Patent portable steam threshing engine by Richard Hornsby & Sons

Patent portable steam threshing engine by Richard Hornsby & Sons, Grantham, Lincolnshire, no. 1593, 1867-1871. Believed to be an 8NHP type 5B portable engine of 1867, new to W. Trueman of Hartsbury, Gloucestershire.

This portable steam engine was used in farming, attached to a threshing machine via a leather pulley-belt to seperate wheat from the straw after it has been harvested. The engine embodies many of the features which Hornsby patented in 1850. For example, the placing of the steam cylinder inside the steam chamber, which was claimed to reduce fuel consumption and improve the engine's efficiency. The day-book detailing the daily manufacturing output of Hornsby & Sons suggests that the engine was purchased new in 1867 by W. Trueman of Hartsbury, Gloucestershire, although other sources suggest the machine is an 6NHP type D, new to Jethro Higgs, threshing contractor, of Coln Rogers, Gloucestershire. The cylinder dimensions established while the engine was being restored are 9.25" bore x 11.25" stroke.