The Reaper-Havester

1

Researched and re-packaged by Ed Ledohowski and Leona Devuyst

for the Boundary Trail National Heritage Region. September, 2019

Advertizement illustration for a 1927 Holt reaper-havester. HOLT was one of the fi rst North American manufacturers of ‘combined har-vester’ implements . (Nor’-West Farmer 1927 May issue.)

An illustration of the “traditional” tractor and belt-driven separator threshing outfi t commonly used from the 1890s to the 1930s. (United Grain Grower’s guide May 1925.)

Development and Adoption of the Combined

Reaper-Harvester

on the Canadian prairies during the 1920s.

The Reaper-Havester

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~ 1922 ~The Reaper-Thresher

The Nor’-West Farmer, May 5, 1922. Pg.456

* A Saskatchewan subscriber recently inquired for full information about the wheat harvesting machines used in Australia, his idea being to purchase a similar machine for his Saskatchewan farm. Last year wheat in his district averaged about 8 bushels per acre, and the straw was too short to cut with a binder. If a header was hired to cut the crop, the charge was $1 an acre for the machine and one man, and the farmer was required to provide four men. This brought the cost of cutting and stacking up to 20 or 25 cents per bushel. Then the cost of threshing was 15 cents per bushel; the total cost of extra help, boarding the men, cutting, stacking, threshing being 40 to 45 cents per bushel. No. 1 wheat sold at the local elevator at 73 cents, thus only leaving 28 to 33 cents per bushel for all the other expenses entailed. He is anxious to fi nd a more economical method of handling his wheat crop and in consequence is thinking of the stripper-harvester of the harvester-thresher as used in several other countries. We have obtained considerable information from the Massey-Har-ris Company and the International Harvester Company on the machines in question. The picture shows the nature of the reaper-harvester as it is called by the Massey-Harris Company and harvester-thresher by the International Harvester Company. This machine is used extensively in Australia, Argen-tine, and the southern portion of the Middle States. It cuts and threshes the crop in one operation. In Kansas, the cost of cutting and threshing ready for hauling to the elevator was 5 cents a bushel last summer. The cost of the old system employed in a fi eld just over the fence was 42 cents per bushel to do the same work. The Massey-Harris Company writes as follows: “We are in a particu-larly good position to reply to this enquiry because we were the pioneers in the development of the combined harvesting and threshing machine – our reaper-thresher. This machine is the result of many years’ experimental work and was originally developed for the Australian trade. The stripper-harvester was its forerunner. We have been supplying these machines in quantity for some years in Australia and the Argentine. Of late years, we have introduced the reaper-thresher into the southern Middle States, and also in Spain and North Africa.“ This method of harvesting undoubtedly represents the cheapest method of harvesting grain. The whole advantage of the system is that the machine does the harvesting and threshing of the grain in one operation, and the threshed grain is delivered direct from the screening drums into the bags for loading on wagons, or into tight grain tanks for delivery to the

elevators. It is obvious, therefore, that the climatic conditions must be suit-able for this type of harvesting – that is, these machines can only be used in countries where the grain will stand threshing the same day as it is cut. “Our experience in Canada is that the grain has to be cured after it is cut because there is too much moisture in the heads to permit of its being satisfactorily threshed at the same time. Last summer we held some dem-onstrations with one of our latest machines in a fi eld of barley near Toronto, and in this case it was necessary for us to spread the grain out afterwards and dry it, as otherwise it would have moulded. “Regarding the details of your enquiry we may say that the action of the reaper-thresher is simply that of a binder and a threshing-machine com-bined. As in the binder, the grain is directed through the knife by a reel onto a canvas conveyor and is conveyed thereon to the threshing apparatus. The table can be raised or lowered and generally speaking, the operator cuts the grain as close to the head as possible so that the threshing mechanism will not be overloaded with any more straw than is necessary. The threshing mechanism is similar to that of the threshing machine used universally – that is, there are cylinder, concaves, straw walkers, screens, etc. “We make the reaper-thresher in three sizes 8 ft., 9 ft., and 12 ft. cuts. In the two smaller sizes, the power is taken from the drive wheel; but in the 12 ft. machine, the cutting and threshing mechanism is driven by a 4 cylinder gasoline motor, although of course this motor does not provide the traction for the machine. All of these machines are designed to be drawn by either horses or tractor. “It must be clearly borne in mind that we do not believe this type of machine will ever be suitable for service in Canada. As we have said, the climatic conditions are not suitable. The very fact that we have built these machines for many years and have never attempted to market them in Can-ada forms the best evidence that we do not believe there is a future for the machine in Canada.” ***

The reaper-thresher is equipped with a wagon box elevator, and also with a bagging arrangement so that the bags my be dropped in groups or rows to be easily collected. Either the elevator of the bagger may be used.

The Reaper-Havester

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~ 1922 ~Reaper-Harvester TrialThe Nor’-West Farmer, October 5, 1925. Pg.937

* The reaper-harvester was tried out at the Dominion Experimental Station, Swift Current, Sask. during the month of September. An interesting digest of its work is here given. That fact that a combination reaper-thresher has been used in vari-ous arid and semi-arid wheat-growing regions for many years with a high degree of success has suggested the idea that this machine might be used in parts of Western Canada to reduce the cost of harvesting and thresh-ing the wheat crop. Thus last summer the Dominion Experimental Farms Branch of the Dominion Department of Agriculture made arrangements with the Massey-Harris Company to try their machine at the Experimental Sta-tion, Swift Current, Sask. The machine, as its name implies, cuts and threshes the grain in one trip over the fi eld. It is really a combination of a binder minus the binding attachment and a small separator without the usual feeder and blower. A twelve-foot swath of grain is cut at whatever height is necessary to get all of the heads. The cutting arrangement is perhaps more comparable to a header than to a binder. The cut grain is carried directly to the separator from which the threshed grain is deposited in a wagon box located on the left side of the combine. The straw and chaff are dropped at the rear in a wind-row. All of the cutting and separating mechanism is operated by an engine mounted on the frame of the combine. The machine may be drawn by a tractor or by horses. With the former at least 12 h.p. on the drawbar is nec-essary. When horses furnish the traction at least eight should be used. The combine will cover from 30 to 35 acres per day. Combines of various widths up to 30 feet are in use. The acreage harvested by the combine depends of course upon the width of cut and the rate of speed at which it is drawn. The crop selected for the fi rst part of the test was a 30 acre fi eld of Marquis wheat seeded on May 8, 1922, at the rate of one bushel per acre on breaking. The straw was 36 inches high and stood well. This fi eld was ready to cut with the binder on August 21. The fi rst attempt to cut it with the reaper-harvester was on August 30th. Owing to there being too many green kernels, cutting was abandoned. Although the fi eld looked ripe, there were enough green heads to make storing seem doubtful. The fi eld was fi nally cut on September 1st, 2nd and 4th. The bulk of the grain was harvested in two days and stored in a bin as it came from the machine. The temperature of the grain did not rise to any extent, but there were suffi cient soft kernels that it is doubtful if it would have been accepted at elevators. After 10 days storage, the soft kernels shrunk somewhat. They could be removed by a

