Cricket Song Farm

Cricket Song Farm

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

BALIN' WIRE or BALIN' TWINE


Balin' wire was the greatest invention of the 20th century.  Well in my opinion anyway.  If you have a piece of balin' wire you can fix anything.  It even rates above Duct Tape  on my list of have to have on the farm.  Sadly, however it is slowly being phased out and replaced by the balin' twine. Personally I don't care for the twine.  One good thing about twine is it comes in lots of bright colors, and makes a handy belt to hold up Handsome Man's britches when ever I have to borrow them.  The twine makes nice ropes when braided together but it looks (even a little too red-neck) tied all over the fences, holding the panels to the posts. 

 
By adding "barbs" and twisting 2 large wires together barbed wire fences changed face of the west.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Here I've used barbed wire on an antique mirror,wrapping it around the mirror and adding roses to make it "girly"
it hangs in my remodeled bedroom
 

 
 
Balin Wire holds the basketball backboard on so our family can play ball
That's Darlin Dodie shooting......she coaches basket ball at a large 4A high school
Her younger brother, trying to block the shot is a Senior, a star starter on a 3A team
recently tripped out to the city for him to get an
 Academic All-State Award!
(good job feller--see, pulling weeds DOES make you smart)
 
when we are not pulling weeds or working on other projects,
 the kids' are playing ball, even when it's winter and cold,
just scoop the snow off the cement pad and " PLAY BALL"

 
 

 
 
 
 
 
Balin' wire holds all my old implements on the wood fence
 

 
 
 
It ties the mail box nice and tight to a post after the snow plow knocks it off
 
 
 
it wires the chicken wire to the panels I have around the garden
 to keep the pesky rabbits out
 
The best use I have had  for balin' wire is when I had to  start my old green,
International Pick-up.  I would pop the hood, turn on the key, climb on the front right tire so I could reach down and  place one end of the balin' wire on the side of the starter and one end on the battery post .  Worked like a charm.   If I was able to park on a slant I could just clutch start it.  Sheesh, I miss that old truck.  Another thing I used balin wire for was to wire on the Fenders to my old green International truck.  You see, it was a step side and the fenders were gone, so an old boyfriend had modified it by using cut and shaped 50 gallon drum barrels welded onto the side as fenders.  Well, the welding wouldn't hold, so they fell off (I'm sure it wasn't because of my wild mountainous adventures or driving)
and I  figured that balin wire would do the trick. So I wired them up nice and tight and they held on for as long as I had the truck. I was quite the site a driven down the road in my old green truck (early 60's model) with the modified 50 gallon drums, balin' wired on fenders, in my bib- overalls, a BIG black dog in the back named "HOSS", a straw cowboy hat---of course, and  the windows rolled down a singin a Willy Nelson song.  Good times---No, GREAT TIMES.
 
I'll paint ya a picture sometime.
 
Yep, balin' wire was the best invention as far as my opinion goes.  I am sad to see it being replaced by twine, but a least twine comes in all those purty colors. 
 
Which do you prefer?

2 comments:

  1. Nice improvement you have there. I miss playing ball with my cousins. We also have a great time back in the old days.

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  2. Not having dealt with baling wire since the 60's, I think I have to say the balin twine is easier to handle. It is easier to see on the ground, or in a pile of dirt, and it cuts a lot easier with a knife that I ALWAYS carry (unless I put on a clean pr of jeans and forgot to remove from the dirty ones) and it is easier to break using a method that a good friend and neighbor once showed me(I think about you every time I use YOUR method), and it doesn't hurt the tiller when it gets all tangled up in the tines. It also makes good "collars" for ornery goats, and most important, it is a lot easier to carry in pants pockets, AND, it's easier on the hands when moving 80 bales of hay at a time. 8)

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