Threshers, pedal powered

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Threshing is a key part of agriculture that involves removing the seeds or grain from plants (for example rice or wheat) from the plant stalk. In the case of small farms, threshing is done by beating or crushing the grain by hand or foot, and requires a large amount of hard physical labour. A simple thresher with a crank can be used to make this work much easier for the farmer. In most cases it takes two people to work these: one person to turn the crank and the other to feed the grain through the machine. These threshers can be built using simple materials and can improve the efficiency of grain threshing. They can also be built with pedals, or be attached to a bicycle, so that the person operating it can simply pedal to reduce the work even more and make threshing faster.

Contents

Threshers can be made in a number of ways using simple tools, and can be used in the harvesting of maize/corn, rice, wheat, sorghum, pearl millet, and any other grain or seed that must be separated from a stalk. The attachment of a thresher to a pedal-system can be built with basic materials. Two versions are the pedal-powered thresher which is built as one piece and the attachment to a bicycle for a regular thresher with a crank. [1] Pedal-powered threshers have been suggested or made available to farming communities by governmental or non-governmental organizations. It should be remembered that there are some disadvantages to these threshers and their impact in the specific region should be researched before being suggested.

Threshers

Thresher are many different designs for threshers and they can be made from wood or metal. The shape of the thresher can vary, but it must include some main parts:

Pedal-powered threshers

Stationary pedal-system

An addition that can be built to make a thresher more efficient is to make it pedal-powered. This adds two more parts:

The pedal-powered thresher developed by the Maya Pedal Project provides a good example of a built-in pedal system to a thresher/mill. [5]

Attachment to a bicycle

An attachment to a regular bicycle can be built to allow the bike to be used as the seat, pedals, chain and sprocket of the thresher. The bicycle must be on a stand so that the back wheel is raised off the ground. Plans have been developed to build the attachment and the wheel-stand out of pieces of metal, including a large wheel that can be screwed to the crank section of the thresher (see External links). [3] A drill will be required to make this as well.

Advantages

Advantages of the thresher include less physical labour and more efficiency (amount of grain thresher per amount of time). [6] Less seed breakage is also a benefit of using a thresher as opposed to stomping or beating grains. [6] However, more breakage can occur it is not used properly.

Complications

Cultural

Cultural differences must be considered. [6] Introduction of machinery to the threshing process, and the way that the pedal-powered thresher is used have conflicted with cultural beliefs or practices in some cases. The preferences of the region must be taken into consideration. [6]

Injury

There are physical dangers involved in introducing machinery into a farming process; one of these is injury to hands and arms when feeding the stalks into the thresher. [2] When building the thresher, creating a higher hood/chute cover helps stop the operator’s hands from contacting the machine, but does not entirely eliminate the danger. [2]

Seed breakage

Seeds can be broken and ruined as they go through the thresher, and seed breakage can happen more often with threshers that are the wrong size or design for the type of seed. [1] The wire loops or spikes may have to be adjusted if seeds appear to be broken (please see suggestion for spacing). Seed breakage also happens with stomping and beating, however if the thresher is not built in an appropriate way for the specific grain, more breakage may occur. If the thresher is well-suited for the size of the grain and stalks, it should have fewer broken seeds than beating or stomping. [6] The most common seed breakage with threshers is with corn/maize, when there is too much moisture in the kernels. [1] This can be reduced by drying kernels more thoroughly before threshing. [1]

Size/weight

The size and weight of the thresher can be problematic. The thresher may need to be carried, and therefore must be light enough for one person. The suggested weight is 35 kg. [7] On hillside farms it may be difficult to transport the thresher or to set it up properly. [7]

Related Research Articles

Thresher may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Threshing machine</span> Agricultural machine

A threshing machine or a thresher is a piece of farm equipment that threshes grain, that is, it removes the seeds from the stalks and husks. It does so by beating the plant to make the seeds fall out.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tandem bicycle</span> Type of bicycle

A tandem bicycle or twin is a form of bicycle designed to be ridden by more than one person. The term tandem refers to the seating arrangement, not the number of riders. Patents related to tandem bicycles date from the mid 1880s. Tandems can reach higher speeds than the same riders on single bicycles, and tandem bicycle racing exists. As with bicycles for single riders, there are many variations that have been developed over the years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Recumbent bicycle</span> Type of bicycle

A recumbent bicycle is a bicycle that places the rider in a laid-back reclining position. Most recumbent riders choose this type of design for ergonomic reasons: the rider's weight is distributed comfortably over a larger area, supported by back and buttocks. On a traditional upright bicycle, the body weight rests entirely on a small portion of the sitting bones, the feet, and the hands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tricycle</span> Three-wheeled self-powered vehicle

A tricycle, sometimes abbreviated to trike, is a human-powered three-wheeled vehicle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mechanization</span> Process of changing from working by hand or with animals to work with machinery

Mechanization is the process of changing from working largely or exclusively by hand or with animals to doing that work with machinery. In an early engineering text a machine is defined as follows:

Every machine is constructed for the purpose of performing certain mechanical operations, each of which supposes the existence of two other things besides the machine in question, namely, a moving power, and an object subject to the operation, which may be termed the work to be done. Machines, in fact, are interposed between the power and the work, for the purpose of adapting the one to the other.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Combine harvester</span> Machine that harvests grain crops

