Mormon derrick n Also Mormon hay derrick, ~ hay stacker, ~ pole stacker, ~ stacker esp UT, ID, eOR Cf DS L16
A type of derrick n for stacking hay; see quots.
1905 Hartford City Telegram (IN) 20 Sept [3]/4 (newspaperarchive.com), The Mormon Hay Stacker. The illustration taken from the Practical Farmer shows the mormon pole stacker so commonly used throughout the Rocky mountain region for putting up hay. . . With this derrick hay can be dumped anywhere on the stack and [it] can be moved to another place in ten minutes. 1909 ID Daily Statesman (Boise) 16 Nov 6/3, [Advt.:] One Mormon derrick complete. 1920 Ibid 29 May 10/5, [Advt.:] For Sale—Mormon hay derrick. 1927 U.S. Dept. Ag. Farmers’ Bulletin 1525.11 CO, ID, For handling alfalfa with a minimum loss of leaves from shattering and a saving of labor on the stack, the derrick stacker . . excels all other types. All stackers of this type are homemade. . . The Mormon derrick, the style in most general use and perhaps the best, varies slightly in construction in different sections. 1944 U.S. Dept. Ag. Bur. Plant Industry Info. Ser. 74.43, Perhaps the stacker most frequently mentioned . . has been the so-called Mormon stacker, or some variation thereof. It has been stated that this stacker has been in use in some sections over fifty years. This is particularly true of Utah—although, there they are more apt to be referred to as hay derricks, swing derricks, or hay stackers. 1951 Western Folkl. 10.321 ID, UT, Actually the term “Mormon derrick” is a misnomer since it refers not to one particular type but to a group of perhaps fifteen stackers which differ essentially from each other, although all of them have the one point in common that the hay is hoisted by means of pullies [sic] and a cable attached to frames of widely differing structure and function. 1967 DARE FW Addit OR, Mormon derrick—no guy wires; the boom swung across on stirrup from the top of the derrick pole. c1971 Hall Snake River Valley, (What do you call a device used as an aid in stacking and storing hay?) 8 infs, sID, eOR, Mormon derrick. 1977 Jones OR Folkl. 39 (as of early 1900s), The inventor of the hay derrick is not known. Whether the basic design originated with Mormon settlers in northern Utah and then spread north has never been determined, but this style of derrick is commonly known as a “Mormon derrick.” 1986 Klinkenborg Making Hay 94 MT, You confront the fundamental problem of haystack building. . . Early solutions to this quandary included the Mormon derrick, nothing more than a huge bipod with a sling attached. The sling lifted the hay and the bipod tilted to drop the load of hay on a stack much taller than a man, but shorter than the derrick. Unc showed me photos of Mormon derricks at work in the Big Hole in the 1890s. They looked like gangly, inefficient hay tools in constant danger of toppling. 2000 Launspach ID Dial. Project 7 seID, (A device used as an aid in stacking and storing hay) 1 inf, Mormon derrick.