fanning mill. Final determination of percentage of green kernels, the diffi culty of removing them and the loss from this cause will not be made for some time. The advantages and disadvantages of this machine are well dis-cussed by J. G. Taggaret, Supt. of the Swift Current Experimental Station, under whose supervision the test was conducted: “Apart from possible loss, or damage to the crop the cost of harvest-ing by means of the combine is the consideration which will be of greatest in-terest to farmers. Nothing more than rough estimates of the relative cost of the two methods of harvesting can be given. From the following facts, farm-ers may make estimates for themselves. The combine costs about $2,000. It will harvest and thresh from 30 to 35 acres per day. It is operated by two men plus 12-20 tractor or eight horses. In our test a Massey-Harris 12-20 tractor was used the draw the combine. “The fuel consumption of the tractor and the engine which operated the mechanism was forty-two gallons of gasoline for thirty acres, or 1.4 gal-lons per acre. Fuel would cost at this rate less than 60 cents per acre. Wages of the two operators would not amount to more than 75 cents per acre. Exclusive of depreciation on any of the machinery, the cost of cutting and threshing an acre would not exceed $1.50. Depending on the crop, the saving would amount to anything up to 15 cents per bushel. “If conditions prove to be satisfactory for the use of the combine, undoubtedly its use will reduce the cost of harvesting and eliminate a great deal of the trouble now experienced in securing harvest help. Leaving a long stubble and depositing the straw on the ground may be regarded as a doubtful advantage by some. It is signifi cant, however, that almost invari-ably this is the fi rst point to be observed by experienced farmers. They believe that straw and stubble left by the combine would hold snow during the winter and also enable them to get a clean burn the next spring, thus destroying large numbers of weeds. There is a great deal of experimental evidence to indicate that crops seeded on clean, burned stubble land are at least equal to those obtained when the land has been spring plowed. The International Harvester Company offers the following informa-tion in reply to our subscriber’s inquiry: “The stripper-harvester has been used in South America for a number of years. This machine does not cut the grain, but strips the heads from the standing grain, then passes them into the drum and threshes. The grain then passes into the grain box or a sack. The machine has been equipped with both attachments. The grain is sepa-rated from the head in passing through the cylinder drum. Both the English and America type of cylinders are used. The machine takes its power from the bull wheel and is either drawn with horses or tractors. The machines are from 5 to 8 feet in cut and required from 4 to 8 horses to operate; the number depending somewhat on the condition of the grain and the size of the machine.

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“The stripper-harvester is not as popular as it was some years ago, as the harvester-thresher is taking its place. This machine, the harvester-thresher, is equipped with a cutting device just the same as a binder or head-er, the grain passing over the canvasses to the elevator where it is elevated into a regular threshing machine cylinder. The balance of the machine is constructed more or less along the line of American threshers. It takes from 8 to 12 horses to operate the machines which are built in 9 and 12 foot sizes. The machine was originally designed to take its power from the bull wheel, but the more modern machine has an auxiliary engine for running the cutting and threshing parts of the machine, and horses or tractors are used to pull the machine over the ground. Where an auxiliary engine is used, it takes from 6 to 8 horses to pull the machine. “In order for either of these machines to work satisfactorily, it is nec-essary for them to be used in a country where the climate will permit of the grain standing until it is ripe enough to thresh. The machines necessarily would not be satisfactory where the grain does not ripen evenly, and be-cause of that fact, we have not undertaken to introduce them into the Domin-ion of Canada. Certain kinds of grain, as you know, shell very easily and this has to be taken into consideration in the purchase of a harvester-thresher or stripper.” The experience of a farmer in Kansas, who last summer practised the old system of cutting grain with a binder, threshing in the ordinary way, and also harvesting with a harvester-thresher is interesting. It also throws light on the utility of the harvester-thresher. This particular farmer, Frank M. Kern, Frederick, Kansas, cut 69 acres and marketed the same day 779 bushels of wheat as a cost of 5 cents a bushel loaded into motor truck in the fi eld for delivery to the elevators. Kern accomplished this by using a harvester-thresher with an extension sickle that cuts a 12 foot swath. In an adjacent fi eld of his, a header crew of six men cut 25 acres of wheat and hauled it directly to a thresher. The cost in this fi eld of loading the grain into wagons was 42 cents a bushel. Three men formed a crew for the harvester-thresher, while six men operated the header and the two header barges on the opposite side of the fence. Kern was cutting 640 acres of dead ripe wheat and put on the header crew to has-ten the harvesting of his grain. Another year, he says, he will be prepared to keep two harvester-threshers at work and dispense entirely with the old and slower method of cutting and threshing. He said: “There is no question in my mind that except in small fi elds where a binder often can be used to greater advantage, the harvester-thresher will solve the labour problem through the wheat belt in this sec-tion, and will further enable grain growers to make as much profi t on “dollar wheat” as they would with wheat at a dollar and a half. My wheat yield aver-aged 14 bushes to the acre this year. Had I cut all of it with a header and put it in stack, my profi t would have been small; indeed I might have made no profi t at all.”

Year before last there were about 15 harvester-threshers in the coun-ty in which Mr. Kern is located. Last year there were 75 machines, and this year the number will be doubled. All owners say they are cutting more than double their former daily acreage than when they used headers or binders. They are selling their wheat direct from the fi elds, employing less labor by approximately a third, and doing away entirely with the period of fall thresh-ing that was an additional expense of no mean proportion. It is evident that although these machines greatly cheapen the cost of harvesting and threshing grain, yet they are not practicable in Canada. The fi eld for them is limited to such areas in which crops can be both cut and threshed at the same time.

