One-Man “Grain Stooking Horse”

One-Man “Grain Stooking Horse” AG WORLD David Reid an 86-year-old farmer from Chilliwack B C recently sent us photos of a simple invention he built for a way of farming that disappeared a long time ago It’s a one-man “grain stooking horse” A stook also referred to as a shock is a circular arrangement of cut grain stalks placed on the ground in a field Typically sheaves of grain such as wheat barley or oats are “stooked” so they’re ready for threshing “If you’ve ever stooked a field of grain that was cut with a grain binder and it had its fair share of thistles in it you’d treasure my invention ” says Reid “It’s easy on your back prevents thistle slivers and saves walking time I take it to antique tractor shows where they have field demonstrations and thresh grain the old way “The idea idea came to me some years ago when we used forks for stooking to keep the thistles away from our bodies There always had to be 2 people involved working together It was often difficult to find the second person so I designed this device ” The stooking horse is made from 1-in sq tubing and has a 5 1/2-ft long main beam that’s equipped with A-frame legs and a handle on one end and a 21-in long single hinged leg on the other end All the legs are adjustable allowing the main beam to be positioned 24 to 30 in off the ground Reid makes an 8-sheave stook with 4 sheaves on each side To begin stooking a field of grain he sets the stooking horse in the track of the grain binder’s bull wheel and travels in the opposite direction that the binder traveled bringing in 2 rows of sheaves from each side Using a fork he places the first 2 sheaves against the main beam at the A-frame end sloping them slightly toward the single-leg end Then he goes to the opposite side of the stooking horse and places 4 sheaves against the beam He finishes the stook by going back to the other side and placing 2 more sheaves there Then he grabs the handle and pulls the unit out from under the stook The single hinged leg automatically collapses and the unit slides out from under the stook without disturbing any of the sheaves “The single leg hinges on a 1/4-in bolt which allows it to collapse as the stooker is pulled ” says Reid “I can adjust the height of the legs depending on the height of the sheaves by removing a bolt and moving it up or down in one of the bolt holes provided “It weighs about 11 lbs If I built another one I’d make it out of aluminum so it would be even lighter to carry around ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup David Reid 44850 Luckakuck Way Chilliwack B C Canada V2R 1L4 ph 604 858-8329

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