Item MM 105963 Photograph - Demonstrating the New Massey Harris Reaper-Thresher Harvester for Clutterbuck Bros, Agents, South Australia, Dec 1909

Summary

Photograph depicting one of the first public farm demonstrations of the new Massey-Harris Reaper-Thresher Harvester, held on Monday 5th December 1910, on the farm of Mr Thomas Irish, at Mallala, South Australia, a farming district near Gawler, 35 miles (56 km) north of Adelaide. The machine was developed specifically for the Australian import markets of the Canadian firm Massey Harris & Co. Ltd., of Toronto, Canada, by the Australian-born agricultural engineer & implement maker Mr M.H. East (1862-1940), of Mallala, over the previous six years, based on the earlier work of Mr M.W. Charlton (1862-1909) & D.E. Chapman (1866-1927), of Victoria, who in 1905 took out an Australian Commonwealth patent for one of the world's first header harvester designs - combining the principles of a knife cutter bar typical of reaping machines with the stripping head of a stripper harvester with a comb & beater. The design was developed in part to circumvent the high protective import tariffs levied by the Commonwealth Government on imported stripper harvesters from 1906, in order to protect Australian manufacturers.

Photographing of the trial appears to have been arranged by Clutterbuck Bros., of Hindley Street, Adelaide, who engaged the services of Adelaide commercial photographer, Mr. Terence McGann. Clutterbuck Bros. acted as South Australian agents for the distribution of farm machinery & implements made by Massey Harris Ltd., of Toronto, Canada, from 1892 until Massey Harris's Australian import business was merged with the firm H.V. McKay Pty Ltd, of Sunshine, Victoria, in 1931. They played an instrumental role in introducing then inventor M.H. East to the Canadian head office of Massey Harris, and facilitating the development and early field trials of the Reaper-Thresher design. Clutterbuck Bros. sold imported Massey-Harris reaper-thresher harvesters from 1910 and were responsible for the bulk of early sales in Australia before WWI.

Part of a collection of photographs, moving film, artifacts, documents and trade literature relating to Massey Ferguson (Aust.) Ltd and its predecessors. The Australian operations of this company were originally founded by Hugh V. McKay, at Ballarat, in the late 1880s, and by 1895 was operating as the Sunshine Harvester Works. After relocating to Braybrook Junction (later renamed 'Sunshine') on the western outskirts of Melbourne, during 1904-1907, the business rapidly developed into the largest agricultural implement works in the southern hemisphere. In 1930, H.V. McKay merged with the Australian operations of the Canadian firm, Massey Harris Ltd, of Toronto, becoming H.V. McKay Massey Harris Pty Ltd. In 1955, this company was fully absorbed into the growing multinational corporation that became Massey Ferguson Ltd in 1958.

Description of Content

A group of five well-dressed men watching a demonstration of the new Massey-Harris Reaper Thresher harvesting machine on the property of Mr T. Irish, Mallala, for Clutterbuck Bros., South Australian agents of the manufacturer Massey Harris & Co. Ltd, Toronto, Canada. According to a contemporary newspaper report in the Register (6th Dec 1910, p.8), dignitaries present included Mr A.E.V. Richardson, B.A., B.Sc., Acting Director of Agriculture for South Australia, and the former Premier, the Hon. Richard Butler, the local MLA. The five men standing behind the stationary machine are all wearing smart waistcoats or jackets with collar & ties and a variety of hats - from more casual broad-brimmed hats to a bowler hat and one top hat. The operator seated on the left hand side of the machine (facing forward) is also wearing a broad-brimmed hat, holding the reins in his left hand and the crank handle of a mechanism to raise and lower the comb of the front cutting head in this right hand. The reaper thresher was part of an extensive fleet of 9 strippers and two harvesters engaged in harvesting a 2,000 acre crop of wheat on the large farm of Mr Thomas Irish. The machine was reported to have performed 'brilliantly' in a heavy down and tangled crop, gathering up to 30 to 40 bushels of grain per acre with negligible losses, with its 8-ft wide cut capable of covering up to 30 acres per day. The ground-drive machine was pulled by a team of six light horses.

Physical Description

Mounted black & white photograph.