The modern combine harvester, or simply combine, is a versatile machine designed to efficiently harvest a variety of grain crops. The name derives from its combining four separate harvesting operations—reaping, threshing, gathering, and winnowing— to a single process. Among the crops harvested with a combine are wheat, rice, oats, rye, barley, corn (maize), sorghum, soybeans, flax (linseed), sunflowers and rapeseed. The separated straw, left lying on the field, comprises the stems and any remaining leaves of the crop with limited nutrients left in it: the straw is then either chopped, spread on the field and ploughed back in or baled for bedding and limited-feed for livestock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crankset</span> Bicycle part

The crankset or chainset, is the component of a bicycle drivetrain that converts the reciprocating motion of the rider's legs into rotational motion used to drive the chain or belt, which in turn drives the rear wheel. It consists of one or more sprockets, also called chainrings or chainwheels attached to the cranks, arms, or crankarms to which the pedals attach. It is connected to the rider by the pedals, to the bicycle frame by the bottom bracket, and to the rear sprocket, cassette or freewheel via the chain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bicycle pedal</span> Bicycle part which the rider pushes with their foot to turn the wheels

The pedal is the part of a bicycle that the rider pushes with their foot to propel the vehicle. It provides the connection between the cyclist's foot or shoe and the crank allowing the leg to turn the bottom bracket spindle and propel the bicycle's wheels. A pedal usually consists of a spindle that threads into the end of the crank, and a body on which the foot rest is attached, that is free to rotate on bearings with respect to the spindle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bottom bracket</span> Bicycle component

The bottom bracket on a bicycle connects the crankset (chainset) to the bicycle and allows the crankset to rotate freely. It contains a spindle to which the crankset attaches, and the bearings that allow the spindle and crankset to rotate. The chainrings and pedals attach to the cranks. Bottom bracket bearings fit inside the bottom bracket shell, which connects the seat tube, down tube and chain stays as part of the bicycle frame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Threshing</span> Separating edible grain from straw

Threshing, or thrashing, is the process of loosening the edible part of grain from the straw to which it is attached. It is the step in grain preparation after reaping. Threshing does not remove the bran from the grain.

Various bicycle tools have evolved over the years into specialized tools for working on a bicycle. Modern bicycle shops will stock a large number of tools for working on different bicycle parts. This work can be performed by a trained bicycle mechanic, or for simple tasks, by the bicycle owner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Universal nut sheller</span> Hand-operated machine capable of shelling large quantities of peanuts

The universal nut sheller is a simple hand-operated machine capable of shelling up to 57 kilograms (126 lb) of raw, sun-dried peanuts per hour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Handcycle</span>

A handcycle is a type of human-powered land vehicle powered by the arms rather than the legs, as on a bicycle. Most handcycles are tricycle in form, with two coasting rear wheels and one steerable powered front wheel. Despite usually having three wheels, they are also known as handbikes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dead centre (engineering)</span> The positions of an engines piston at the top or bottom of its stroke

In a reciprocating engine, the dead centre is the position of a piston in which it is either farthest from, or nearest to, the crankshaft. The former is known as Top Dead Centre (TDC) while the latter is known as Bottom Dead Centre (BDC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avery Company</span> American farm tractor manufacturer

The Avery Company, founded by Robert Hanneman Avery, was an American farm tractor manufacturer famed for its undermounted engine which resembled a railroad engine more than a conventional farm steam engine. Avery founded the farm implement business after the Civil War. His company built a large line of products, including steam engines, beginning in 1891. The company started with a return flue design and later adapted the undermount style, including a bulldog design on the smokebox door. Their design was well received by farmers in central Illinois. They expanded their market nationwide and overseas until the 1920s, when they failed to innovate and the company faltered. They manufactured trucks for a period of time, and then automobiles. until they finally succumbed to an agricultural crisis and the Depression.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human power</span> Work or energy produced from the human body

Human power is work or energy that is produced from the human body. It can also refer to the power of a human. Power comes primarily from muscles, but body heat is also used to do work like warming shelters, food, or other humans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agricultural machinery</span> Machinery used in farming or other agriculture

Agricultural machinery relates to the mechanical structures and devices used in farming or other agriculture. There are many types of such equipment, from hand tools and power tools to tractors and the countless kinds of farm implements that they tow or operate. Diverse arrays of equipment are used in both organic and nonorganic farming. Especially since the advent of mechanised agriculture, agricultural machinery is an indispensable part of how the world is fed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Post-harvest losses (grains)</span> Ways in which grain losses can occur and ways of addressing problems

Grains may be lost in the pre-harvest, harvest, and post-harvest stages. Pre-harvest losses occur before the process of harvesting begins, and may be due to insects, weeds, and rusts. Harvest losses occur between the beginning and completion of harvesting, and are primarily caused by losses due to shattering. Post-harvest losses occur between harvest and the moment of human consumption. They include on-farm losses, such as when grain is threshed, winnowed, and dried. Other on-farm losses include inadequate harvesting time, climatic conditions, practices applied at harvest and handling, and challenges in marketing produce. Significant losses are caused by inadequate storage conditions as well as decisions made at earlier stages of the supply chain, including transportation, storage, and processing, which predispose products to a shorter shelf life.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Mtshali 1998, p.23-25.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Dewangan 2010, p.560-73.
  3. 1 2 3 Ebenezer (2013). "Technology for the poor". Retrieved October 21, 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 Singh 2008, p. 591-600.
  5. 1 2 "Pedal Powered Water Pumps, Threshers, Blenders, Tile Makers and More" (2001). Retrieved October 21, 2012.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Quisumbing 2012, p.581-92.
  7. 1 2 Nkakini 2007, p.1175-86.

Bibliography