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Stripper was a type of harvesting machine common in Australia in the late 19th and early 20th century. John Ridley is now accepted as its inventor, though
John Wrathall Bull John Wrathall Bull (23 June 1804 – 21 September 1886) was a settler, inventor and author in the early days of colonial South Australia.H. J. Finnis (1966)''Bull, John Wrathall (1804-1886)''/ref> History Early life and emigration Born in S ...
argued strongly for the credit.


Description

The stripper plucks the ears of grain (generally
wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...
) without
winnowing Winnowing is a process by which chaff is separated from grain. It can also be used to remove pests from stored grain. Winnowing usually follows threshing in grain preparation. In its simplest form, it involves throwing the mixture into the ...
, and leaving the straw standing. The first strippers were drawn by bullocks and consisted of a large, wheeled, box-like machine with a row of spiked prongs in front and with a long pole at the back of the machine for steering. It had the advantage over the early
reaper A reaper is a farm implement or person that reaps (cuts and often also gathers) crops at harvest when they are ripe. Usually the crop involved is a cereal grass. The first documented reaping machines were Gallic reapers that were used in Roma ...
machines in being able to reap more quickly (of benefit in a hot climate) and having fewer components subject to wearing out. The first strippers were improved by adding a beater to knock the heads off the stems. The machines became headers. Later headers had reciprocating cutter bars at the back of the combs to cut the stems just short of the heads. A stripper-harvester also winnowed the grain, removing the
chaff Chaff (; ) is the dry, scaly protective casing of the seeds of cereal grains or similar fine, dry, scaly plant material (such as scaly parts of flowers or finely chopped straw). Chaff is indigestible by humans, but livestock can eat it. In agri ...
. Notable manufacturers were
Sunshine Harvester Hugh Victor McKay (21 August 1865 – 21 May 1926) was an Australian industrialist who is known for heading the company that developed the Sunshine Harvester, arguably the first commercially viable combine harvester. He subsequently establishe ...
, J. and D. Shearer and Mellor Bros. (who specialised in "bike strippers", ie. light enough to be drawn by a bicycle).


Evolution of the header

The Gallic
reaper A reaper is a farm implement or person that reaps (cuts and often also gathers) crops at harvest when they are ripe. Usually the crop involved is a cereal grass. The first documented reaping machines were Gallic reapers that were used in Roma ...
that is seen in Roman times, in the first three centuries of the current era led to the stripper developed in the 19th century. The Gallic reaper had a comb at the front to collect grain heads. An operator would knock the heads into a tray for collection. The stripper developed in South Australia used the principles, with a comb at the front, using a mechanical beater to knock the heads off. Later innovations were including a cutter bar similar to the binder reaper and an elevator to lift the heads into a storage bin for later threshing. The combined header-harvester added the winnower to thresh the grain from the heads.


Sources

''The Australian National Dictionary'' Oxford University Press 1988


References

{{Reflist Agricultural machinery