MESSRS ROXBURGH AND CRAWFORD SSELF-FEEDER AND BAND CUTTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 1582, 18 March 1882, Page 7

MESSRS ROXBURGH AND CRAWFORD SSELF-FEEDER AND BAND CUTTER.

This newly invented implement, for which we are indebted to the ingenuity of Messrs Roxburgh and Crawford, of Ngapara, has more than answered expectations. Mr Roxburgh is working it daily, and has already threshed 300 acres of crop, wire and straw bound. One of its advantages is that the crop is put through the threshing-mill with more regularity than it can be done by hand, while, as. the work is performed more rapidly, crops treated by it are not so liable to become mjured. and money is saved. The following w a description of the machine : — i The invention consists of an appaiulusi which is placed upon an ordinary thruximigmill,by which sheaves of corn or other produce I which is wanted to be threshed air, alter being placed on a hopper passed along as hereinafter described into the thresher, the bands around the sheaves being cut while so passing. It consists of a frame of wood or other material, the said frame being properly jointed together, and provided at one end with a hopper, to ensure the placing of the Bheaf in the right position-. This hopper is made a good deal broader than the rest of the (machine, so that srraw of great length may be operated upon, for, however much longer the straw may be than the body of the .machine is broad, if once fairly entered, it is fed into the threshing mill as desired. Below this hopper is placed a set of ordinary | reaping machine knives, the same being driven by the crank and connections, motion being given to the latter by a belt from any convenient part of the threshing machine. On each side of this knife is a revolving roller, provided with adjustable arms, and caused to be reyolved by means of pulleys from any convenient part. These rollers can be adjusted by means of slots in the plummer box, so as' to bring them nearer, or remove them further apart as required. Below the knife is canvas, properly fitted with wooden strips for strengthening, running upon rollers, to one of which is given a rotary motion, so that the canvas travels forward. The roller may be moved so as to tighten or slacken the canvas ' by nuts on a screw, while the machine is in motion. Upon a pulley which drives the roller is a crank which works the feeding fork by means of a connecting rod and lever, and thus imparts to it an oscillating movement for; throwing forward the sheaves. Guide boards are placed in the necessary positions to guide the sheaves into their proper receptacle. : The action of the machine is as follows : — ] The attendant places a sheaf in the hopper, j and it is immediately pressed down by the revolving arms upon the knives, the bands of the sheaf being instantly cut and the straw liberated. The arms still continue to act upon the released straw, and spread it in an even and thin layer upon the travelling canvas. By this it is conveyed towards the entrance of the mill. Before reaching the entrance the straw encounters the oscillating fork, which is adjusted to a height above the canvas to suit the kind of straw being operated on. This adjustment is managed by means of slots in the ' plummer blocks. The oscillating fork throws into the opening a regular and sufficient supply qf straw as it arrives on the canvas, but, if too large a quantity is brought, the fork intercepts it and throws it back upon the canvas, to be brought forward again in due time. We are informed that agricultural implement makers all the world over have attempted for many years to invent a machine possessing the ' advantages of that now under review, but with ' only partial success. Machines somewhat similar, have been made by Messrs Clayton and Shuttleworth and other celebrated agricultural implement makers, but they have not succeeded in devising an automatic bandcutter such as that which is comprised in Messrs Roxburgh and Crawford's invention, and which gives it its special value. Farmers who have seen this Invention are greatly pleased with it, and view it as providing a desideratum which will, in pvery respect, prove ef great value to grain growers. It is worthy of note that the machine • which is now doing such satisfactory work in the Ngapara district was almost wholly manufactured by the inventors, and is so simple in its structure that it is not at all liable to get out of order, and is easily worked. We anticipate that before long a large number of these machines will be at work in this district, and other agricultural countries throughout the world. The inventors have secured by patent .the sole right to the invention for the Australasian colonies, but have sold the right so far as the rest of the world is concerned. — Oamaru Mail, March 11th.