***

A rear view of the reaper-thresher in action on the Swift Current Experimental Station, September 2, 1922. The grain is delivered into wagon and the straw is left on the ground.”

This picture of the reaper-thresher shows the width of cut of this $2000 ma-chine. It will cut and thresh 30 to 35 aces per day and if feasible may reduce the cost of harvesting as much as 18 cents per bushel. The fi eld on the right was cut by a binder.

The Reaper-Havester

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~ 1925 ~Thresh as You Cut !

The Nor’-West Farmer, October 20, 1925*

The reaper-harvester saves the cost of stooking and greatly reduces threshing costs. It may be used in many sections of the West.

* The illustrations show a reaper-thresher at work on the farm of E.G. Cook, M.L.A., Pincher Creek, Alta. Mr. Cook tried out the reaper-thresher for the fi rst time this season and in a letter giving his views and experiences speaks very highly of it and its work. The reaper-harvester is not entirely new in this country – it has been tested with satisfactory results at the Do-minion Experimental Station, Swift Current and by individual farmers – but it is enough of an innovation in grain harvesting to be described for those who many not have seen it in operation. The reaper-thresher, as its name implies, is a machine that reaps the grain and threshes it at the same time. It cuts or heads the grain much as an ordinary harvester, and delivers it to the thresher, which delivers the cleaned grain into a wagon drawn beside the machine. The reaper-thresher may be operated by horses or tractor. Perhaps the best way to convey an idea of the operation of this ma-chine would be to do so in the words of Mr. Cook in the letter mentioned in the opening paragraph. Mr. Cook says:

Machine Exceeded Expectations No one doubts the importance of using the most economical and sci-entifi c methods and machinery in the production and harvesting of the crops of Western Canada, in order that we may be able to successfully compete with other countries that are doing likewise. It has been my opinion for some time that some of the equipment needed by farmers here might well be re-placed, and to good advantage to agriculture and all affected. Because of this belief I experimented with the reaper-thresher. My experience with the reaper-thresher this year has been very sat-isfactory, in fact the machine more than measured up to my expectations. It may be that conditions this year in this district were more favorable than usual to the using of the reaper-thresher. This is true in connection with the inclement weather which prevailed during September, preventing threshing and also lowering the grades of grain to an unusual extent, but we must re-member that a September snow storm is not unusual in Alberta and it would be a rare exception when the bulk of the threshing by the ordinary system would be done before the usual September storm, while with the reaper-

thresher, under ordinary conditions, threshing would be completed by the fi rst of September.

Saves Crop and Time The one important thing in connection with harvesting with the reap-er-thresher in this district is to have your grain ripened and threshed before the fall winds become strong enough to shell the grain. There is little danger of heavy winds before the fi rst of September, and with proper methods and care in preparing the soil and seeding, the bulk of the crop should be ready to thresh before that date. For grain not mature by or before the windy weather starts, there will no doubt be an attachment developed that will go ahead of the reaper, cut the grain and place it in a row in such way that the reaper will pick it up almost the same as it now heads it, thus avoiding the danger of leaving the late grain standing until it dries suffi cient to thresh.

Front view of the reaper-harvester. With this machine this year Mr. Cook har-vested and threshed more than ten thousand bushels of grain.

Rear view of the reaper-harvester in operation on the farm of E.G. Cook, Pincher Creek, Alta., Kt harvests and threshes 33 to 40 acres per day.

The Reaper-Havester

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Reduces Operating Expenses The saving in the cost of harvesting wheat with the reaper-thresher is fully 15 cents a bushel. There is also a saving in grain due to the less time in handling the crop; although it is diffi cult to say just how much. Prob-ably the most noticeable advantage in using the reaper-thresher is in being able to go ahead with the harvesting and threshing without increasing the ordinary farm help, which in itself solves one of the most vexatious problems of farming. In case a storm wets the grain to any appreciable extent, the standing grain will dry out and be fi t for cutting and threshing one to two days earlier than grain in stook. The machine I have used is a Massey-Harris equipped for being hauled either by horses or by tractor. I used eight horses and found they were able to handle it nicely and cover 40 acres a day. The machine is very easily handled, in fact anyone who can run a binder successfully could handle the reaper-thresher. Its work of cutting, threating, and separating is exceptionally clean, and it works satisfactorily on moderately rolling land. As for the durability of the machine, it has not been in use under my observation long enough for me to comment more than to say that so far we have put through the machine upwards of 10,000 bushels without breaking a thing or losing an hour’s time on account of the machine. From Mr. Cook’s experience it is clear that where it can be used the reaper-thresher should pay for itself in a short time in what it saves in labor alone.

***

John Deere reaper-thresher. Late 1920s. (Library and Achives Canada.)

Massey-Harris reaper-thresher pulled by a 8-horse team. Circa 1927. (National Film Board of Canada.)

The Reaper-Havester

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~ 1926 ~Combine Reduces Losses

The Nor’-West Farmer - December 6, 1926 p. 62

* Less shelling and avoiding losses around the shock are leaks stopped by the combine. One farmer harvested a 25-bushel crop of wheat for less than three cents per bushel.

* For many years combined harvesters and threshers were in use in other parts of the world before they were introduced into Western Canada. The Argentine and Australia were deemed proper fi elds for the employ-ment of this method of harvesting grain but that combines could ever be successfully used in Western Canada was considered unlikely. However, about twelve years ago combines were introduced into the middle west of the United States and since have been steadily working north. Last year and this, several were in use in these provinces, one as far north as Prince Albert, and more were in request than the companies manufacturing the machines could supply. Last fall we saw a McCormick-Deering combined harvester and thresher at work on the farm of George Swales, near Rosebank, Man. He was cutting a 200-acre fi eld of Marquis wheat with a 12-foot cut harvester, cutting and threshing at the rate of over 120 bushels per hour and making an excellent job. The wheat was discharged from the thresher into a wagon grain tank running alongside the machine, attached to same by a simple hitch. As fast as one wagon box was fi lled it was detached, another run in posi-tion, and the full load was on the way to the elevator with less than fi ve minutes delay. The wheat, we understand, graded No. 2 Northern.

