Machinery built over 100 years ago has been wheeled out by members of the Kyle Park Transport Museum to thresh their oats into chaff at the weekend.
Harvesting and processing the oats is the Kyle Park Transport Museum’s major annual fundraiser, Nigel Gamble, a steam custodian for the club, says.
“We sell the chaff to horse owners for supplementary feed.”
To undertake the task, the club presses a steam-powered traction engine, built in 1912, and a thresher, built in Southland in the early 1920s, into action.
JOHN BISSET/Stuff
Malcolm Crossen, Alistair Thornley and Peter Hardy feed oats into the thresher to make chaff at Timaru’s Kyle Park Transport Museum.
Gamble said the traction engine belonged to a Seadown company that ran, at one stage, one of the biggest threshing businesses in the Southern Hemisphere.
Gamble said it can take several hours to get the machinery read with about two-and-a-half required to fire up the traction engine and at least another hour to set up the thresher which is designed to remove a plant's grain from its stalks and husks.
“We grow the oats ourselves... we normally get a reasonable turnout of people, a crew of 10 probably.
“It’s quite a good project and the product is popular... we struggle to meet demand at times.”
JOHN BISSET/Stuff
Malcolm Crossen, Alistair Thornley and Peter Hardy work the vintage thresher powered by a steam traction engine at Timaru’s Kyle Park Transport Museum.
Gamble said the day was all about replicating the way oats were threshed over 100 years ago.
“We are trying to keep those skills alive for younger folk to follow.
“Myself and another guy are probably the youngest doing it, and I’m 47.
“The need for the younger members is a major issue, and we really are desperate to get some new members so if anyone is keen to have a go then they should make contact with the club.”
JOHN BISSET/Stuff
Kyle Park Transport Museum members work a vintage thresher to turn oats into chaff.
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Home-grown oats threshed into chaff as museum's major fundraiser - Stuff
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