In the January 1886 harvesting season Brooksdale held a trial of the Howard reaper and binder in Ryegrass. The machine drew attention to the improved state of machinery over the past ten years and the newspapers had praised the Howard as the best on the market.
James Howard was the second son of John Howard, a maker of agricultural implements and his grandfather had a farm at Priory Farm, Bedford. James produced the first iron-wheeled plough in 1841 and won more awards at agricultural shows up until 1878 than any other plough. He joined William Smith at Woolston introducing the steam cultivator in 1856, so enthusiastic about steam that he bought a farm of his own so he could experiment. In 1858 he and his brother Frederick built the Britannia Ironworks at Bedford and with continual development had sixty or seventy patents on improved implements. With the iron plough they also produced iron harrows, cast-iron field rollers, and every agricultural implement required delivering free to the nearest railway station for customers.
The first "Simplex" reaper sold for �30 in 1876, which had a driving wheel, morticed, instead of ordinary cogs, the open gearing preventing accumulation of dirt that was a problem on damp land. The rake and knife had independent actions, separating strain on the parts with a hollow crankshaft to lead oil to the connecting rods that worked the knives. The self-delivery machine could be easily lowered or raised by simple ratchet, as well as folded up, so when the seat was simply removed there were no problems going through gateways. It was simple, light and made from wrought iron and steel gearing fitted with cornlifters, projecting teeth that lifted the straw before the cutters. In a field where the crop was flattened by weather or laid down and twisted this increased the chance of a higher yield by not missing produce no matter how close to the ground. Four revolving rakes could be used to feed the sheaves, although with a foot lever or switchgear, the driver could decrease or increase using only two to pass over the crop. This became important at corners or when cutting lighter crops in places so as to regulate the sheaves size.
The binder was developed with a trough or cradle at the end of the platform where the sheaf was swept forward by the machines rake. An opening in the middle of the trough had the binding chord to tie the sheaves and this was adjustable according to the length of the straw. The chord was carried around by a bobbin mounted to the arm attached on an axle concentric with the trough. As rotary motion was given to the arm the chord was passed around to make a secure band without a knot or twist, a coating of glue-like substance holding the sheaves in place as they discharged from the trough automatically. Although the power for the binder was incorporated with the reaper it could be used as an independent implement.
By 1884 the Simplex had fitted a knotting hook and rotary string-holding device patented in 1880. A bracket bearing outside the main frame allowing low and direct motion for the knife and easy access for oiling supported the steel-rocking shaft working the knives. To keep the sheaves square a butting board could be automatically adjusted at any angle of the butting canvas. To keep the canvas tight spring bearings were fitted to deal with any weather conditions and the driver preventing sheaves dropped on corners or where horses trod could control the sheaf trough or cradle. The binder arm was grooved, which kept the twine becoming tangled in the sheaves, also facilitating the threading. Moreover the reciprocating movement of the knotting device had been removed and a smooth rotary motion using fewer parts improved the knot operation. The most important improvement was the starting lever controlling binding at the beginning. If pressure behind the sheaf was greater than pressure on the lever retaining spring, binding would commence rather than if there was drag on the outgoing sheaf. This prevented choking when a rough crop was harvested.
The cost of the Simplex was �60 in October 1884 and the weight had increased to 14 1/3 cwt, from 31/2 cwt of the reaper and 3 cwt for the binder in 1876. The cut was a width of five feet and on average could cut two acres of barley in one hour twenty-three minutes. It came with transport attachments for an extra �2.
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Mechanical Reaper, England
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