A History of Hay Equipment: Evolving from Manual Mowing

By Loretta Sorensen
Published on October 9, 2008
1 / 12
Warder, Bushnell & Glessner Co., Springfield, Ohio, and Chicago, scored a public relations coup when the company persuaded U.S. President Benjamin Harrison (1889-93) to appear in promotional materials.
Warder, Bushnell & Glessner Co., Springfield, Ohio, and Chicago, scored a public relations coup when the company persuaded U.S. President Benjamin Harrison (1889-93) to appear in promotional materials. "President Harrison is the driver and is as comfortable and as safe on this mower seat and has as complete control of the horses as if he sat in a buggy," reads the caption at the bottom of the image. This lithograph promoted Champion harvesting machinery, including "The Improved Champion Mower."
2 / 12
No. 9 McCormick-Deering mowers were very popular in the northern plains states and are a popular working relic for horse enthusiasts.
No. 9 McCormick-Deering mowers were very popular in the northern plains states and are a popular working relic for horse enthusiasts.
3 / 12
An 1825 patent illustration for the mowing machine conceived by Ezra Cope and Thomas Hoopes Jr.
An 1825 patent illustration for the mowing machine conceived by Ezra Cope and Thomas Hoopes Jr.
4 / 12
An 1847 William F. Ketchum mower.
An 1847 William F. Ketchum mower.
5 / 12
Jeremiah Bailey's 1822 mower.
Jeremiah Bailey's 1822 mower.
6 / 12
Cyrenus Wheeler Jr.'s 1854 mower.
Cyrenus Wheeler Jr.'s 1854 mower.
7 / 12
The 1861 patent illustration for Lewis Miller's mower.
The 1861 patent illustration for Lewis Miller's mower.
8 / 12
Two-horse Buckeye mower manufactured by Adriance, Platt & Co., 1898.
Two-horse Buckeye mower manufactured by Adriance, Platt & Co., 1898.
9 / 12
Patent illustration for Wheeler's improved mowing machine, originally patented in 1854 and updated in this 1860 patent.
Patent illustration for Wheeler's improved mowing machine, originally patented in 1854 and updated in this 1860 patent.
10 / 12
Walter A. Wood's tubular steel mower.
Walter A. Wood's tubular steel mower.
11 / 12
When McCormick and Deering first merged, some of the new company's implements continued to carry the New Ideal name as well as the International Harvester logo.
When McCormick and Deering first merged, some of the new company's implements continued to carry the New Ideal name as well as the International Harvester logo.
12 / 12
A major improvement to mowers in the early 1900s was the enclosed gearbox, like the one on this McCormick-Deering No. 7 mower. See a No. 7 and a John Deere Big 4 in action on Farm Collector's YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/user/farmcollector. Just click on the first video in the Vintage Mowers playlist.
A major improvement to mowers in the early 1900s was the enclosed gearbox, like the one on this McCormick-Deering No. 7 mower. See a No. 7 and a John Deere Big 4 in action on Farm Collector's YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/user/farmcollector. Just click on the first video in the Vintage Mowers playlist.

Today, petroleum-based  products are essential to farm operations. But for thousands of years, fodder – specifically, hay – was the most critical form of fuel on the farm. Up to the late 18th century, the process of making hay remained essentially unchanged. By the 1850s, though, the impact of the Industrial Revolution on farming equipment history was unmistakable.

In this article, the first segment of a three-part series on hay equipment (see Part 2 and Part 3), the focus is on mowers. Farmers who still cut hay with sickles or scythes well into the mid-1800s were quick to embrace new technology. One of the most labor-intensive chores a farmer faced, the harvest and storage of hay was hard, hot and dusty work. Mowers were the first step toward making that job less brutal and more productive.

References to cutting and drying grass for fodder are found as far back as Biblical times. Up to the late 18th century, though, the process of manual mowing remained essentially unchanged. 

A difficult evolution

Robert L. Ardrey compiled the history of companies and inventors who played key roles in the history of American agriculture in his 1894 book American Agricultural Implements. Ardrey acknowledged that early mower inventors had a difficult time moving away from their attempts to imitate the cutting motion involved in the manual harvest of hay.

“It was this natural primitive movement that the first constructors of both reapers and mowers tried to imitate or reproduce in their machines,” Ardrey wrote. “Early American inventors of mowers persistently endeavored to make practically operative this original principle. Indeed, it was many years before the rotary or scythe-curve theory of cutting was abandoned.”

Online Store Logo
Need Help? Call 1-866-624-9388