Over the next few decades the Hussey and McCormick reapers would compete with each other in the marketplace, despite being quite similar. The machine was drawn by a team walking at the side of the grain.Ĭyrus McCormick claimed that his reaper was actually invented in 1831, giving him the true claim to the general design of the machine. Upon the outer end of the platform was a divider projecting ahead of the platform to separate the grain to be cut from that to be left standingĪ reel was positioned above the platform to hold the grain against the reciprocating knife to throw it back upon the platform Projected to the side a platform containing a cutter bar having fingers through which reciprocated a knife driven by a crank With permission granted,the McCormick Reaper was patented by his son Cyrus McCormick in 1837 as a horse-drawn farm implement to cut small grain crops.This McCormick reaper machine had several special elements: ![]() His son Cyrus asked for permission to try to complete his father's project. However, Robert became frustrated when he was unable to perfect his new device. The McCormick Reaper was designed by Robert McCormick in Walnut Grove, Virginia. In addition, the Hussey Reaper left an even and clean surface after its use. The new reaper only required two horses working in a non-strenuous manner, a man to work the machine, and another person to drive. Obed Hussey in Ohio patented a reaper in 1833, the Hussey Reaper.Made in Baltimore, Maryland, Hussey's design was a major improvement in reaping efficiency. The 19th century saw several inventors in the United States claim innovation in mechanical reapers.The various designs competed with each other, and were the subject of several lawsuits. One of Bell's reaping machines is preserved in the National Museum of Rural Life in Scotland. This machine was used around his county and some may have been exported, but the device was never patented. Patrick Bell of Scotland created a reaper that used a revolving reel, cutting knife and canvas conveyor in 1828. Thomas Dobbs (actor) of Birmingham invents a reaping machine in 1814, which consists of a circular saw or sickle, the grain is drawn or fed up to the saw by means of a pair of rollers. ![]() This device was forgotten in the Dark Ages, during which period reapers reverted to using scythes and sickles to gather crops. It is believed that either Romans or the Celts before them, invented a simple mechanical reaper that cut the ears without the straw and was pushed by oxen (Pliny the Elder Naturalis Historia XVIII,296). ![]() McCormick amassed a large fortune and invested widely in later years in railroad and mining enterprises.A reaper is a farming tool or person that reaps (cuts and gathers) crops at harvest, when they are ripe. In 1874 he set up a factory in Chicago, founding what eventually became one of the greatest industrial establishments in the United States.Īn astute businessman, McCormick increased his sales with door-to-door canvassing and written guarantees for his ready-to-assemble machinery. Six years later he began to license its manufacture in other parts of the country. Patenting his invention in 1834, after Obed Hussey had announced in 1833 the construction of a reaper of his own, McCormick started to manufacture the machine on the family estate in 1837. In July 1831, McCormick succeeded where his father had failed, producing a model reaper with all the essential components of later commercial machines. ![]() His time-saving invention allowed farmers to more than double their crop size and spurred innovations in farm machinery.īorn in Rockbridge County, Virginia, McCormick derived his interest in invention from his father, a Virginia landowner who patented several improved farming implements and worked without success for many years to perfect a mechanical reaper. Cyrus Hall McCormick invented the mechanical reaper, which combined all the steps that earlier harvesting machines had performed separately.
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