In February 1876 John McKellar purchased a steam threshing mill for Brooksdale making it available to service settlers in the district following harvest of his crops. In the past separating the grain from husks and stalks had been done by hand with flails; horse powered, it was labour intensive taking many hours. The hand method could thresh 10 to 25 bushels an hour whereas the steam threshing machine increased threshing 48 to 65 bushels.
A Scotsman, Andrew Meikle in 1784 invented the threshing machine. Sheaves of grain were fed into a revolving cylinder armed with wooden beaters. The loose straw was raked away by another toothed drum that pushed the remaining chaff and grain through a sieve onto a series of rollers further separating the chaff from the grain in preparation for winnowing. This principle has been preserved in all threshing machines up to and including the modern self-propelled combines. Machines were fitted with rakes or shakers and two pairs of fanners, the process thrashing, shaking and winnowing (tossing the grain into or poured through a current of air so that the light chaff was blown away from the heavier grain) so it was bagged and ready for market. Some threshing machines were equipped to hold two bags and one filled was sewed shut with a needle and thread while the next was filled. With the convenience of coal and water a steam engine gave an advantage over horse labour.
Richard Hornsby and Marshall�s of Gainsborough were large manufacturers of steam engines for threshing machines. Clayton and Shuttleworth, Robey & Co., Ransomes, Garretts of Leiston and William Fosters were all internationally renown as well for their steam engines.
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Ransomes Steam Threshing Machine
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