274 



FARMERS' REGISTER— THRESHING MACHINE. 



DESCHIPTIOW OF A SI3IPLE AND CHEAP 

 THRASHING MACHINE, 



To the Editor of t'uo Farmers' llegister. 



Brownsville, Granville, N. C. } 

 Jlugvrd 20lh, 1833. 5 



Permit me lo congratulate you, and tlie agricul- 

 turalists generally, on the success of Ihc Farmers' 

 Register. The perusal ol' your tirst numliers has 

 excited a hope which had almost perished, that tiiis 

 most valuable and important subject, the cultiva- 

 tion of the soil, is about to assume the dignified at- 

 titude amongst intelligent men, to which it is so 

 justly entitled. 



The fact that so little of science and intelligence 

 is directed to this subject, is a melancholy truth, 

 which every friend to the interests of th-e southern 

 states must deeply deplore. Let every farmer 

 iniite and concentrate Jiis efforts to ditfuse the 

 light of experience, and every one should feel 

 bound to communicate whatever he may have 

 learned or discovered, which may improve the 

 soil, and promote its increased production. Then, 

 and not till then, will the restless spirit of emigra- 

 tion be checked, and the peculiar natural advanta- 

 ges of our climate and soil be developed. 



Perceiving in your prospectus the general and 

 pressing invitation v/hich you have given to all 

 agriculturists to communicate whatever they may 

 think valuable, or in any way calculated to in- 

 crease the facilities or profits of farming, I propose 

 to present, througli tlie medium of your journal, a 

 description of a wheat thrashing machine, which I 

 have used for three years past, and v.'hich, for its 

 cheapness and efficiency, surpasses any which I 

 have seen. The one which I have, if well atten- 

 ded, will thrash from 100 to ISObusIiels in twelve 

 hours. I have commonly used four mules ; but if 

 the power wheel were larger, two would be am.ply 

 sufficient. The machinery for propelling the 

 thrasher was originally a part of a cotton gin ; and 

 I have, ever since I used it as a thrashing machine, 

 been in the habit of removing the thrashing appa- 

 ratus and replacing the gin at the proper season for 

 picking cotton. The power wheel is only twelve 

 feet in diameter, which with one horse, is sufficient 

 to give all necessary velocity to a gin, but not so 

 with the thrashing machine. If that wheel were 

 eighteen feet in diameter, the use of two of the 

 mules might be dispensed with — and the mo- 

 tion of the two which pulled it, be much slower. 

 The power wheel with upright cogs works into a 

 trundle head, or wallowcr, on the end of a horizon- 

 tal shaft; on the other end of this shaft is a liand 

 wheel, which should be as large as practicable in 

 a room not inconveniently high pitched. The band 

 works over the shaft of the beater, which is so con- 

 structed by bands on each end of the shaft, as to 

 turn the two cylindrical feeders. There is also a 

 small wheel so constructed as to move backwards 

 or forwards, and to be fastened as you may wish, 

 by a nail or pin put through a hole, whilst that 

 T/heel presses on the band and lightens or slack^ 

 ens it at pleasure. The beaters are about three 

 feet six inches long, made of seasoned white oak, 

 and morticed into arms, which are morticed into 

 the shaft; and each beater is faced with sheet iron, 

 Avell secured on. A t each end ol the beaters there 

 is an iron hoop fitting exactly to the inside, and 

 screwed firmly to them. Under the beaters and 

 upon the apron of the machine, tliere are a set of 



ribs coming within one and a half inches of the 

 beaters, and fixed on a wooden spring, so that they 

 may have one and a half inches additional play ; 

 and each faced with sheet iron, as the beaters are. 

 The whole is inclosed by a cover made of boards. 

 It may be also worthy of remark, that the builder 

 of this machine constructs moveable ones upon the 

 sume principle, and which I hear perform better 

 than my own. The beaters, when Ihe machine is 

 performing good work, have a velocity of about 

 3-50 or 400 limes in a minute. The wheat is bea- 

 ten out remarkaldy clean, and I find a great ad- 

 vantage in a two story granary, the m.achine be- 

 ing up stairs, and some strips of white oak nailed 

 over the hole through' which the wheat and chaff 

 fall below, separate the strav/, so that one hand can 

 rake away, and throw it out of a window. Two 

 hands are required to feed, and two to hand the 

 wheat. If care be taken in building the granary 

 with a platform about 18 inches below the "door, of 

 sufficient width, wagons and carts are unloaded 

 so that the wheat can be readily handed to the up- 

 per floor. The cost of the threshing part of the 

 machine is thirty dollars ; and (as I am informed) 

 they can be made and delivered at Clarkesville, on 

 the Roanoke, for that sum. Any good workman 

 can make the propelling power. The entire ma- 

 chine made so as to be moved about, can be made 

 for $85, and a very practical and intelligent gen- 

 tleman told me that his could thrash from 150 to 

 200 bushels a day. The maker of the above ma- 

 chines is Bartholomew Kimball, of Granville, who 

 claims to have much impi-oved them of late. I 

 have lieen accustomed to Cochran's, Exall's and 

 ('larke's m.achines, which are costly and easily 

 broken ; and from tlie number of cast iron wheels, 

 very inconvenient of repair to a country farmer. 

 [ have no hesitation in declaring that this machine is 

 greatly preferable to either (if for no other reason,) 

 for its cheapness and simplicity. Any common 

 workman can repair it, if out of order. I have al- 

 so discovered an admirable preventive for those 

 most inconvenient evils, (to wit,) the great heat 

 produced by the gudgeons in the shaft of the bea- 

 ters, by rapid motion, and their great liability to 

 early wearing out. Instead of a metal ink for the 

 gudgeon to run upon, let a piece of very hard pine 

 knot, such as is good Uglitwood, be sawed off, and 

 dove-tailed in, so as to present the end of the grain 

 instead of its side. The friction is much decreased, 

 and this wooden ink lasts very long, and is easily 

 replaced. 



If you should deem this communication of suffi- 

 cient interest to give it a place in your journal, you 

 can do so, and I shall be amply compensated if any 

 farmer shall be induced to try the machine ; for I 

 feel well assured that he will be compensated in one 

 year, if his crop be large, for the expense incurred 

 in the purchase, 



ABRAHAM \V. YEN ABLE. 



P. S. A band wheel is greatly preferable to a 

 cog wheel, first on account of its cheapness, and 

 secondly, if the machine chokes, tlie band slips and 

 affords an opportunity to relieve it, and is not bro- 

 ken as it would be if cogs propelled the thrasher. 

 The whole of the framing, (on which the thrash- 

 ing machine runs) should be of well seasoned, sub- 

 stantial oak, 



A. \V. V. 



