Grain Reaper

This early-day grain reaper, in front of you, is a machine that farmers once used in this area to harvest grain. These horse-drawn reapers replaced sickles and cradle scythes which farmers had used for centuries. Reapers made it possible to harvest larger crops, with fewer workers, than ever before.

This machine has a sickle-bar cutter linked to gears connected to a drive wheel. As the wheel turned, the scissor-like blades moved back and forth and sheared off the stems of the wheat being harvested.

The stalks of grain fell onto a platform. A water-wheel type rake then swept across the platform to deposit the stalks of grain into piles. Workers would follow to bind the sheaves into bundles. The bound sheaves would then be loaded on a wagon and stacked in a central area where a threshing machine could be set up nearby to complete the grain harvesting operation.

Several farmers in Hurricane owned a machine such as this, or an advanced model which further cut down on manpower by binding the grain automatically before it dropped to the ground. These machines eventually gave way to combines which cut and threshed in one operation.

This is located at the Heritage House Pioneer Center / Heritage Park / Museum at the Bradshaw House-Hotel at 85 South Main Street in Hurricane, Utah.