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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1985-09-04, Page 30rw. it tr titachines give wayto automation ofropnpage4 bailie while the older boys, who were trained mechanics; established a small carriage factory in the village In this shop John learned the trade of car- riage maker and he soon became an ex- cellent workman. While working in the Mac- Pherson factory in Fingal, Ontario, be became interested in threshing machinery and, noting the problems facing the manufacturers , of the new type vibrating machines thatwere replacing the older apron or canvas separators, he thought out a plan of balancing the motion of the straw deck and the grain shoe by means of a dou- ble throw cranks and constructed a working model which proved that he had discovered a solution to the problem of balance. John McCloskey had his invention patented in 1881 and the London firm of Stevens, Turner and Burns began building the new machines for him and marketed them' as the "CANADIAN THRESHER". Four years later the royalty rights were ac- quired by David Darvil & Company of Lon- don, Ontario, who manufactured them as the "McCLOSKEY THRESHER". Later still the Waterloo Manufacturing Co. built them for a short time as the "COUNTER- BALANCE THRESHER". While John McCloskey was busy in Lon- don supervising the building of the Mc- Closkey separators and improving thepi with additional patents another threshing machine company was developing at Sar- nia. Here the Council of the fast growing border town were looking around fdr in- dustries and, in 1881, induced J.F. Craig, who had been endeavouring to establish an agricultural implement factory in Strathroy, to,' ixlave his works to Sarnia. Known as the Sarnia Agricultural. Imple- ment Association the new firm made . reapers, mowers, ploughs, corn shellers etc. Its products were favourably received and for a few years the firm propsered. Ill- advised expansion in 1884 and an attempt to build and market binders forced the corn: pany into liquidation in 1886. The following year John Goodison, who had been general agent for the company, together with Geo. H. Samis purchased the interests and fac- tory of the insolvent company and operated for a year, but under adverse cir- cumstances, and were glad to enter into negotiations with the Sawyer and Massey Company, of Hamilton, Ontario, for the sale of their interests. 'Operations were con- tinued as usual and John Goodison was re- tained as manager by the Hamilton firm. John Goodison was not satisfied with the new arrangement and late in 1889 acquired sole ownership of the concern. The days of Sawyer and Massey control convinced him of the future of the threshing machine in- dustry and he wisely abandoned the manufacture of reapersand ploughs and concentrated -on threshing machinery. For a while he called his factory the Tunnel City Thresher Works but soon changed it to the John Goodison Thresher Company. Mean- while, the fame of the McCloskey thresher was spreading and in 1892 Mr. Goodison ac- quired the right to build these machines and persuaded John McCloskey to move to Sar- nia and work in his factory. The years that followed saw the firmrospering and soon the Goodison "NEW McCLOSKBY"' threshers were favourably known throughout both Eastern and Western Canada, As the years passed .the New McCloskey machines were fitted with the latest at- tachments. The Goodison firm was one of the earliest, of Canadian manufacturers to build wind stackers. At the turn of the cen- tury they were fitting to their own and other makes of separators the Russel gear driven. stacker. This was replaced about 1904 with the ~standard "Farmer's Friend" type of gearless, direct belted side acker. In 1902 double decks replaced the tailrakes. Early self feeders were the Parsons; followed by the Goodison-Rich, the Ruth and finally the Goodison-Heineke. The Stewart patent rear cutting attachment • was supplied for Eastern customers. In the early 1920's steel for frame was experimented with and by 1926 had completely replaced wood. The next improvement was the gradual adoption of self aligning, dust proof, ball bearings un- til the whole machine was so equipped. Mounted an euhhee the late Sa"ao1GX on rubber the late Goodsons look- ed ooked much different to their early machines but inside doing the job of actual separation was the counterbalance motion invented by John McCloskey. _ The Goodison firm built no engines in the early days but supplied customers for com- plete outfits with the Waterous 17 hp "ON- TARIO STANDARD" single cylinder engines for the East and the heavier double cylinder models for Western Canada. In 1902 they began to build a few portable engines in their own factory and two years later entered theraction field. By this time the experiment.. stage was over and the firm settled on the open bottom locomotive type boiler with high dome. Solid stub axles and heavy counter shaft bracket were bolted to the firebox and a side crank engine was mounted with the cylinder towards the smokebox. The Woolf single eccentric reverse gear was adopted and a lever con- trolled brake acted on a large drum cast on the inside 'of the intermediate gear. The clutch was internal expanding with two Turn to page 6 Welcome Visitors to the Threshermen's Reunion in Blyth iSINCE 1894n OLD MILL IN DOWNTOWN BLYTH In days gone by, the farmer put the grain through the thresher by hand. Modern automa- tion has made life a little easier. lat fiaieuva/tawrd Safe To show our appreciation to our many customers in Blyth and area. We are giving 20O/OO "FF All CARDS and GIFTWRAP September 6-7.8 STOCK UP NOW The Saga Gifts i Handicrafts BLYTH, ONTARIO Hours: 9 am to 8:30 pm Monday to Saturday When you care enough to send the very best. 1894 BAINTON 1985 THRESHERMEN'S SPECIALS .............. Lambskin TRACTOR and TRUCK SEATS Leather Roper GLOVES Unlined Lined $8.00 $9 00. One finger Leather GAUNTLET $� 50 • Unlined WORKSOCKS 80% Wool 20% Nylon 25 • ooa dozen Store Hours: Monday to Saturday 9 am - 9 pm Sunday l pm - 9 pm