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THE CHAFF BOX OR CHAFF CUTTER
The chaff box or cutter was a simple but ingenious device for
cutting straw chaff, hay, and oats into small
pieces - before being mixed together with other forage and fed
to horses and cattle. Apart from being more
economical than previous methods of feeding, this aided the
animal's digestion and prevented animals from
rejecting any part of their food. Since the chaff box was made
largely of wood (usually ash) with only a
small amount of ironwork, it cost relatively little to make and,
as a result, few farms, town or country stables
were without one by the end of the eighteenth century.
There were two sizes, one of heavy construction which normally
resided in the darkened corners of barns
or stables and another smaller model made of pine or similar
wood which was portable.
The barn version typically comprised of an open-ended,
three-sided wooden trough between 3 foot 6
inches and 4 feet (1067-1220 mm) in length, 9 to 12 inches
(229-305 mm) wide and 9 to 12 inches deep,
mounted on either three or four legs approximately 22 inches
(560 mm) high - giving an overall height of
about 34 inches (863 mm). The rear leg or legs were sometimes
taller than the front to tilt the trough
forward to facilitate cutting. Both front legs of an early
three-legged form were distinctly bow-shaped, a
characteristic of boxes from Kent and Sussex, while those with
four legs were splayed.
Three-legged form in collection
To advance the bundle of hay or straw along the trough on all
but the earliest models, a short-handled
dwarf or chaff fork with between four and six tines was
provided, attached by chains to the f ront of the box.
These forks varied in width between 230-250 mm, depending on the
inside dimensions of the t rough. The
tines were about 120 mm long.
The front end was framed by a metal plate which looped over the
top to provide a useful lifting handle.
Below this a large knife was hinged diagonally to a single or
double sided arm which extended pivotally
from the base of one f ront leg and passed through the hollowed
centre of the opposite leg. This allowed the
knife to be moved up and down in an oblique cutting action,
rather like a modern office guillotine. The plate
stiffened the straw at the cutting edge as the sharpened blade
passed close by.
The early chaff knives had a scimitar like shape with a curved
blade broadening towards a cranked wooden
handle. Most ended their days with undulating edges. Scythe
blades were often modified and used. From
the 1860's most factory produced replacement knives were made
with straight cutting edges varying in
length between 20 and 34 inches with cranked or crosshead
handles. At least nine large edge tool
manufacturers produced them in numbers including Isaac Nash
& Sons - who continued to advertise their
best 'Crown' chaff knives in the 1930's. The cutting position on
some could be adjusted by moving thepivotal or hinge bolts into
alternative holes drilled along the appropriate end of the knife
arm. When not in
use the knife rested in an open-ended bracket or stop situated
half way down the opposite front leg. Knives
This site lists antique hand farm tools (used mainly in England,
Wales and Scotland) collected by P. C. Dorrington between 1985 and
2001.
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appeared in small numbers in the 1770's.
Perhaps noting the early development of these rotary machines,
attempts were made to improve the box
still further. One apparently successful model used in the
Midlands incorporated a semi-automatic feed
arrangement where a sliding fork pulled by ropes wound around a
small windlass pushed the straw forward
in the trough every time the t readle was released for the next
cut. The windlass, located over the front end,
was fitted with a ratchet wheel and levers which controlled the
forward movements. When the trough
required refilling the ratchet was disengaged, the fork slid
backwards along a ledge to be removed at the
end of the box and then replaced on to new straw. As both hands
were freed for cutting a double-sided
knife handle was provided. Probably referring to this box in
1790 William Marshall thought it was
"somewhat complex and fitter for a man who makes business of
straw cutting than for a farmer's servant".
Another innovation from Norfolk employed a fluted feed roller
through which straw was compressed beforecutting. There were also
other less well-disseminated variations.
Despite, these developments, which peaked around the 1830's, the
chaff boxes became increasingly
displaced by the faster and then more efficient rotary cutters
with their automated feed systems. Even so,
they remained in use, especially on smaller farms and stables in
England and Wales until the 1930's,
becoming, in some instances, a stand-by for mechanical failures.