Comparative Shelling Losses The quality of the threshing was equal to the best results with any separator. The wheat was dead ripe, and the kernels were as hard as if the crop had been left in the stook before threshing.Criticism has been made that the fact that the wheat has to be left to ripen may lead to loss through shelling. This is not the case. In even high winds the loss is less than that incident to the use of the binder, and the handling in stooking and pitching. Loss through shelling of the ripe grain is offset enormously by the saving in harvesting and threshing cost by the use of the harvester-thresh-er. When the wheat is binder-cut on the green side, a general practice,

there is necessarily shrinkage. In eight hours, in another fi eld of wheat, Mr. Swales cleaned up 35 acres in good shape. In connection with the shelling of grain where it is left standing until ripe enough to cut and thresh with a combine, the following points of comparison may be of interest. Granted that dead ripe grain exposed to high winds will shell, let us look at the other side of the picture: To what extent is grain exposed to shelling when cut with the binder? To begin, the reel takes a slap at the standing grain as it draws it to the knife and throws it on the table canvas. The elevator canvases and the packers do their bit. The knotter kicks the bundle into the sheaf carrier from which it is later discharged. A stooker sets the bundle into a stook. Later it is thrown into a bundle rack, tossed into a feeder and fi nally reaches the cylinder of the threshing machine where the job is fi nished. There is a bit of a loss in har-vesting by the present method as many know who have taken the trouble to estimate the losses that have occurred in their fi elds by the simple expe-dient of raking the stook rows, by which means they save probably a third of the loss. An interesting light on the question of relative losses in binder and combine threshing is furnished by the Farm Mechanics Department of the University of Illinois, the only institution on the continent, so far as we know, to make a study of this problem. The department made a number of tests to determine the total loss in harvesting with the combine.

Losses Estimated by a College In making these tests the threshed grain and the straw were col-lected at the same time, making it possible to determine the percentage of loss. In the case of the combine, a count was made directly back of the cutter bar at the same place the test was made to determine the amount left on the ground. From these two determination of the total loss was calculated. To determine the loss when harvested and threshed by the or-dinary method, the threshing machine was tested with the same outfi t, and a count made back of the cutter bar of the binder and around the shocks. The department reported on the tests as follows: “The losses be-hind the cutter bar of the binder and the combine were about the same, av-eraging about three-fourths bushel per acre for wheat. The loss around the shocks averaged about one bushel per acre. The shock rows in several fi elds were raked and from three-fourths to one bushel per acre recovered. However, very few farmers follow the practice of raking the fi eld or even the shock rows. The slightly lower loss behind the platform of the combine is to be expected because there is no opening for the shattered material to be lost between the platform and the elevator canvases. “The loss around the shock is eliminated by the combine because the material never touches the ground. The average loss for the fi fty-three threshing machines tested was 1.36 per cent., which brings the total loss of

The Reaper-Havester

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the ordinary method of harvesting and threshing to a little over 8 per cent. The average total loss for fourteen tests made with the combine in wheat was a little under 6 per cent. “These tests show that the combine reduces the loss considerably in harvesting and threshing. While defi nite cost account records are not yet available, it is estimated that the cost of harvesting with the combine is only about one-third of that of the ordinary method . . . Another question that has caused a great deal of discussion is that of the moisture content of the threshed grain. Numerous samples of wheat were taken from the combine and moisture determination made. These tests ranged from 9.8 to 16.4 per cent, giving an average of about 12 per cent. The samples giving the percentage were threshed shortly after showers. The moisture percentage from samples taken from combine and the threshing machine the same day was slightly in favor of the combine.

How the Combine Operates Mr. Swales, on whose place the demonstration we witnessed took place, operated his combined harvester with two men, one on the tractor, the other on the seat of the harvester-thresher. Beyond them, a couple of wagons handled the threshed goods, and they were kept busy. The outfi t was pulled by a 20-40 tractor, traversing the fi eld at about 3 ½ miles per hour. No twine, no binder investment, no separator needed, and no gang of hungry harvesters to feed. The photograph gives an idea of the general design of the harvest-er-thresher. The 10-foot cutting platform is instantaneously adjustable to suit the height of the grain, leaving the long straw standing and lightening the load for the separator. The platform canvas acts as the lower elevator canvas, carrying the grain from the platform to the grain conveyor, that feeds it to the ball-bear-ing cylinder. The 24-inch cylinder is built up from cast iron heads and has hardened, tempered teeth. Reaching the slatted conveyor, operated by chains and sprockets, the grain is carried by defl ectors to the cylinder and thence to the concaves grate and beater. Adjustment for threshing is made from the outside of the machine. The grain pan and riddles have partitions which separate the mate-rial, preventing the grain and chaff from banking at the side of the machine. The straw racks are made in four sections, operated by two four-way crankshafts, their up-and -down motion shakes all grain out of the straw and the grain is cleaned and delivered to the wagon or bagging spout. All unthreshed heads return to the beater for rethreshing. A bag-ging attachment or a wagon loader attachment can be used, while the screenings are delivered into a bag by a discharge spout. A switch-over spout allows changing of bags, but loading into the wagon box is the gen-eral system used.

The grain pan extends from directly under the cylinder about half the length of the machine and is followed by the riddle which extends the rest of the way back. The riddle is of the Slosz no-choke type. The for-ward and backward motion of the riddle causes the grain to fall through the metal sieve while the chaff is carried out of the machine by a blast from the fan. After the grain has passed through the shoe, it is elevated and delivered to the recleaner. This device operates very much like the old-fashioned fanning mill which is recognized at the best method of cleaning grain. From this point the grain is delivered to another elevator and carried up to the revolving weed screen. The weed screen consists of a revolving drum perforated with holes just large enough to allow small seeds, such as mustard and other weed seeds, to fall through and pass out of the weed seed spout, while the wheat or other grain that travels through the drum until it reaches the end and is delivered into the grain spout. This device removes all weed seeds from the grain and these seeds are delivered into a separate bag, not blown about or scattered over the ground.

Above: Front view of the I.H.C. combined harvester-thresher, ten foot cut. This machine is driven direct from the tractor which hauls it. It will cut and thresh thirty-fi ve acres per day.

