HORSE OPERATED CHAFF CUTTER WITH HORSE GEARS
Horse operated chaff cutter, made by EH Bentall & Co.
Horse gears displayed with chaff cutter:made by R Hunt & Co.
Object has been altered for display purposes (shafts have been shortened, object cleaned and paint removed, treated for weather proofing).
It was placed within the garden at the entrance to the museum in 2008.
Used by the Cook family on Peakina.
Donated to the museum by Stan Cook.
Details
Details
R. Hunt & Co, Earls Colne. Bentalls Patent Heybridge Maldon England 1717.
Bentall's Patent Mark CSE 2382
Horses were one of the most important animals for early settlers in the Avon region. Used for transport and to power farm machinery; the horses were fed chaff (straw that was cut into small pieces), that was mixed with grain.
Chaff cutters such as this one were simple and efficient machines powered by horses or bullocks harnessed to a large gear that drove the flywheel. Blades attached to the flywheel cut the straw as it was fed through toothed rollers by the farmer. Smaller gears within the cutter could be altered to cut chaff into different sizes.
Special horses were used for this heavy labour; Shire, Clydesdale, Percheron and Suffolk breeds were selected for their hefty build.
