Now I wasn't old enough to be a major player on any threshing crew when dad and my uncles still threshed, but I do remember helping set up the machine. One of my tasks was to dig a couple holes about six inches deep to set the front wheels in. Dad said that it served two purposes, those being; it held the machine in place when it was belted to the tractor, and it meant the straw walkers and the shoe had a bit more time to do their job because the rear of the machine was a bit higher. At the time, all I knew was you throw bundles in the front and stuff happens inside that separates the grain from the straw. By the time I was 12 or so, I understood what happens inside and it made sense. In my mid to late teens I spent a few falls spike pitching at different farms around the neighbourhood if they needed help, and the machines were always dug in on the front. In fact after experimenting with several combine we had, we often applied that same theory to some of them. Some didn't need it.
I was at a show this summer where a wooden body McCormick Deering threshing machine had the rear wheels dug into the ground approx six inches. I thought this was a bit strange so I asked the guy who had set it up. He said he was told that a threshing machine had to have rear lowered. If the machine was level or the rear was higher than the front, it wouldn't save the grain as well.
Well I didn't carry the conversation any further because the fella was busy. But I'm curious. Was this lowering of the rear unique to the wooden body machines? Any I ever worked on were metal bodies.
I was at a show this summer where a wooden body McCormick Deering threshing machine had the rear wheels dug into the ground approx six inches. I thought this was a bit strange so I asked the guy who had set it up. He said he was told that a threshing machine had to have rear lowered. If the machine was level or the rear was higher than the front, it wouldn't save the grain as well.
Well I didn't carry the conversation any further because the fella was busy. But I'm curious. Was this lowering of the rear unique to the wooden body machines? Any I ever worked on were metal bodies.