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Straw-Spreading Attachment The straw, passing to the rear of the thresher, falls from the racks directly on to the straw beater which is operated by a chain and sprockets. The beater rotates horizontally at high speed, distributing the straw over the stubble to eight or twelve feet in width. In the outfi t seen this season the tractor simply pulled the combine, the threshing mechanism being operated by an auxiliary engine mounted over the grain wheel of the harvester. However, the International Harvester Company has now perfected a 10-foot machine in which the threshing mechanism is driven direct from the motor of the tractor that hauls it. This is the machine shown in the illustration. This would seem to simplify mat-ters as the auxiliary engine is eliminated and the cost of the outfi t reduced. The following cost data were secured for the outfi t operated by Mr. Swales. They give a general idea of the cost of operation when cutting 40 acres per day of 8 hours: 40 gals. gasoline $12.50 Oil 1.50 Wages of 2 men $15.00 Total $29.00 This is at the rate of 73 cents, approximately, per acre. Information is not available as to what this crop yielded, but it was a good crop of Mar-quis wheat and a safe 25 bushels per acre, so the cost per bushel would be a fraction under 3 cents. This is a low cost for harvesting and threshing and justifi es the in-terest farmers are showing in the combined harvester and thresher. That the machine will occupy a large place in the West in the future seems cer-tain. Farmers in this country competing against farmers of the Argentine and Australia in the wheat markets of the world must fi nd cheaper methods of harvesting their crops. We are too dependent on hand labor and are not making use of power to the extent we should. The harvester-thresher sug-gests one direction in which production costs may be decreased and the reduction is important enough to be a factor in determining the net profi ts of production. As stated, the quality of the threshing is equal to the best results with any separator. The economy in the use of such machines is obvi-ous. Time is saved and the losses that occur from delays and the many handlings when grain is cut and threshed by separate machines. Two men operate the outfi t, whether a tractor or horses supply haulage power. The binder expense, twine cost, stookers, pitchers, wagons and teams and threshing cost are eliminated. Grain can be hauled to the granaries or direct to the elevator, as in the case of Mr. Swales. Under any circumstances, at least half the ordinary cost of har-vesting and threshing the crop is eliminated. The distribution of the straw fertilizes the crop and increases future yields, and is invaluable in light soil where drifting has caused loss. Easier fall plowing is made possible by the time saved.

It would seem that the solution of lowering costs in handling large wheat acreage lies in the use of the harvester-thresher, and that such ma-chines as the McCormick-Deering are exceptionally profi table for Western Canadian farmers was proven in Manitoba this year. The harvester-thresh-er has been in use in past years in both Saskatchewan and Alberta. In addition to the 12-foot McCormick-Deering harvester-thresher, the International Harvester Co. of Canada handle the No. 8, 10-foot swath, and is made especially for use with the McCormick-Deering 15-30 tractor. This machine will harvest 35 acres in 10 hours. The mechanism of the 10-foot harvester-thresher is operated by the power take-off shaft of the tractor. This drive works very successfully with the harvester-thresher.

***

Above: Rear view of the I.H.C. combine. The straw spreading device is shown to the rear of the threshing machine. The arrangement for carrying the cutting table without an end wheel is also brought out.”

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A combine threshing from the stook.

Nor’-west Farmer, August 1927.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ONCE OVER HARVEST

I was very interested in a recent article “The Once-Over Harvest” by Mr. Shepherd. In 1927 the three Kaczmarski brothers, Anton, Emil and Lodiek purchased three of these 16-foot Case combines (see ac-companying picture) from Anton Knops who was the Case agent at Rockglen for many years. I was the driver of 10 hoses on this machine for quite some time. We started out using 20 hoses, and changed them twice daily. The work involved and the huge quantities of feed which they consumed, brought about another change. A Fordson tractor was used with 4 horses in front to help on the hills. Sorry the horses are not visible in the picture, just the lines. The Kaczmarskis are old-timers in the Rockglen country, having hauled grain 50 miles to Verwood in three Samson trucks for many years. The names of the people on the combine are: H. Knops (at wheel); Mr and Mrs W.J. Kaczmarski; R.P. Fox; and Miss Miltilda Knops.

H. Abbott. Nesbitt Man.

One of three 16-foot Case combines owned by the Kaczmarski Bros. in 1927.

The County Guide, October 1961. Pg.54.

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~ 1928 ~Combines, Old and New

The Nor’-West Farmer - May 21, 1928 Pg. 7.

*~ Being an account of the development of combine harvesting

in Western Canada. The use of this implement increased 340 per cent last year. What of 1928? ~

* Wherever grain is grown the subject of conversation today is mainly the combine. Its introduction to the harvest fi elds of Western Canada has aroused more interest than did the coming of any other implement that is used on the farm at the present time. To cut and thresh gain in one opera-tion is the wheat grower’s idea of a perfect harvesting machine. Not only is it appreciated out-of-doors but the women folk who in past years have been accustomed to preparing meals for the threshing gang, regard the combine as the greatest labor-saving device of the age on the farm. During the 1927 harvest the use of combines increased far beyond the expectations of the most ardent combine enthusiasts. In 1926 there were 148 combines in Saskatchewan, 26 in Alberta, and only 2 in Manitoba. During the last har-vest these were increased to a total of 530 in Saskatchewan, 221 in Alberta and 23 in Manitoba. Distributed widely over Saskatchewan, mainly in the central and southern parts of Alberta, but with few in northern districts, and in the Brandon district of Manitoba, nine different makes of combine are found amongst the 774 machines now owned by farmers of the West; I.H.C., Massy-Harris, Case, Holt, Advance-Rumley, Red River Special, Gleaner, Baldwin, and Minneapolis are represented in the totals.

Started 100 Years ago All developments that are worth while have beginnings in the dim and distant past as a rule. That such is the case with the combine is indi-cated by the fact that as early as August 8, 1828, a hundred year ago, the United States Patent Offi ce shows a patent of a combined harvester and thresher in its records. Other patents recorded in 1836, 1841, and 1845, also show that considerable attention was being given to the combine idea in the United States in those early years. In 1845 an inventor in Australia developed a machine in which the stripper idea instead of the sickle and guard was the means of getting the grain into the machine. The develop-ment continued through the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, and in 1890 it is recorded that three companies were in a position to manufacture combines as they may be required by the trade. The year 1897 seems to mark the fi rst real practical use of the combine, when it got a foothold in California, and since that time its use has steadily widened. These early machines were of the traction type, as it was not until 1912 that the fi rst internal-combustion-mo-tor-driven harvester appeared in the State of Washington. In 1917, due to high wages, scarcity of labor, and other circumstances caused by the Great War, the use of these machines extended widely in the United States.

