Posted 14 years ago
pigeon
(1 item)
Just wondering if anyone knew exactly what this is. I wanted to put it in my home but it won't fit through the door. A friend says it could be a hammer mill for sifting grain but I can't find any info on line about it.
Thanks
I believe what you've got there is a winnower. There would have originally been a hand crank attached to that gear on the side of the machine. The crank turns a large wooden fan that blows air through wheat or other grain that's fed into the hopper on the top of the winnower. As the grain falls through the air current, chaff or other light material is blown from the rear of the machine, and the grain drops onto a series of wire sieves. These are shaken as the handle is cranked and remove items such as unthreshed wheat ears, pieces of straw, pebbles, etc., but allowing the grain through. A smaller mesh sieve at the bottom removes any small grain or weed seeds but retains the larger grain. The cleaned grain discharges from hatches on the sides of the machine and can then be fed to farm animals or milled.