Rensselaer Union, Volume 3, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 February 1871 — The Champion Heaping and Mowing Machines. [ARTICLE]

The Champion Heaping and Mowing Machines.

From the New York Ti thine. The manufacture of Reaping and Mowing Machines has attained Kiich large proportions us to make it one of general interest. The annual production is now estimated at about 125,01)0 machines.' Few facts more clearly demonstrate the immense wealth of the farmers of oui country than that they expend each year about $20,000,000 in the purchase of this one jclass of Jnipleineuts. We propose rapidly to sketch the principal points in tlio construction and manufacture of one of these machines, which has attained prominence and popularity. The Champion was originated by Wm. N. Whitelay, ut Springfield, Ohio, in 1853. The number and variety of Harvesting Machines was at that time few, and their construction very ’imperfect. They were clumsy and very heavy draft for the team: adapted but for one kind of work—either grain cutting or grass cutting; in the former a man was required to rake the cut grain from the platform, while iu the latter they failed to perform their work satisfactoriallv in heavy aud tangled grass. At present, difficulties which then seemed insurmountable have been uvercome, and we find them elegant in finish, light of draft, and yet retaining giaat strength and such machines are intended for both kinds of work—cuttingall conditions of grain and grass, and by sifnple attachments delivering the former in compact bundles, ready for the binders. Prominent among these perfected machines stands the Champion, which in its piesant form combines a large number of the improvements patented by the inventor during the past 17 years, us well us many others which he has purchased and now controls. The dematd, in the mean time, has from yeai to year steadily increased from the few hundreds which werejormeriy sold until their manufacture now forms the chief industry of the thriving inland city of Springfield, Ohio, giving steady aud profitable employment to 1,000 hands, in three very extensive establishments, each equipped with the most approved machinery especially made for and adapted to this work, and with an aggregate auuual capacity of 15,000 machines, which are sold in all parts of the country. The irufiie of this machine is made of four bars of wrought iron, double riveted at the corners. It is further strengthened by having the shaft of the main driving wheels firmly bolted across it. The power is com-inunicat-d from both main weeelsby means Of internal gears mashing into pinions, which latter are upon a shaft, also lying across the main frame and parall.-l to the main wheel sbalt; on this pinion shaft Is placed a bevel wheel which in turn mashes into a bevel' pinion upon acouuter-shaft, running at right angles to the above to the rear of the frame, aud which counter-shaft has upon its further end the balance or crank-wheel from w hich the power is communicated through the pitman to the knife. The cutter or finger-bar is hinged to the rear side of the main frame. This hinged joint, iudispensably necessary in a mowing machine, in order to allow the bar to lie close to the uneven aad varying surface of the grass field, has caused much trouble to the inventor in order to give it the required flexibility with strength sufficient to withstand the inevitable strain to which it is subjected when, as frequently happens, a spirited team is brought to r full stop by running it against au unseen stump or stone. ■ This combination of flexibility and strength is obtained in the Champion by making the inner shoe of the cutter-bar quite long and project-, iug the flout aud back ends of this shoe upward so that through both may be passed a round rod of solid cold-rolled iron, which rod extends the full length of the main frame being fastenen to the front and rear bars thereof; thus avoiding the difficulties incident tc a joint no wider than the shoe itself. The pole is hinged to the front eud of the frame, ana a lever, fastened to within easy of the driver, ana furnished with a spring-catch to hold it iu any desired positon, allows this machine to be oscillated upon its main axj.e while In motion, so that without changing the position of the working parts, the points of thefingers may be thrown down tJ cut lodgea grass, or up to pass over slight obstructi..M« nr rough ground. We have thus ra, « n ly spoken of the general construction of the ca,.u, ffe o f ma-

chino, There are other improvement! to which we would cull attention. At • Mower,the Chuiupiou Ines simple as It cofld be mode, Wire it not adapted for receiving tlw reaping atyfiihifruto. and yet a Dropper Eell-Kaker er can al uny time be added. t Tlie Dropper is a light slutted platform, hinged to the rear of the cut-ter-bar. The slat next to the main frame is raised nt an oblique angle to the plane of the otlipr burs to prevent the grain from scattering oil at the side while the gavel Is being collected The real is driven bv an endless chain titling into toothed wheels, one on the hub of the inside driving-wheel,and the other- on the reel-sliuft allowing the chain to bo slack, thus preventing Iriolion. “The Sell'-Rako is attached to the inside shoe at the cutter-bar, and rises and falls In unison wilii it. It is driven by an endless chain, which runs over the hub of the inside driving-wheel to n vertical shaft that drives the rake, thus giving a positive motion to the ruke, sod u flexible connection with tin: driving wheels. There are four rakes, which act also as reels together the gruin against the sickle. The drivel may, ut his will, cause uny one of these to sweep the plutlunn, or If desired he tnuy adjust uny one rake to clear the platform at each revolution. The guard-fingers are forged out of solid pieces of iron, the slot being afterward acculutely sawed, and the guard then polished. It is next carbonized and hardened upon its surface, leaving, however, a center of soil iron. The sections of the knife are soft in tlte center, and hardened on the cutting edges. They are fastened to cold-rolled iron backs, which posseasjthe stifluesg of steel and the toughness of iron The gua r( js are fastened toa cutterbur of the same material. The connection between the knife-head and the pitman rod is an oval ball-joint, a b.dt passing through both to keep them in place aud take up any slack caused by wear, thus this joint, while firm, will move slightly to accommodate any slight variation or strain in the machinery. The opposite end of the pitman rod is fastene I to the crank-pin on tlie balance-wheel by a ball joint, which mav also be taken up as it wears. These are both new inventions of Mr. Whiteley, and seem to possess greut value. Ihe pitman or fly-wheel shaft, has one long bearing, extending from the balandewheel at one end to the bevel pinion at the other, thus avoiding all possibility of getting out of line by any sudden strain, and being also less liable to wear. The track-clearer is a novelty worthy of notice, being a skeleton cone hinged at its apei to the outer shoe of the cutter-bar, aud at an aujrle sufficient to cause it to revolve as the machine moves forward, turning the cut grass from that left standing. The working parts of the Champion nre so constructed that they can be taken apart and put together in the field with a comm on wrench. All parts subject to severe use are hardened on their surfaces, as described in the guard-fingers,and the materials used in these machines are of the best quality—steel and cold-rolled iron entering largely into their construction. Messrs. Stackhouse Sl Warner, of Rensselaer, Indiana, are agents for the Champion in Jasper and Newton counties. They also sell Moline, Lafayette, Ottawa, and Cast Cast Steel Plows; Lafayette and Moline Walking Cultivators, Sulky Rakes, Separators, farm Wagons, Carriages, aud all kinds of Farm Implements.