The Welsh found them convenient for
chopping up gorse for fodder and several were brought out of
retirement during World War II. A few were
also retained by thatchers for cutting reeds to size. Their
longevity was probably due to their cheap and
simplistic construction, readily undertaken by any competent
craftsman especially when viewed against the
expense of the new machines costing at least four to five times
as much. Distribution was principally
confined to the Southern Counties, parts of the Midlands and
Wales. Apart from stagecoach stations there
is little evidence of chaff box use in Northern England or in
Scotland before the widespread adoption of the
rotary chaff cutter.
The business of chaff cutting began on the Continent long before
it occurred in England. As far back as the
late 15th or early 16th century, chaff cutters were plying their
trade in central Europe where the box may
have originated. A model shown in the Augsburg drawing of 1524
gradually evolved as its use spread
through Germany, and, in particular, Holland and Belgium from
where an early example is thought to have
been introduced into England during the 17th century, quite
possibly by Flemish immigrants to Kent.
Earliest known depiction of a chaff-cutter: woodcut from
Augsburg, 1524
Despite being aware for 200 years of the European method of
feeding horses with finely chopped straw
"cut fit by an instrument of purpose" (Blundeville 1565) no
public interest was shown in the subject until the
mid-18th century. An early indication of its presence here came
with John Lewis's book, "The History andAntiquities, Ecclesiastical
and Civil, of the Isle of Tenet in Kent" of 1723. He described how
"oats, beans
and peas in the sheaths unthreshed" were "cut in a box with a
cutter made for that purpose which was
pretty hard work". In a second edition published 13 years later
he included a drawing of a three-legged
"Cutting Box to cut horse meat in" meat in this case meaning
fodder. The free-standing model shown
comprised of nothing more than a swivelling knife attached to a
wooden trough on legs, but like the
Augsburg example its significance lay in its unique cutting
action. In 1745 William Ellis's book "Agriculture
Improved" appeared. The author, given to some salesmanship,
referred to a 'famous' and 'profitable engine'
which he claimed "may be so worked as to cut sixty single or
thirty double bushels of chaff in one day by
one man". He also states the engine "serves to employ servants
in rainy days within doors when they
cannot work without". Indeed, according to Ellis, the engine was
"kept by most great farmers in Southern
England" and he offered to supply the implement to readers at a
cost of one guinea plus carriage charges.
Unfortunately, Ellis did not provide a drawing, but before his
death in 1758 he wrote of the chaff cutter's way
of placing a large handful of oat straw and cavings of wheat "at
the bottom of a long cutting box which
being pulled all together forward to the knife, by a forked
instrument", the latter an early reference to the
use of a dwarf fork which later became widespread.
A letter from an anonymous correspondent in Canterbury published
in the journal "Museum Rusticum et
Commerciale" of 1764 recommended the use of a 'cutting box' for
preparing feed and accompanied it witha drawing and description
which though a right-handed version was virtually identical to
Lewis's illustration
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28 years earlier. Two respondents, Thomas Comber and James
Crockett, suggested improvements but
most were either impractical or unworkable. By this time,
however, the Continentals had already introduced
a number of modifications some pre-dating the early English
boxes by 100 years or more. Almost certainly
some of these developments crossed the English Channel during
this period and were used or adapted to
suit local requirements.
The chaff box was the forerunner of all straw cutting machines
and undoubtedly one of the most creative
inventions in pre-mechanical agriculture. Although comparatively
short-lived in Britain, the basic design had
lasted for over four hundred years in Europe. Being mainly of
wood only a small number have survived the
ravages of time intact. Some examples, however, may still be
seen at various rural life museums including
Avebury, Cobtree, Colchester, Gressenhall, Oakham and Reading
(see links page). Most of these would
have been constructed during the nineteenth century.
P.C. Dorrington, 2004
GED postscript: in 2005, steel-frame chaff cutters were still
being manufactured in India and advertised on
the worldwide web.
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