Legends of Pine Village, Indiana: Arba Brutus and His Pickup Baler

In 1929, the renowned photographer J. C. Allen, who often snapped pictures on the Arba Brutus property just east of Pine Village, Indiana, made a special trip to capture on film Arba’s recent invention. I told the story of that memorable occasion in my article entitled “The Steam Engine Collecting of Glen J. Brutus,” published in The Iron-Men Album Magazine, Volume 54, Number 3, for January and February of 2000.

Arba Brutus’ Pickup Baler in 1929

Photograph Courtesy J. C. Allen & Son, Inc.

“According to Purdue University,” Glen said, “my father [Arba] was the first man in the United States to successfully bale hay out of the windrow.”

Agricultural historians generally agree that Ray Moore McDonald developed the world’s first successful commercially produced pickup baler—the Ann Arbor baler—in 1929. As with most claims for “firsts” in history, there can be similar inventions in separate locations at virtually the same time. Brutus’ invention may well have predated McDonald’s, but the Ann Arbor baler went into factory production prior to Arba’s machine. More in a moment on how Arba’s pickup baler made its way to the market!

In the Allen photo, Don Gephart is on the baler, and John Cooper is on the tractor. (In 1955, the photograph was reproduced on page 142 of Farming Comes of Age: The Remarkable Photographs of J. C. Allen & Son, published by Farm Progress Companies and Harmony House.) The camera faced the southwest toward Pine Village from the road that today is designated as N 450 E. When my family moved in 1968 to a farm not far from the Brutus farm, I often drove past the field seen in the Allen image.  

Arba Brutus “took the baler to the hay instead of bringing the hay to the baler.” Arba placed a Model T Ford engine in the center of his new machine. “I went with my father to Indianapolis to have sprockets made for an over-running clutch,” Glen remembered.

In the 1930s, Glen met a representative of the Case Company of Racine, Wisconsin, who came to watch Arba’s invention. The Case man studied Arba’s machine carefully. If the Brutus baler worked as well as rumor had it, Case intended to put a similar implement on the market. Indeed, Case soon was marketing a pickup baler—and Glen was developing a fascination for Case equipment.

 “You had to be a good judge of the moisture content in the hay before you could bale hay straight from the windrow,” Glen commented. “That was a new thing to have to consider and learn.”

Be sure to see Pictures from the Farm: An Album of Family Farm Memories at http://wildindiana.com/a/j-c-allen-sons-more-than-just-farm-photos/. You can find Farming Comes of Age: The Remarkable Photographs of J. C. Allen & Son and Farming once Upon a Time: More Remarkable Photographs of J. C. Allen & Son on Amazon.

Photo courtesy J. C. Allen & Son, Inc., West Lafayette, Indiana 47906