Robert Frost was correct. Sometimes taking the road less traveled can make all the difference.
Case in point. A week or so ago, I was walking along the Normanskill Creek between Albany and Delmar, it was a peaceful walk where I could perform simple reflection on my life. Then, after that, I walked along the trail – past the blacksmith shop and the herb garden. Something caught my eye. Something out of place. Something – rusty.
Whatever it is, it looks like someone built some steampunk edition of a burrowing machine, with plans to guide this vessel to the center of the earth – only somehow it got stuck in Albany. I looked at the machine; perhaps Otto Lindenbrock etched his initials on the metal chassis somewhere.
Anyways, this old, rusty bulldozer was abandoned for years, and trees actually grew up THROUGH the wheels and seats. It reminded me of the old vehicles at what was once Dick Kemp’s Truck Museum in New Hampshire.
I took a few “panoramic” shots with my BlackBerry Q10 cell phone – yeah, the time when I REALLY need to bring my top o’ the line camera gear with me, and I leave my gear at home…
Speaking of going home, I ran the photos from my cell phone through my panorama stitching software… And I got what you see below.
Okay. Resolved. I need to get pictures of this bulldozer. I don’t care if I use my film cameras, or my digital gear. I want something that could win me a ribbon some day.
Monday morning, July 22nd. Let’s go do this.
I drove back to the Normanskill Creek. There was a handwritten sign at the parking lot, admonishing dog owners to have their pets leashed; apparently there was some project involving sheep grazing nearby. Yeah, last thing we need is some hungry dog looking for lamb chops.
Grabbed the Nikon D700, slapped on the Vivitar 19mm f/3.8 lens, and went for a walk.
It took a while to find it… at one point I thought I was in the wrong location. But sure enough, there it was. The rusted bulldozer.
I put the D700 on a tripod, and decided that a few “HDR” shots with the bulldozer’s rusty body would turn out nicely.
And here they are. All photos below taken with Nikon D700 camera, Vivitar 19mm f/3.8 lens. Photos by Chuck Miller.
So what could this be?
When I initially posted these pictures to my flickr site yesterday, my friend and former Times Union community blogger Freddie Dunn remarked that this might not be a bulldozer, but in fact could be a combine. He based his claim on this picture in my flickr set.
That’s what’s left of a brand name. Freddie identified it as a McCormack-Deering combine, possibly made before 1940. Another one of my readers, railroad aficionado Dean Splittgerber, remarked on my flickr page that this machine could in fact be a hay baler.
Well, whatever it is, it made for some decent photography on a Tuesday morning. Amazing what you can find in this world, if you look hard enough and take a few steps off the beaten path.
Chuck The Writer 
Mr. Splittgerber is unquestionably correct– it’s a hay baler. Very similar to these ones:
McCormick Deering existed as a company from 1923 to 1947, when they became International McCormick Deering.
Here’s a 1920’s version: http://www.columbiamagazine.com/photos/49687.jpg and a 1945: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1946-IHC-MCCORMICK-DEERING-HAY-MACHINE-HAY-BALER-AD-CHICAGO-IL-/271082348544
LikeLike
I’ll stick with the combine –
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6gTCLYW8tA4/UFy8ENy7XWI/AAAAAAAAAD8/zfAUMowXv-w/s1600/1BH552.jpghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TamqlssMW8E
http://www.farmingstockphotos.com/img14986.htm
LikeLike
A similar one can be seen in operation at the Altamont Fair
LikeLike
There’s something about old rusted machinery (and gates) that piques the imagination. If only they were sitting beside an old barn!
LikeLike
Back in “the day”, when a piece of farm or construction equipment reached the end of its useful life, or repairs were beyond the grasp of the owner, it was left where it died. Moving it cost money, and to what end? Scrap value? Not worth it.
Many years ago, at a hunting camp deep in a Vermont woodland, I came across an old red utility truck sat in the woods, abandoned for years. The tires were crumbling, the engine gone, and the body heavily rusted. Almost thirty years later there was little sign of it – the remains of a differential, two axles, wheel rims. All the rest had disappeared.
LikeLike
It’s not a baler…it has a sickle bar on the front for mowing and you can’t bale hay without letting it dry first. This is a combine…you can mow rye, for example, and the grain is separated from the straw which falls out the back.
LikeLike