TRACTOR TRIVIA and other interesting stuff 3/23/2024

[953 nut 55,283]

Winnowing with a Fanning Mill

Prior to the invention of mechanical devices, the wind was used to winnow, separate the grain from the chaff. Wheat or other grain was piled on bare ground outside; it was tossed into the air, and the chaff was blown away while the heavier grain fell to the earth. There is a biblical reference to the winnowing process.

Matthew 3:12 NLT

He is ready to separate the chaff from the wheat with his winnowing fork.

The first mechanical fan – meaning device used to move currents of air – was men using hand-held “fans” that were waved to create artificial wind. These first fans were usually no more than pieces of canvas that were flapped while the ends were held in the hands.

The mechanical fanning mill (fanner, fanning machine, winnowing machine, or grain separator) was invented in the early 19th century as a wooden case holding a machine with rotating arms with vanes – like a windmill – to produce a blast of air that passed through a contained channel. Material to be separated were fed into a hopper, and gravity caused the material to fall into the machine and into the path of the air currents. A series of sieves (or riddles) of varying fineness were positioned in front of the blast, and these sorted the settling material into finer and finer heavier particles as the lighter, and usually undesirable, particles were blown out the side. Early fans were rotated with a hand-crank. Some could be attached to a horse-power or run by steam engine. Often, farmers shared a single fanning mill; it was moved from farm to farm as needed.  Winnowing is also a part of the modern combine.

 

[JoeM 7,874]

1 hour ago, 953 nut said:

artificial wind

Never thought of it as such. 

 

Kind of curious on how this works, there is a guy on the tube that has built a small home version with a Plexiglas front. Really cool to watch the process.