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[sjc <indexer AT fairpoint.net>]

Here:  http://www.two-cylinder.com/images/Jan08/48a.jpg  is a photo of a 
loader/press, a more complicated rig than we're working on.  The "press" 
is an early 'baler' sort of critter.  What they're working on in the 
workshop is a couple of loaders, only...no press.  If you look at the 
loader portion of this photo (left side only of the machine shown) 
you'll see the belts, or webbings, with their hooks.  In the case of 
this rig, they would dump the hay into the trough shown at the top, 
where it moved to the press.  On just the loader, without the press, the 
hay is just dumped off the back, where a wagon was hitched.

John asked if I'd repair these things, and I said sure, then he brought 
them out:  a full-size pickup load of the things, with hooks all over 
the place!  Fortunately, he didn't need it done until I'd burned most of 
the wood for the winter, so there was a place to offload them.  And 
fortunately, I have an industrial machine with a huge bed and open 
throat.  Still, it's kind of like trying to sew up a porcupine!  A 
couple of them had to be completely replaced (dry rot), and I have the 
new belts sewn up and the grommets set in them; I'll be interested to 
watch him set the hooks.

Story about a naughty little girl who lived at my house a long time 
ago:  she threw a brick at a sow and hit her in the nose.  Sow chased 
her the only place she could go---up a hayloader.  She had to stay up 
there, sow snorting and fussing at the bottom, all day......missed 
breakfast, missed dinner....afraid to answer people calling her because 
she'd have to explain why the sow had a bloody nose....  Finally, almost 
dark,  my uncle heard the sow still snorting around and found me up 
there, and did I get my butt busted!  To this day I've no clue why I'd 
chuck a brick at a sow, I wasn't really a mean kid, just one of the 
stupid things a kid will do, I guess.

SJ