Bailing straw with a McCormick Deering Hay press

The McCormick Deering hay press is from the 1915-1918 era. It is powered by a 6hp Stover/Sandwich (double tagged) engine made in 1915. This is a hit & miss engine that only fires when needed to keep up the speed. The stationary baler was before the days of the tractor powered units that were pulled through the field and picked up the windrow. They parked it by the straw stack (from the threshing machine) or hay stack, and then hand fed the machine to make bales. The wire was fed through and tied by