Restoring a thresher is a real challenge, especially when it has been on a farm for close on 100 years. Gerry McCann needed a challenge and he admits that he got one in the 1920s Clayton and Shuttleworth threshing machine that he set about restoring.
He retired from a career with Teagasc and before that he was well-known to many older Irish Farmers Journal readers for his years preaching the benefits of basic slag as a soil fertility treatment.
Gerry grew up on a south Armagh family farm where his late father Michael operated a small contracting business with two threshing mills in the 1940s and 50s.
He usually started his threshing work near Dundalk and moved north towards home at Mullaghbawn, near Forkhill, as the season progressed.
That connection with the threshing world encouraged Gerry to seek out an old machine and restore it to the memories that he and his brother Michael fondly remembered.
Gerry sought out a threshing mill to restore by advertising in the Irish Farmers Journal for a number of weeks. He got plenty of replies and then it was down to checking out the replies and visiting farms to see up close what was available and how much work was required.
His main priority was to have a threshing mill with steel wheels, as this gives a more authentic look Gerry believes. The condition of the timber frame was also important, and eventually he settled on the Clayton and Shuttleworth model that he had found on a Wexford farm. The thresher is believed to date from 1918.
The carefully gathered pieces of the delicate machine were transported by Gerry’s nephew Fergal McCann to the family farm at Mullaghbawn. Then Gerry began his work, a lot of which was based on replicating timber structures and fittings, as well as cleaning and making good some of the cast-iron housings for shafts and bearings.
Here we give you a glimpse of the work that Gerry McCann did in completing a wonderful restoration on the threshing mill. The machine was carefully dismantled piece by piece, and then cleaned or replaced to replicate the performance of this important machine from our past. The end result is a testimony to Gerry’s dedication and reflects his skill and patience.
Clayton and Shuttleworth
Clayton and Shuttleworth, based in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England, was established in 1842. In 1845, they built their first portable steam engine followed by their first threshing machine in 1849.
By 1857, they had produced 2,400 steam engines, increasing to 26,000 steam engines along with 24,000 threshing machines by 1890.
The company produced a small number of tractors in the early 1900s and were reputed to have been the first British firm to manufacture a combine harvester.
Date Event Location Contact
22 November Kilmeedy, Tractor Road Run Kimeedy, Limerick 087-9001608
22 November Cork Model Fest, Cork Airport Hotel Cork 087-2355379
22 November South Monaghan Model Show, Glencarn Hotel Monaghan 087-7842365
29 November Models of Ireland Show Conna, Cork 086-6666150
4 December Ballincollig Club Christmas Party Cork 087-9096616
5 December North West Model Show, Fir Trees Strabane, Tyrone 087-9976905
6 December Shamrock Club Vintage Ploughing Wexford 087-2229038
12/13 December Durrow Diecast Model and Toy Show Laois 086-8860598
18 December Lakeland Vintage Club Christmas Party Longford 087-6649069
28 December Murt & Minty Tractor Run Kilkenny 086-2662105
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