
squatted or knelt down next to every cow to put Milker on and take milker off. Then hand carried the pails of milk to the cans and poured into the cans. Then lifted the 100 lb cans in and out of the cooler.
30 years ago we chopped most of the hay and put in bottom unload silo.
Corn silage was in stave silos with top unloader. In both cases flip a switch and the silo was unloaded.
This went into a battery powered feed cart that mixed the feed together and you just walked behind down the feed allley
cleaning barn flipped the switch and barn cleaner moved all the manure in the gutters out to the spreader. Only pitch fork was cleaning stalls.
milking we still had stalls with pipeline so carried the milkers from cow to cow but milk flowed directly into the bulk tank and was cooled.
today hardly any upright silos being used in this area. Almost all silage and haylage is put in bunker or bags and fed with loaders and feed carts.
most hay is large square or round bales and moved with some type of loader.
cows are brought into a parlor where you stand to put the milkers on no more squatting or kneeling required.
free stall barns are mechanically cleaned or have a slat floor so little pitchfork work required
I think it is safe to say most dairy farmers are not near as physically fit today as they were 50 years ago.
suspect same goes for commercial hay farmers. Majority of work today is all machines.
not saying this is good or bad just changing times and technology
Let’s use dairy farming as an example of people being less physically fit.
50 years ago we baled all of our hay with small square bales and hand stacked every load behind the baler and in hay mow or hay shed. Then hand carried the bales to feed the cows.
threw silage down from the stave silos by hand and then fed the cows by hand carrying it to them in bushel basket.
cleaned the gutters in the barn with shovel or pitch fork
squatted or knelt down next to every cow to put Milker on and take milker off. Then hand carried the pails of milk to the cans and poured into the cans. Then lifted the 100 lb cans in and out of the cooler.
30 years ago we chopped most of the hay and put in bottom unload silo.
Corn silage was in stave silos with top unloader. In both cases flip a switch and the silo was unloaded.
This went into a battery powered feed cart that mixed the feed together and you just walked behind down the feed allley
cleaning barn flipped the switch and barn cleaner moved all the manure in the gutters out to the spreader. Only pitch fork was cleaning stalls.
milking we still had stalls with pipeline so carried the milkers from cow to cow but milk flowed directly into the bulk tank and was cooled.
today hardly any upright silos being used in this area. Almost all silage and haylage is put in bunker or bags and fed with loaders and feed carts.
most hay is large square or round bales and moved with some type of loader.
cows are brought into a parlor where you stand to put the milkers on no more squatting or kneeling required.
free stall barns are mechanically cleaned or have a slat floor so little pitchfork work required
I think it is safe to say most dairy farmers are not near as physically fit today as they were 50 years ago.
suspect same goes for commercial hay farmers. Majority of work today is all machines.
not saying this is good or bad just changing times and technology
MossRoad
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84% of the U.S. population were against the U.S. entering the war in Europe. Only after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, and a few days later Germany declaring war on the U.S., did the U.S. enter WWII. Then, 62% were drafted. They didn't volunteer. They were drafted. Did that make them less tough? No. Did they step up in a national crisis even though they were against it? Yes.
If there were a large enough war today that the draft would have to be used again, I'm guessing the numbers would be the same today as they were back then. 84% against it.
If there were a large enough war today that the draft would have to be used again, I'm guessing the numbers would be the same today as they were back then. 84% against it.
4570Man
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Well if I can’t use at minimum a rental pocket size excavator I’m not doing the job. Realistically if I can’t use my excavator I’m probably not doing the job. I can’t get any help and I’m not doing it by myself. But the 1-1000 jobs where it’s the only way wasn’t the proposed scenario. The suggested idea of digging a water line 3’ deep 300 foot long by hand is nothing short of retarded. This took me less than 30 minutes.
lman
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A dairy here is using robot milkers.
My dad managed a rural country cemetery and if it was a slower time on the farm, he would dig the
graves by hand instead of calling the excavator. He was good with a shovel. Of course my brothers and I would take turns helping. A little extra money could always come in handy with a family of 9 kids.
My dad managed a rural country cemetery and if it was a slower time on the farm, he would dig the
graves by hand instead of calling the excavator. He was good with a shovel. Of course my brothers and I would take turns helping. A little extra money could always come in handy with a family of 9 kids.
Citydude
Elite Member
Maybe add 10 more minutes and dig a straight line next time?
CalG
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Softer? Yes! If body mass index is the measure.
Looking through some older family photo albums from the late 30's till the late 60s.
Not an overweight person to be seen in any picture. As I recall, my maternal grandmother was roundy in her old age, but she still kept the farm house in "pin money". Dressed chickens and crates of eggs went out every week.
Recently we had a family reunion of sorts. Back at the S.Dak. home place.
Most everyone is heavy. dangerously so.
I'm lucky I guess. My wife as well. 'Glad too that my two grown boys need frequent feeding and still haven't an ounce extra. I wish that was the case for my daughter, but she works with food professionally,(Chef at a fancy place in Montana) and has my grandmother's genes. Right down to the face and infectious smile.
