Horse-Powered Machine Used to Run Separator at the Ford Homestead Barn, 1924

01

Artifact Overview

As farmers mechanized barn and farmyard work in the nineteenth century, they began to use stationary power sources. Some invested in "sweeps," which converted energy generated by horses walking in a circle into power to operate large machines like grain threshers or separators. Sweep operators hauled these devices on specially designed wagons from farm to farm during threshing season.

Artifact Details

Artifact

Negative (Photograph)

Date Made

27 March 1964

Subject Date

07 October 1924

Location

By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center

Object ID

EI.1929.N.B.35528

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford.

Color

Black-and-white (Colors)

Dimensions

Height: 4 in
Width: 5 in