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Michigan OAKLAND COUNTY
The first mowing machine in town was invented and used by Erastus Ingersoll. It consisted of a section of a hollow buttonwood log, about thirty inches long, placed in a vertical position on wheels, or rollers. The motive power was in the inside of the hollow section, and consisted of several cog-wheels, one or two bands, and some other fixtures that are now forgotten. The cutting knives were short pieces of scythes, fastened close to the lower edge of the hollow log. The team was hitched to a tongue made of a long crooked limb, in order to place them on the mown grass, and the machine behind that. When the team started the motion of the rollers forced the gearing into action ; this gave a rotary motion to the hollow section, and the knives went around with a buzz, cutting everything before them. Mr. Ingersoll carried a model of this to Washington in 1827 and got a patent on it. He came home and called his neighbors together for a trial of the new machine. The mower was placed on the " Ingersoll swamp " and started.
Oakland Co. Michigan
Page 15
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