Harrison McGregor & Co chaffcutter - Plume of Feathers - Princetown, Devon - Old Agricultural Equipment on Waymarking.com

A Harrison McGregor & Co chaffcutter on display outside the bunkhouse of the Plume of Feathers, Princetown.

"Turning hay into chaff -

To power local farms, horses needed energy in the form of grass, hay, chaff, grain and water. Most farmers aimed to grow enough feed to support their own herds.

The need to feed farm horses also drove the development of trades and industries like chaffcutting and contributed to the invention of improved cropping technologies, such as hay and straw harvesters.

Some farmers also specialised in producing horse feed, and people developed businesses to distribute feed across the country.

Small-scale farmers looking to turn their hay into chaff often purchased a modest chaffcutter, such as the Harrison McGregor & Co model.

These cutters were operated by hand or attached to a horseworks (where a horse walked in a circle to turn a central crown wheel and power a belt which drove machinery). Hay stalks were fed into the toothed rollers of the chaffcutter and pushed through two rotating blades that cut the hay to a set length."

SOURCE - (visit link)

A youtube video of one of these in action - (visit link)

Use or Purpose of Equipment: Cutting chaff Approximate age: Not known Manufacturer and model: Harrison McGregor & Co Still in Use?: No Location: Outside bunkhouse washrooms at rear of Plume of Feathers pub, Princetown Fee for Access: yes

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