Tillers Museum; History in the Present Tense

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Tillers Museum; History in the Present Tense

The historic collections in the care of Tillers International consists of agricultural tools spanning mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries.

Their composition and historic use inform innovations applied to rural development projects worldwide.

05/18/2021

Tillers studies historic farming concepts, reusing them in affordable ways for small farmers worldwide. A current project included a three row animal drawn corn/maize planter. Staff member Dave Kramer is the design lead. Today’s field trials were very promising. The power for these experiments were provided by Castor and Po***ck, who (contrary to their desires) humored us by walking the straight line.

03/07/2021

Warm weather attacked Scott’s, MI with speed, causing snow to melt and muddy the roads. Concerned with falling into a rut next week, I gathered up a couple of willing friends to haul a scraper (sometimes called a king drag) over the roads on Tillers’ campus. The drag shown here was built some months ago by colleague John Sarge and it works like a top. In fact standing on it might well be close to the experience of riding a spinning top, or a bronco. It’s pure speculation. Sam, the far horse but the one nearest the camera, stands stoically, indignant at being photographed with one of the lines hung so as to drape on the ground. Meanwhile, Sol hides his face. Both have a good sense of humor, but wonder when the yo-yos they share their world with are going to recognize carrying a camera at all times is bad for working relationships.
The second image shows what looks to be a road less travelled, renewed by the scraper which was then followed by a rubber tire drag. It stands naively smooth, seemingly unaware of an impending truck with an urgent mission. Not long ago, farmers would often use vehicles on farm roads only during the spring mornings, while they were still hard from the night-time freeze. Today, such thinking is considered unrealistically quaint. Sam calls such indifferent minds “rutt-heads”. Course, he’s pulling the scraper.
The third image is of the same pair “bobtailing-it” after a delivery. Behind them are the twin Collections storage buildings at Tillers.

12/25/2020

Merry Christmas to all, with wishes for a relaxing and enjoyable day! Here is a glimpse from this morning’s chores; still, crisp and wonder-full.

12/17/2020

The faded stenciling on the seed box lid of this cotton planter reads (in three lines) “CHAS MANNING” “MAKER” “CLINTON”.
I have yet to find any record of Manning or his planter. I will keep my baseless ideas about the date of this machine to myself. Still, there is much this implement has to say. Like many horse drawn conveyances of 18th and 19th century America, what impresses me first are both its remarkable lightness and finesse of construction. The joints are still tight fitting. Note the crisp chamfers of the handles, and the scalloped lid. Finesse is evident in the simplicity of design as well. Note the spare function of the drive-train. The remnants of the drum-mounted brushes in the seed-box are stiff, perhaps hog bristles. The depth of the furrow opener (and thus planted seed) is regulated through a simple clamp. The seed box is mounted off-center (to the right) to accommodate drive belt alignment. That in turn requires the furrow opener and seed tube to be angled to center the furrow to the wheel span.

Again, the condition of this planter is remarkable considering its light construction. I once read an eighteenth-century travel account. A carriage and horses were transported over the Susquehanna in a bateau by loosening the brace straps and first taking the body across, the separated wheels and undercarriage then crossed, followed by the horses, passengers and luggage. The horses at Tillers are exceptional, but can you imagine crossing a river in a boat with your horses? Seems a few verses are missing from ”Over the River and Through the Woods”. This wear and tear on a carriage seems enough for its owner to inquire about taking out a bridge-loan.

12/14/2020

Many are very familiar with grapple or harpoon type hay loaders, generally used with hay carrier and track. Here is one last version of the earlier type. It is a transitional design, even though patented quite early - 1868. A common feature of this class of fork required along handle (five feet seems typical) to gain the necessary leverage to counter the weight of the hay. The problem was that once released, the handle collided with the frame or roof of the barn, interrupting its ability to release the load. To resolve this issue, this fork incorporates a hinge. With a release of a latch, this hinge allowed the tines drop to vertices, enabling the hay to slide off. The patent was issued to C. F. Gladding of Troy, Pennsylvania (due south of Elmira, NY).
As an aside, Gladding was awarded another patent that year in collaboration with Henry Ellis. This time the invention was a howser clamp. Unfamiliar with that term, I looked it up to find it is a clamp for a howser; mystery solved. Perhaps that enlightenment will provide a way out of a Scrabble predicament.

