Buying machinery.

When buying farm machinery, I have found it advantageous to check out various localities. For example, in an area around a large town, small equipment is more expensive than it is 40 or 50 miles away. The only drawback is transporting the equipment after you've bought it. This is no problem if you have a pickup or car with a trailer and hitch. For implements with wheels, take the ball off the hitch and use a regular farm type pin with a clip of some sort to prevent the pin from jumping out of the hole. If it doesn't have wheels, use a trailer, wagon or your ingenuity in loading it to haul home.

If it's a tractor you're moving, obtain a slow moving sign or some sort of way to warn approaching motorists and drive the tractor home on a warm sunny day. You will be surprised how friendly motorists are when seeing something different from all the farm monsters usually being driven down the road.

Second, try to determine the uses and capabilities of machinery and your own needs before looking. If all a tractor will be used for is to pull a trailer or disc (or some other simple job) any type will do. However, if you're going to be mowing hay or using a manure loader, then such features as live PTO or live hydraulics might be very useful. If you are unsure about certain models then look around. There are sure to be some small farmers around who quite possibly own or once owned this type of equipment and can give you advice.

Sometimes driving around back roads is helpful in finding equipment. If you see something you're interested in that is sitting in a back lot with weeds growing around it, stop in and ask the farmer. Chances are he'd like the opportunity to be rid of it for a few dollars. Or, if there is a neighborhood scrap man around, let him know you'll pay a little more than the scrap value for good small machinery.

As for a hay baler, I would like to offer an alternative. If there is a barn on the place, loose hay can be put up by using an old fashioned hay loader, the only cost being the price of the machinery. (I paid $17 for one and $5 for another this summer.) When using a hay loader, load the outside of the wagon or trailer first and then fill in the middle. We put seven to eight loads up this way over the summer and had a lot of fun doing it, besides enjoying the startled looks of passing motorists.

If a rainstorm is coming and you have to put up a load of hay not fully cured, having only a little more drying to do, spread the hay around as thinly as possible and salt it down to keep the heat from building up.

Always take breeders' claims with a grain of salt

COUNTRYSIDE: When buying a Piedmontese bull as advocated in Vol. 77, No. 3, there is something you should consider.

Normally a bull would not be bought to breed one or two cows. It is not economical, which is obvious enough. One would do better to use artificial insemination or use a neighbor's bull if one is available.

I learned the hard way that the advantages of the Piedmontese cross can be a detriment.

Several years ago I wanted to end large my commercial herd and bought some good cows and a Piedmontese bull from a neighbor. The next year the calves from that bull grew well and looked nice. We were happy until we sold the calves in October. All the Piedmontese cross calves were sorted out and sold for 10 to 12 cents per lb. less than our other calves.

It was then that we learned that the feeders and packers don't like them because they won't finish (fatten).

I'm not saying that it is right or wrong; I'm only stating how it is in the real world at the present.

If homesteaders want lean beef for their own use or know enough people who are willing to pay for that advantage, then okay. Otherwise they should be aware that their time has not yet come and that crusading for the cause might cost them dearly as it did me.--V. S. Boddicker, Phoenix, Arizona

This refers to Piedmontese cattle, in Arizona, in 1993. But we've reprinted it because we have heard similar stories, about all kinds of animals, in all parts of the country, at almost any given time.

The lesson is that if you read or hear wonderful things about any breed of any animal, they might not apply to you. If an animal of a minor species or breed interests you, proceed with caution and learn by experience.

We still maintain that a good animal of a "poor" breed is better than a poor animal of a "good" breed.

DENNIS NEBENDAHL CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA