IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR MOWING AND REAPING
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Giles Mabie, of Rockford City, Winnebago County
(State of Illinois), in the United States of America, but now residing at
Byron's Hotel, 2, Rue Favart, Paris, in the Empire of France, for the
Invention of "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR MOWING AND REAPING," partly a
communication from the late John H. Manny.
Sealed the 14th January 1857, and dated the 23rd July 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Giles Mabic at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 23rd July
1856.
I, GILES MABIE, of Rockford City, Winnebago County (State of Illinois),
in the United States of America, but now residing at Byron's Hotel, 2, Rue
Favart, Paris, in the Empire of France, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR MOWING AND REAPING," to be as
follows:-
The object of this Invention is to improve the construction of mowing and
reaping machines, so as to place them more completely under the command of
the attendant than heretofore, and also to render the draft more easy and the
acting parts less liable to clog. To this end, the height of the cutter or sickle

page_text: bar is made adjustable to suit uneven ground. The frame of the reaper is
jointed at about the middle of its length to permit of some play at the part
where the cutters are situate. The forward portion of the frame is supported
by being jointed to the draft pole bracket piece, which forms a bearing for a
castor or swivel roller. The hinder part of the frame hangs from the axles of
the ordinary running wheels. A lever bar, which inclines backwards from the
front part of the frame (to which it is affixed), is connected by a loose pin to a
standard carried by the platform frame. A series of holes are made in the
standard to allow the attendant to shift the position of the lever bar. The handle
of this bar is near the raised seat of the attendant, which seat is placed in the
rear of the cutters. When therefore the attendant sees any obstruction pre-
sented to the progress of the implement, he raises the handle of the lever bar,
and thereby draws up the cutters free of the obstruction. The swivel wheel or
roller greatly facilitates the turning of the implement in the field. It may,
however, be dispensed with when mowing rough ground, and the draft pole
bracket piece has then to be fixed rigidly to the forward portion of the jointed
frame. The guard fingers, in which the reciprocating cutters work, are
so shaped at their rear end as to interlock with one another, and form a metal
covering to the under side of the bar which carries them. The taper portion
of these fingers is scalloped at each side, and there provided with cutting
edges to cut, with the aid of the reciprocating knives or cutters (which for the
purpose are furnished with cutting edges in the rear of the bar to which they
are affixed), any weeds or straw that might get entangled between the fingers,
and thus by the addition of a back cut the implement is preserved from clogging.
A series of guides affixed to the upper side of the finger bar is provided
to keep down the cutters in contact with the cutting edges of the fingers.
To prevent the side draft, which is very objectionable in reapers generally,
the draft is in this arrangement taken in a line between the driving wheel and
the cutters, and for this purpose the driving wheel is set outside the platform
frame. By placing the seat of the attendant above this wheel the balance of
the implement is preserved. The smaller running wheel is made adjustable to
preserve the balance when a lighter or heavier man is attending the machine.
The separator for dividing the portion of the standing crop to be presently
cut from that to be left by the machine is so arranged as to throw the grain
which is in a line with the separator in front of the end cutters, and when cut
to guide it on to the platform.
When mowing with this improved implement, the platform (which is made
detachable for the purpose) is lifted from the frame, and the grass then falls
on to the ground as it leaves the cutters. The discharge from the platform is

page_text: at the rear, and somewhat to the right hand, and it is effected by hand. The
operator, standing on the platform frame, and leaning forward against a bar
provided to support him, sweeps off the grain by means of an ordinary fork.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Giles Mabie in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
23rd January 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GILES
MABIE, of Rockford City, Winnebago County (State of Illinois), in the United
States of America, but now residing at Byron's Hotel, 2, Rue Favart, Paris,
in the Empire of France, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Giles Mabie, Her special license that I, the said Giles Mabie, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Giles Mabie, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle
of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR MOWING AND REAPING,"
being partly a communication from the late John H. Manny, upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Giles Mabic, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be
performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Giles Mabie, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement,
reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the letters and
figures marked thereon (that is to say): :-
The object of this Invention is to improve the construction of mowing and
reaping machines, so as to place them more completely under the command of

page_text: the attendant than heretofore, and also to render the draft more easy, and the
acting parts less liable to clog.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 represents the improved machine in
side elevation, and Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same; Fig. 3 represents in plan
and side view one of the supports or guard fingers under the sickles; Fig. 4
shews in plan and edge view one of the guides over the sickle bar; Fig. 5
represents the upper side of a portion of the sickle bar with the knives applied
thereto, suitable for mowing or reaping; and Fig. 6 represents another kind of
knife applicable for mowing in certain situations.
The frame of the machine, indicated by the letter A, is formed of timbers
securely bolted together. The main cross timber A carries the supports and
guides of the sickle bar, and also the principal timbers composing the frame.
A' is a bar starting from the end of the cross piece A, and extending diagonally
to the rear of the machine, while A starts from the other end of the cross
piece A, and carries the axle of the small running wheel C. Another piece A³
is strongly bolted to A, A', and A', and carries the main axle b, the small axle c,
and the gearing of the machine. The piece A* starts from A³, and bearing
upon the timber A', extends to the rear of the machine between the extremities
of A and A. The whole of this framing is fastened together by means of
cross pieces and cross ties A5, A6, A7, which are disposed as indicated by the
Drawing. The arrangement of these pieces (it will be seen) is such as to
leave an open space behind the sickle bar when the machine is to be used for
mowing. When, however, it is used for reaping, the space is covered by a
removable platform, fastened without bolts or screws to the framing, which
platform receives the cut grain upon it. From this machine the grain is
discharged by one of the attendants, called the "forker," upon the earth, in
portions suitable for binding up into sheaves. The framing is carried by two
wheels B and C, set at opposite sides of the machine. The main wheel B has
flanges on its periphery to prevent it from slipping on the ground, and the other
wheel C, which is of less diameter, and is adjustable, is placed, with reference
to the equilibrium of the machine, more or less to the front or rear of the
machine. The wheel B runs outside the framing, and it is mounted loosely on
the fixed axle b, which projects from the framing. To the wheel B is bolted a
spur wheel D, which gears into a spur pinion E keyed to the shaft e. To
permit of the disengagement of these wheels, the wheel B is made to slide
laterally on its axle, it being secured thereto by a linch-pin. On the shaft e
is a bevil wheel F, which gears into and drives a bevil pinion G, fixed on a
shaft g, carried by the timber A³. The forward end of the shaft g terminates
in a crank, to which a connecting rod H is attached. The other end of this

page_text: rod hooks into the eye of the sickle bar I, and communicates a reciprocating
endway motion thereto. This bar I is made of iron, about one inch broad by
a quarter of an inch deep, and to its under face are rivetted the sickle blades
or knives, as indicated by Figures 5 and 6, which blades vary in construction
according to the work to be done. Those for reaping I prefer to make
shorter, and sloping on the top, and to cut them like a file, that they may
act like a saw upon the grain. This kind may also be used for mowing when
the grass is hard and dry; but when the grass is fine and soft I prefer to
make the blades a trifle longer, and with knife edges, as indicated by Fig. 6.
On referring to the Drawing it will be seen that the blades or knives are
so placed on the sickle bar as to permit of their cutting before and behind
that bar; any fibres of grain or grass that may fall between the sickle bar
and the finger bar A cannot, therefore, fail to be severed. The sickle bar is
sustained by the supports or guard fingers, and held to its place by guides on
the top, fastened to the transverse timber A; its two ends are caught in cast-
iron shoes L, K, fastened to the cross timber A, and to the two ends of the
sickle bar are fastened small flat pieces of iron to clear the grooves in the
shoes Land K of anything which may loge in them and clog the bar in its action.
For each blade of the sickle bar there is a support or guard finger. These
fingers are formed of two parts rivetted together, as shewn at Fig. 3. The
foremost part of the guard finger serves to break and repel obstacles, and the
back part is fastened by screws to the cross timber A. These finger guards
are so shaped that when fixed they break joint with each other, and form on
the under side of the cross bar A a continuous covering; the upper parts
form guides for the sickle blades to work in. It is important to observe that
the form of the guards offers a great advantage in holding the grain at the
moment it comes under the action of the sickle, also that the taper part of
these finger guards covered by the sickle bar is scalloped at each side, and
there provided with chamfered edges to aid the back-cut action of the knives,
by which any weeds or straw that might get entangled between the fingers
will be released, and the implement be preserved from clogging. On the
front and right corner of the frame is fixed a cast-iron shoe O, like the
shoe K, and through K and the other cast-iron shoe O passes a long bolt o.
This bolt serves to connect the framing with a piece P, which is a coupling
or reach between the machine and the draught pole Q. Bolted to the
piece P is a bracket, which is jointed to a bracket aflixed to the draught
pole Q. Below this hinged bracket is a turnplate, provided with horns,
which carry a castor wheel R. A swivel pin r secures this plate to the
bracket, and permits of the castor roller following the movements of the team

page_text: by which the machine is actuated. When mowing rough ground this wheel
may be dispensed with, the draught pole being fastened to the machine in any
ordinary manner. It will be seen from the foregoing explanation that the
line of draught in this improved arrangement of reaper lies between the
driving wheel and the cutters, and the creation of a side draught is to a
considerable extent, if not wholly, avoided. Upon the left-hand side of the
machine is attached an upright piece S, which carries a bar U pierced with
holes to receive one end of the reel shaft V, and on the right-hand side of the
machine is a bar X, similarly provided with holes for carrying the other end
of the reel shaft. By means of these holes the position of the reel with
respect to the sickle may be regulated. Keyed to the reel shaft is a band
pulley y, which receives a cord from a similar pulley keyed to the shaft e.
This cord being crossed turns the reel in the direction of the arrow (Fig. 1),
and bends the grain or grass towards the machine ready to be cut, and after
it is cut lays it on the platform in the rear of the sickle bar. T is a standard
with holes in it towards the top to receive a pin or staple, by which the
adjacent lever Z is held at any required height or position. This lever is at
its forward end, and also near the middle of its length, fastened to the piece P.
By raising the lever on the standard T, or dropping it, the sickle bar and
forward end of the machine will be raised or lowered, as may be found
desirable, to enable the machine to follow the surface of the soil. The sickle
bar can also by this means be suddenly raised to pass over a stone or other
obstruction that may present itself in the track of the machine. Imme-
diately over the driving wheel B is fixed the driver's seat, as shewn by
Figures 1, 2, 3, in an oblique position, and in closed proximity to the handle
of the lever Z. By placing the seat above this wheel the balance of the
implement is preserved, the driver will also have within reach the means of
controlling the action of the machine, and be well placed for guiding the team
which draws it. To preserve this balance of the parts when a lighter or
heavier man is attending the machine is the object of making the small
running wheel C adjustable, as before mentioned. A standard 5, surmounted
by a breast piece 6, serves to support the man who clears the grain from the
platform as it is cut. This he discharges to the right and rear of the machine
by the use of a fork, and in such a position that it will not interfere with the
the team in its next course around the field. At the left-hand side of the
machine, and somewhat in advance thereof, is placed a dividing plate 7, which
is intended to divide the grain or grass to be cut from that which is to remain
standing. The shoe L, which is a part of the divider, is made of cast iron,
and is hollow outside, so as to prevent the clogging at the end of the sickle.

page_text: In mowing, the platform is to be removed, the grass then falls as it is cut
over the sickle bar in a fair position for drying. When in action the machine.
turns to the left around the field, thus always presenting the left side to the
standing crop.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of improved apparatus
for mowing and reaping, and explained the manner of carrying the same into
effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters
Patent I claim,-
First, the means above described for preventing a side draught in reaping
machines and preserving the balance of the parts.
Secondly, the use of a castor or swivel wheel for sustaining the draught
pole and facilitating the turning of the implement on the ground.
Third, the mode of constructing and applying the guard fingers, as
explained.
Fourth, the peculiar construction of knife or blade, which is capable of
cutting in the rear as well as in advance of the sickle bar.
And, lastly, the form and disposition of the separator or divider.
In witness whereof, I, the said Giles Mabie, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, the Twentieth day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
CILES MADIE
CILES MADIE
(1.9.)