First Combine in Canada Messrs. Shand and Edmonds, Spy Hill, Sask., purchased and op-erated the fi rst combine in Western Canada. This was in the fall of 1910. It was not until 1922, twelve years later, that the use of this machine was widely adopted in the West. From the later date its popularity has rapidly increased, registering an actual increase last fall of 340 per cent., as com-pared with the number of combines in use during the harvest of 1926.

Driven by Bull Wheels E. J. C. Shand has kindly given us some fi rst hand information con-cerning the combine purchased by himself and Mr. Edmunds. He says: “Mr.

Above. “Illustrating the two rival sources of farm power operating the latest and most effi cient invention in harvesting equipment - the modern combine.”

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Edmunds and I imported a combine from Stockton, California, in 1910. The machine was the Standard Level hand machine, 30 by 42, with a 20-foot header, and manufactured by the Holt Co. Power was supplied through both ground wheels. (See illustration herewith showing large bull wheels). The threshed grain was delivered in bulk to a grain wagon hitched to the rear of the machine. We hauled the outfi t with a Hart-Parr tractor 30-60 h.p. We were farming a tract of light, uniform quality land, quite level, situated west of Welby Siding on the G.T.P., and entirely favorable for combine threshing. We were growing the variety of Red Fife wheat commonly raised at that pe-riod. “About 600 acres of wheat was successfully handled with the ma-chine in each of the years 1910-11 and 12. Generally the wheat graded tough when shipped. In this year 1913 we had grown 600 acres of fl ax, and successfully handled the harvesting with the same outfi t. Snow came early that year when we were about half through, and the balance of the fl ax was cut the next spring and was of inferior quality after the winter. We discon-tinued farming in 1914, and left the country. As far as I know this combine is still at the farm. It is unquestionably cheaper and more labor saving way of harvesting than the method in general use. The risk of shelling is com-pensated for easily by the other savings. A ten-foot combine should not be relied upon to harvest more acreage than say a ten-foot binder would cut in the cutting season.” Further information as to early history regarding the combine in Western Canada has been kindly supplied by J. K. MacKenzie, assistant to superintendent of the Dominion Experimental Station at Swift Current, Sask. He refers to the fi rst machine operated by Messrs. Shand and Edmonds, and also states that Curtis Baldwin, now vice-president of the company that builds the combine known as the Baldwin Gleaner, operated a home-made combine at Anerold, Sask., about 1914.

Present Rush Began in 1922 Respecting later developments in the West, he says: “The present vogue of the combine commenced in 1922 when the Swift Current Experi-mental Station purchased a Massey-Harris combine and the International Harvester Company placed a machine at Cabri, Sask., for experimental pur-poses. There was no purchase of combines by private farmers in 1923. In 1924 the I. H. C. machine at Cabri was purchased by Lara Hendrickson, of Swift Current. At the same time three Case combines were purchased by the following farmers: F. B. Lynch, Forgan, Sask.; M. J. Hess, Hughton, Sask.; and Kinnon Bros., Hughton, Sask. If the sporadic attempts of earlier years be ignored, then the credit for purchasing the fi rst machine lies with the four men mentioned. It is worthy of note that the Saskatoon branch of the J. I. Case Threshing Machine Company, at fi rst refused to sell to those men, feeling that the machine was unsuitable to Canadian conditions. Mr. Hess brought in a machine from Kansas, and then the company procured two machines for Mr. Lynch and Kinnon Bros.”

Cost Half Less F. B. Lynch, of Forgan, Sask., gives his experience in connection with combine harvesting last fall as follows: “I bought a J. I. Case machine in Kansas City, Mo., U.S., in February, 1924. It cuts 12-16 feet, has 24-inch cylinder and 42-inch rear, and is all steel. Has 12-25 Case engine to drive same, mounted on the same frame. Can be drawn with 15-horse engine or 8 or 10 head of horses. Also has place for grain wagon hitch on left side. It will cut from 6 inches to 3 inches high. Straw just falls on ground, and can be burned or worked back into the land which they do in Kansas, and helps to keep land blowing so badly. With regard to cutting it will handle any kind of wheat when fi t to bin. My wheat was mostly Marquis. Cutting is about 8 or 10 days later than with the binders, on account of waiting until the grain is ripe and hard. One man operates it just as easy as a binder. One man to drive tractor can cut square corners as any horse binder, can cut around pot holes or places not fi t to cut, and the cost of harvesting about half the price. You can cut and thresh it for what it costs to cut and stook it, getting away from so much extra labour and help. This machine beat my expectations by far. I think they are all O.K. Of course, you can cut and thresh grain when it will not keep. So you can cut grain too green with the binder just the same. I cut and threshed about 3,000 bushels off 200 acres, and put it in the elevator 2 ½ miles away for $300.”

Introduced to Alberta in 1925 According to the information we have, Earl G. Cook, M.L.A., Pincher Creek, Alta., was the fi rst farmer in Alberta to own a combine, having pur-chased and operated it during the season of 1925. At the close of that sea-son Mr. Cook wrote a short article on his experience during the fi rst season, and stated in part as follows: “My experience with the Reaper-Thresher this year has been very satisfactory. In fact it more than measured up to my

Shand and Edmonds of Spy Hill., Sask., operated the fi rst combine in Western Canada. It was driven by big bull wheels similar to the binder principle.

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expectations. The one important thing in connection with harvesting with the Reaper-Thresher in this district is to have your grain ripened and threshed before the fall winds start and get strong enough to shell the grain. Of this there is very little danger before the fi rst of September, and with proper meth-ods and care in preparing this soil and seeding, the bulk would be ready to thresh before the fi rst of September, and for any grain that would not be ma-tured by that date or before the windy weather starts, there will no doubt be an attachment developed that will go ahead of the reaper, cut the grain and place it in a row in such a way that the reaper will pick it up almost the same as it heads it, thus avoiding the danger of leaving the late grain standing until ready to thresh. The saving in the cost of harvesting wheat with the Reaper-Thresher is fully 15 cents per bushel. There is also a saving in grain due to less time in handling the grain, although it is diffi cult to say just how much.