12/10/2020

Here is a hay cutter designed by William Iwan of Southbend, IN. We have been looking at a couple early stabs at horse hay-forks (as opposed to horse-hay forks; tricky, this language of ours - makes me wish my mind stayed in the classroom for some of the grammar my teachers endured with me). Once up, loose hay gets all intertwined (twine keeps pressed hay neatly separate and orderly - “untwined”, one might say). Loose hay wants to be fed out all together on that first feeding. Unfortunately, barn carpenters build hay-chutes much too small for that, for they know without winter chores there would be no help getting farmers out of bed at 4:00.

Enter the hay knife. Some months ago I posted a couple of hay knives. Those were serrated along the edge and used with a sawing motion similar to that with a ... well, a saw. William Iwan wished to distinguish that type from the style with the cutter at the end of a bar. His model improves on the strength and width of those of that type on the market. Note also the foot peg.

I once asked a western Maryland friend why he put up loose hay (his barn was full of some exquisite clover hay). I thought he’d mention a belief that the hay was of better quality with more leaves and blossoms intact, or that one could get it up sooner during times of unsettled weather. Instead, he answered “We have the equipment to put up loose hay, and we know how to put it up loose, so we put up loose hay.” Life can be simple! Perhaps if more historic farm sites maintained the proper equipment and started to “make” loose hay, the team current with the proper knowledge would soon follow. Of course, another friend of mine said he could never get the same crew to help him more once. Build a better baler and the world will beat their hay crop to its stem. But yet another friend told me a billion times to stop exaggerating!

12/09/2020

I thought I’d post another hay fork from the collection in response to a comment the other day. That comment referenced a mid-19th c. fork, it’s five foot straight handle and threaded-on tines much like this one.
This fork was patented by two people from Trumansburg, NY; a small town likely made sleepier with the closing of the Rongovian Embassy. We have completely lost the infrastructure in this country of vibrant small towns. Oh for a Way Back Machine! How I would love to tour western New York (or any other region in this country) in 1870.
The long solid handle is great for leverage. When the rope (which passed through the hole at the end of the handle) was released to drop the hay load, the handle required a clear five foot radius space through which to swing up.
Before folks sought improvements to reduce that requirement, many improvements were toward a stronger implement. That is the case with the Herald and Thompson’s model shown here. The ‘T’ shaped cast mounting block brought a socketed handle, forged steel tines, and rope attaching eyes together at a strong meeting point. Original drawings of this design had threaded rope eyes which held wooden plugs in each end of the cast tube. This (undoubtedly later) version incorporated cast bands at the tube’s ends (mirrored on the handle socket) to create a fitting termination element. Blacksmiths, note the square tines have been mounted on the diamond for strength. This “trick” can also be used to create a visually bolder form without adding actual weight.

12/04/2020

Had Sampson and Solomon (aka.: Sam & Dave) out yesterday. Sol has little patience for modeling.”Hey, selfie your selfie”. It’s a mild grudge - he’s still willing. This is the feedback that adds delight to work. Tractors merely refuse to start.