Yep! We are getting soft. Most of the western world is getting overweight. Fat people are at a disadvantage in health, work and recreation. A sad price to pay for progress.
Looking through some older family photo albums from the late 30's till the late 60s.
Not an overweight person to be seen in any picture. As I recall, my maternal grandmother was roundy in her old age, but she still kept the farm house in "pin money". Dressed chickens and crates of eggs went out every week.
Recently we had a family reunion of sorts. Back at the S.Dak. home place.
Most everyone is heavy. dangerously so.
I'm lucky I guess. My wife as well. 'Glad too that my two grown boys need frequent feeding and still haven't an ounce extra. I wish that was the case for my daughter, but she works with food professionally,(Chef at a fancy place in Montana) and has my grandmother's genes. Right down to the face and infectious smile.
Yep! We are getting soft. Most of the western world is getting overweight. Fat people are at a disadvantage in health, work and recreation. A sad price to pay for progress.
oldballs
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From my experiences with 9 grandsons...........There's only one that can physically work like I work. By 18 years old they are way over weight with pot bellies bulging. Five of' em have college degrees and I guess they are good at what they do. ...but "soft" at physical things.....I'd say so.
Some day I may see if their mental status is also "soft" in dealing with life.
Cheers,
Mike
Some day I may see if their mental status is also "soft" in dealing with life.
Cheers,
Mike
MossRoad
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Would you put your kids out there on the football field with nothing but a leather helmet?
Would you let them play baseball without a cup?
How about play some basketball without a jock strap?
How about MMA fighting? Would you let your kid do that? It's about as tough as you can get.
Do you want your kid to work in a rock quarry?
Take my father in law. He joined the Navy at 17 to get into WWII, just to get away from his father, only to get a crippling ear infection before he even left the states. The war ended before he recovered, so he got a job in a cement factory to support his father's family. He had to load cement pipe forms with a shovel. He didn't do it because he was tough. He did it because he had to and that's all the work that was available. Guess which job he quit as soon as he could find something better? He left that to work on the production line making sewing machine cabinets for Singer. Spent 10 hour days sanding cabinets. Sounds like a great job for a kid. He got dysentery in that factory because all the workers shared 1 tin cup at a sink to get a drink of water. Spent a few months in the hospital because they had to basically take his guts out of him through his back, lay them in a pan and wash them several times before putting them back in. He finally got a job as a maintenance person in a factory and retired from that after 40 years.
Was he tough? Heck yeah! He was the toughest man I ever met. He could have kicked my butt well into his 70's. But the reality is, he outlived all of his high school friends, most by decades. They all worked similar jobs and died young. He was the exception, not the rule. Tougher is not necessarily better. He was fortunate to have survived a really hard life at first, and then enjoy 27 years of retirement. Most guys that go that route don't make it.
Would you let them play baseball without a cup?
How about play some basketball without a jock strap?
How about MMA fighting? Would you let your kid do that? It's about as tough as you can get.
Do you want your kid to work in a rock quarry?
Take my father in law. He joined the Navy at 17 to get into WWII, just to get away from his father, only to get a crippling ear infection before he even left the states. The war ended before he recovered, so he got a job in a cement factory to support his father's family. He had to load cement pipe forms with a shovel. He didn't do it because he was tough. He did it because he had to and that's all the work that was available. Guess which job he quit as soon as he could find something better? He left that to work on the production line making sewing machine cabinets for Singer. Spent 10 hour days sanding cabinets. Sounds like a great job for a kid. He got dysentery in that factory because all the workers shared 1 tin cup at a sink to get a drink of water. Spent a few months in the hospital because they had to basically take his guts out of him through his back, lay them in a pan and wash them several times before putting them back in. He finally got a job as a maintenance person in a factory and retired from that after 40 years.
Was he tough? Heck yeah! He was the toughest man I ever met. He could have kicked my butt well into his 70's. But the reality is, he outlived all of his high school friends, most by decades. They all worked similar jobs and died young. He was the exception, not the rule. Tougher is not necessarily better. He was fortunate to have survived a really hard life at first, and then enjoy 27 years of retirement. Most guys that go that route don't make it.
MossRoad
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I recall in the mid 70's we had a dry well collapse in our yard. My dad hired a guy to repair it. They agreed upon a price. The next day, some guy in jeans and a sweater showed up with a shovel and started digging. I was maybe 12 years old. He dug for several hours. My mom told me to get him some water to drink, so I did. I kept checking on him. He dug that whole thing out in a day. He looked beat to heck. I asked him why he didn't use a backhoe? He said he didn't own the company, he was just a worker, he needed the money, and the guy that my dad paid to do the job paid the sweater guy to do the job to dig it out. I remember it to this day. That man looked absolutely beat. He didn't look happy. He looked desperate to me. I could tell he needed the money, even at my young age.
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