Less Help Need Probably the most noticeable advantage is being able to go ahead with the harvesting and threshing without increasing the ordinary farm help, which in itself solves one of the most vexatious and wasteful features in connection with farming. “In case of a storm that wets the grain to any ap-preciable extent, the standing grain will dry out and be fi t from one to two days earlier than in stook. The machine I have used is a Massey-Harris equipped for being hauled either by horses or by tractor. I used eight horses and found they were able to handle it nicely and cover 40 acres a day. The machine is easily handled, in fact anyone who can run a binder successfully could handle the reaper-thresher. Its work of cutting, threshing and sepa-rating is exceptionally clean, and it does its work on moderately rolling land very satisfactorily. As for durability of the machine it has not been in use under my observation long enough for me to comment more than to say that so far we have put through the machine upwards of ten thousand bushels without breaking a thing or losing an hour’s time on account of the machine.”

Opinion Not Altered Last February we wrote Mr. Cook, asking him for further information, and to supplement his statement in the preceding paragraphs. He replied saying: “My experience now covers two more years’ operation of the reaper-thresher, and I may say in brief that my opinion in regard to the question has not altered, and my experience during the succeeding years is very similar to that of the fi rst year.” Further in regard to his management at harvest time, he states: “I may say that my equipment for harvesting consists of two outfi ts, both in readiness, and it has so worked out during the three years that I have done nearly all my harvesting with the combine. It appeared that this last season was going to be an adverse season for the combine harvesting in the district in which I am operating, on account of the excessive rainfall resulting in slow ripening, also a considerable amount of the grain had lodged; therefore, at the beginning I was of the opinion that it would be better to use binders and

harvest in the ordinary way, and so I started with the binder, but before I had worked very long I was satisfi ed that the cost was going to be too great. We were making such poor progress, the crop was heavy, down and so badly lodged, that the binders could not make reasonable progress, nor were they doing a reasonably good job. I therefore stopped the binders, and let the balance of the crop stand until it was dried out. During the interval I threshed in the ordinary way that which I had cut with the binder, shipping it out as fast as it was threshed. Then I started in on the same fi eld with the combine, the result being that with the exception of having to work on but two sides of the fi eld, owing to the entire crop having lodged, the bulk of it lying one way, we had no diffi culty, we could go right along, and do a really good, clean job, and we were then threshing over 40 bushels per acre. I also shipped this grain out as fast as it was threshed, and the grades turned out quite as good as that threshed in the ordinary way. I can now say with considerable satisfaction that my fi rst machine is still working just as good as in the beginning, and without any new parts.”

The Combine in Manitoba Henry Leathers, Minto, Man., the fi rst farmer to purchase a combine in Western Manitoba, gives herewith the satisfaction he experienced in us-ing the combine during the season of 1927. Incidentally the fi rst combine sold to a Manitoba farmer was purchased by George Swales, Rosebank. Mr. Leathers, recounts his experience in part in the following para-graphs: “Our outfi t is a McCormick-Deering 10 ft. harvester-thresher, operat-ed by a 15-30 McCormick-Deering tractor, with a power take-off. We cut our oats with the binder and put the combine over about 415 acres, consisting of rye, barley, and wheat. When we fi nished, at least one-third of the crop in this part of the country was still unthreshed. The saving over the old system is certainly great, but anybody can fi gure it out for themselves. The same labor that it takes to seed a crop will harvest it. The same gas that threshes a crop will cut and thresh it, and there is no twine to buy.On the fi rst day of October we had just received returns for four cars. The fi rst car went tough by six points. The nest two went straight grade; the fourth went tough. That fi gured out at 50-50. We were told that the same date, 15 returns had come to Minto, grading two straight grade and 15 tough, while at Min-Mar every-thing but one car had gone tough. In some fi elds we had diffi culty with green weeds getting in the threshed grain and raising the moisture content. In fact I don’t know what we should have done had we not been near an elevator, where we had the grain, from those fi elds, cleaned before we shipped it. “We were disappointed at the slow progress we made in the fore-noons. The grain being more exposed than in the shocks, toughened more, and therefore we could not thresh as soon in the mornings. The necessity of letting the grain stand until it is dry is in reality a gain. There is no doubt that in the past the yield has been materially reduced by cutting the grain when it was immature.“Most people are under the impression that letting the

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“Picking up a load of wheat from the combine of C.S. Noble’s farm at Noblegord, Alta. Above illustration also suggests the height of stubble left when a heavy crop of wheat is cut with combine.” (May 21, 1928. Nor’-West Farmer.)

“Illustrating how swathed grain is picked up by a special attach-ment on the combine.” (May 21, 1928. Nor’-West Farmer.)

“Two combines at work at L. Mabley’s farm, Dalroy, Alta. Garin that was snowed down fl at is being picked up successfully.” (May 21, 1928. Nor’-West Farmer.)

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grain stand till it is dry is a great risk. What seems to happen is something like this. The time that grain is more apt to shatter is just about the time the binder starts, or just when the kernel is the largest. As soon as the root ceases to feed the grain, it commences to dry and consequently shrinks. The chaff tightens on it, and the head smoothens again. Another thing that tends to save the grain is that when grain is ripe it loses height and tangles. That makes it like a bunch of springs.

Cleaning and Drying Plant “There is one point about the combine that strongly appeals to the writer. That is it leaves the straw on the land. There is no doubt that the straw is of some benefi t to the soil, but not enough to make it a paying propo-sition to gather it together, and then spread it out again. Had combines been used on this land from the time we fi rst broke the prairie sod, the texture of the soil would surely have been different. We are more than satisfi ed with the results of the fi rst year’s operation of our Harvester-thresher, but we believe that better results are possible, that the combine should be supplemented with adequate granary room on the farm; cleaning machinery to take care of the green growth that cannot always be avoided, and last, but not least, a drying plant that will take care of the few points of moisture that sometimes loses a grade.”

Using the Swather C. S. Noble, of Nobleford, Alta., who has had good success with winter wheat during the past year, and has a large acreage seeded for this year’s harvest, has also tried out the swather. Concerning it, he says: “No reference to the combine is complete without mention of its swathing and pickup attachments. Those tried last season were rather crude, but are be-ing greatly improved. Swathing has several advantages over straight com-bining, and I plan to harvest this way next fall. The extra cost is small, con-sidering the element of safety added. Here again, an early maturing crop is preferable, for snow should never lie on the swathed grain. In districts infested with the saw-fl y winter wheat and swathing should be the best sys-tem, though even this might not prevent some damage. Where the swather and pickup are used, diagonal seeding would have an advantage. The swather, working around the fi eld, would always deposit the grain crosswise rather than parallel to the stubble rows, and no grain would be lost by falling to the ground.

***

“Windrow harvester in action, illustrating how the wide swath is left in a compact windrow ready to be picked up by the combine.”