12/03/2020

I’m thankful for the comments some of you have sent. Some of you have some important experience using these tools. Others have been actively involved researching and using historic agriculture. Others bring the perspective of both (hello Ron). When someone visits the Tillers Museum, their thoughts linger in that space long after they’ve gone back home!
One comment about yesterday’s hay fork (which by the way was invented by a Hatheway-with an “e”; much to the “spell caster’s” dismay) helped me understand that I failed to explain why the folding brace was an improvement; one could merely put a rope on the end of the handle to balancing the load with a downward pull. Once that rope was released the handle would tip up, tines down and the load would drop into the mow. The problem is that the longer handle required to gain the needed leverage sometimes didn’t have room to swing up without hitting the barn roof or a framing beam. This fork allowed for a shorter handle by gaining leverage through a shifting fulcrum.
Those of us interested in historic farming practices often look only at these tools from the macro level. As a result, we often miss an understanding the logic instructing the past (or at least that of the inventor). Here is a detail of the handle ferrule which allows acceptance of 2-4 tines. Also included is a picture of a hook an eye affair which mounts the brace to the handle. Perhaps it’s difficult to discern that the tip of this eye has Brocken off. The patent states a universal joint could be used in its place, though this arrangement works more cheaply as one. I have seen this arrangement on antique farm tools without considering how deliberate the decision to use this scheme may have been. Again, a powerfully simple idea worthy of a home in our toolbox.

12/02/2020

One of the areas of strengths in the Collections at Tillers is hay loading equipment. This tool was patented in 1867 by HH Hathaway (Glockville, NY) as a “Horse Hay Fork”. It is extremely clever, by which I mean powerfully simple.
I’ve attached a series of images. The first shows the brace in its extended (straight) position. Just left of the brace’s hinge are two holes through which to attach a rope. Imagine that this rope is in place and passing through the round hole beneath, exiting out the back of the handle. Imagine as well a load of hay on the tines, with its associated weight. Lastly, note the position of the lift point (ring at the end of the bracket) forward over the tine section, almost to the tine points..
Now look at image two. The load of hay has been hoisted into the loft and the rope at the hinge has been pulled, collapsing the brace, forcing the lift point (the fulcrum point) aft toward the handle. With this change of balance point the weight of the hay now forces the tine end of the fork downward.
Image three would have been best shot with the fork suspended in its vertical position (I wasn’t that creative at 5:45 this morning). Still, it shows the brace fully folded so as to lie parallel to the handle. This allows the fork to tip vertically, assisting gravity in its quest to bring the hay down to earth.

12/01/2020

This 12 tine fork was accessioned as a corn fork. Looks like a handy tool for scooping unshelled field corn into the crib from a triple-box wagon. Any assistance would be welcome if that wagon is what’s between you and the noon meal! The catalogs often list broad forks such as this as coke or coal forks. Heating buildings with these fuels is pretty much a thing if the past. Western Virginia and North Carolina still had a number of active coal dealers in the 80’s and ‘90’s, usually dealing fuel oil as well. A Winston-Salem dealer I did business with at that time discontinued coal products when their tipple fell into disrepair. That likely speaks to coal’s importance to their business by that time.
The variety of specialized hand-tools once available to help with material handling (forks, shovels and even wheelbarrows) have disappeared from catalogs, but also from the memory of many cultures. It sounds silly to my contemporaries to hear me relate that I now rarely see people who know how to use a shovel. When younger, I knew several people who made using that tool’s use look like a ballet; accurate, efficient and seemingly effortless. The common thoughts about that tool’s use appears much different with the controls of a backhoe in one’s hands

11/20/2020

Here is another special piece; a wood and iron slip scraper. These animal drawn tools were used to move earth from one location to another. With limited availability of both power and cash money, many farm tools follow manufacturing traditions found in vehicles where a predominantly wood form is “ironed” where strength is needed, or to prevent wear. Here, a cast iron nose (similar to stone boat construction) withstands the abrasive force of soil and stone. Meanwhile the flexibility of the wood constructed body provides durable give and take, its life extended through iron wear straps flush riveted to its bottom.
A number of years ago I visited an Amish community at Pearisburg, Virginia. They were in the midst of digging a house foundation into the side of a hill. Five or six men and their teams were working in a large oval, each loading earth into an all-metal slip scraper. After skidding the loaded implement 100 yards or so, they dumped the load onto a pile by lifting up on the handles, returning for another load.
When assessing tools such as this, we often have a very incomplete vision of their use. Would this group of Virginia workers properly be called a supportive infrastructure, a cultural underpinning, or both? In any case, it helped me understand the possible efficiencies of this well balanced, simple design containing no moving parts.

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10515 OP Avenue E
Scotts, MI
49088

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