Orange Enigma - Powell, Wyoming
Posted by: 
T0SHEA
N 44° 45.154 W 108° 45.324
12T E 677669 N 4957915
Here we have a bright orange painted machine, possibly a century old, which has become a bit of a head scratcher.
Waymark Code: WMXXW8
Location: Wyoming, United States
Date Posted: 03/14/2018
Views: 3
This old horse drawn machine is a real stumper. Two small ploughshare like things can be raised and lowered together. They face each other such that, when operated together they could create a small ridge as opposed to a furrow. Given that the surrounding countryside is under irrigation, we wonder if this could have been used to build small ridges to control irrigation water during flood irrigation. Naturally, this would require quite flat fields to accomplish.
Another possibility we see is that of a sugar beet digger. Beets were another common crop on the irrigated acreage in this area. Beets being planted in rows, it appears that this could possibly bring beets to the surface as it moved across the ground with the shares just below the beets. Looking more closely at it, we notice that the machine is steerable by the operator by pushing his seat to one side or the other. This would be a handy feature to keep the machine centred on a row of beets. Using a machine such as this, harvesting sugar beets would be a slow and labour intensive process, not terribly efficient in light of contemporary methods.
The Homesteader Museum is one of the most interesting museums we have visited. The director was there and she was so helpful and answered all of our inquiries. This is a free admission museum that is made possible by a benefactor. The museum will celebrate their 50th birthday in 2018.
There are numerous large displays divided by categories, such as household appliances, dentist and doctor offices, set as they were when operating, a photography and printing office, a post office, vintage clothing and haberdashery - the list just goes on.
They also have several outdoor displays housed in original buildings, one of which is the Bever Homestead, an original 1911 homestead house; also outside is a CB&Q Caboose and a large collection old farm equipment and tractors.