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~ 1931 ~Harvesters – Old and New

Being a Brief Review of Harvesting Machinery Developed Since the Invention of the Reaper in 1831

*The Nor’-West Farmer and Farm & Home June 20, 1931

*

Picture: Front and rear view of the world’s fi rst reaper invented, built and successfully operated by Cyrus Hall McCormick in 1831. This year, 1931, is the hundredth anniversary of the reaper. This fi rst reaper was oper-ated by one horse ridden by a boy, while a slave raked the grain off the table with a hand rake. Later the sweep reaper was developed, followed by the fi rst binder on which two men rode and tied the bundles by hand, then the self-binder and fi nally the combine.

*

Illustrated on this page is the fi rst reaper, showing both front and rear views. It was built exactly 100 years ago by Cyrus H. McCormick.in the year1831, his friends told him it wouldn’t work. It is doubtful if farmers today would think it would work if it had not been successfully demonstrated. With-out showing all of the many different reapers, binders, combines, etc., that have been invented and developed during the past century, a glance at the fi rst reaper as it appears and a look at your own binder or combine will indi-cate what has happened in the harvesting machinery business. The London Times writing about this reaper in May, 1851, when it was exhibited at the exhibition of the Industries of all Nations in London, describes it as “A cross between a fl ying machine, wheelbarrow and an Astley chariot.” By August of the same year it admitted that the reaper was worth more to England than the cost of the entire exhibition. A great many other comments critical and otherwise might be quot-ed about this machine, and indeed about any new machine that was ever introduced to agriculture or any other branch of industry, for that matter. However, the invention of the reaper marked the beginning of a long line of labor-saving devices in harvesting equipment, a fact that is brought home to us at this time when another harvest is near. The reaper in its later forms largely solved the problem of cutting the grain insofar as hand labor was concerned. Next, of course, came the threshing and for this purpose the fl ail had been used for centuries, even before 1786when a Scottish mechanic,

Andrew Meikle, laid the foundation of the separator as we now know it. He constructed a machine in which the grain, spread out, passed between two fl uted cast-iron rollers to a revolving drum or cylinder with four beaters cov-ered with iron by which the kernels were beaten out of the straw. Unfortu-nately we have no illustration of the fi rst threshing machine but from the brief outline it was quite obviously a crude affair and a far cry from the modern separator, to say nothing of the combine which, of course, is a combination of the progeny of the fi rst reaper and the fi rst separator. The Combine is popularly looked upon as “the babe in swaddling clothes” amongst the large family of farm implements. But such is not the case. For as early asAugust8, 1828, over a hundred years ago, the United States Patent Offi ce shows a patent of a combined harvester and thresh-er in its records. Other patents recorded in 1836, 1841, and 1845, also show that considerable attention was being given to the combine idea in the United States in those early years. In 1845 an inventor in Australia devel-oped a machine in which the stripper idea instead of sickle and guard was the means of getting the grain into the machine. Development continued through the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, and in 1800 it is recorded that three compa-nies were in a position to manufacture combines as they may be required by the trade. The year 1897 seems to mark the fi rst real practical use of the combine, when it got a foothold in California, and since that time its use has steadily widened. These early machines were of the traction type, as it was not until 1912 that the fi rst internal – combustion –motor-driven harvester appeared in the State of Washington. In 1917, due to high wages, scarcity of labor, and other circumstances caused by the Great War, the use of these machines extended widely in the United States.

First Combine in Canada Messrs. Shand and Edmunds, Spy Hill, Sask., purchased and op-erated the fi rst combine in Western Canada. This was in the fall of 1910. It was not until 1922, twelve years later, that the use of this machine was widely adopted in the West. Some three years ago, Mr. Shand gave us the following informa-tion: “Mr. Edmunds and I imported a combine from Stockton, California, in 1910. The machine was the Standard Level hand machine, 30 by 42, with a 20-foot header, and power was supplied through both ground wheels. The threshed grain was delivered in bulk to a grain wagon hitched to the rear of the machine. We hauled the outfi t with a 30-60 tractor. As the present-day binder is a far cry from the reaper of a hundred years ago so is the modern harvester-thresher far beyond the fi rst combine in its mechanical perfections.

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Above: “This Holt combined harvester was powered by 5 men and 33 mules. The harvesting, unharnessing and feeding of the mules must have been quite a job in itself. (Nor’-West Farmer, May 21, 1928).

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A photograph of a Massy-Harris Reaper-Thresher in operation during the early 1920s. (Achives of Manitoba.)

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19

Photographs showing the front and rear views of a 1931 HOLT reaper-harvester (swather) being pulled by a Caterpillar tractor. (Archives of Manitoba.)

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A McCormick-Deering “Harvester-Thresher” and tractor, photographed during the mid-1920s. (National Film board of Canada images.)

Another McCormick-Deering harvester-thresher and tractor, likely during the later-1920s.

A view of the ‘grain hopper’ side of a McCormick-Deering harvester-thresher during the later-1920s.

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A McCormick-Deering “Harvester-Thresher” advertizement appearing in the July 5, 1931 issue of the Nor-’West Farmer. “Windrow-harvesters” were later referred to as “swathers”.

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A Massy-Harris “Reaper-Thresher” advertizement appearing in the August 1936 issue of The Country Guide & Nor’-West Farmer.

A Minneapolis-Moline “Harvester” advertizement appearing in the June 1936 issue of The Country Guide & Nor’-West Farmer.

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Above: A 1936 farm magazine advertizement for Oliver brand Tractors, Combines and Threshers. (The Country Guide and Nor’-West Farmer, June 1936.)

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Above: A 1930 advertizement for one of the fi rst commercially available self-propelled “Combine Threshers” in western Canada - the Sunshine-Waterloo. Self-pro-pelled combines were not widely adopted on the Canadian prairies until the late 1940s, due to economic and material depravations related to the Great Depression of the 1930s and World War Two during the early 1940s. (Nor’-West Farmer, June 5, 1930. Pg.13.)

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Researched and re-packaged by Leona Devuyst and Ed Ledohowski

for the Boundary Trail National Heritage Region. September 2019

*

Sources :

- Archives of Manitoba- Glacier Farm Media Ltd.

- Library and Achives Canada- National Film Board of Canada

***

Development and Adoption of the Combined

Reaper-Harvester on the Canadian prairies during

the 1920s.*