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by Will Koroluk The grain separator, or threshing machine, was a wonder of its time. It was powered first by horses, then by steam engines, then steam tractors, and, finally, by ordinary farm tractors, At first, they had the capacity to thresh a few hundred bushels a day. By the time their era ended after the Second World War, their capacity was up to a few thousand bushels. The first thresher came to the Prairies in the 1860s, in what is now Manitoba. They moved west, and, by 1878 one was working near North Battleford, Saskatchewan and, by 1885 there were three working in the Edmonton area. Using horses to power them was a slow and cumbersome business. Some of the early machines used a treadmill connected to the thresher by belts and pulleys. Two-horse teams were placed in a box-like structure elevated at the front end. The horses climbed the endless incline as though they were walking up a “down” escalator, generating enough power to thresh 300 bushels of grain—on a good day. It wasn’t especially tough work for the horses, but it was endless, so fresh teams were put into the treadmill several times a day. A little later, sweeps came into use. Somewhat similar to a merry-go-round, with wooden sweeps attached to a central platform like spokes on a wheel, they could accommodate as many as six teams of horses—one team per sweep. They were controlled by a teamster standing on the rotating platform. Beneath that platform was a gearing mechanism driving a belt to the threshing machine, which, because of the increased horsepower, could operate at a higher speed than the earlier machines. And that meant they could handle about 500 to 600 bushels a day. But as early as the mid-1870s, steam began to creep into the picture. The early machines, which had to be hauled from job to job by teams, were so expensive—about $1,200—that they were beyond the reach of almost all farmers, so ownership often became a co-operative venture. They were worth it, though, because they could produce 800 or more bushels a day. With that kind of capacity the co-op members could be served in order in a threshing season that might last anywhere from four to eight weeks, depending on the weather. |
