The World’s Largest Harvester
Under instructions from Messrs, Young and Ralli of Young a large harvester was constructed by Illmam and Sons of South Australia, which at the time was possibly the largest complete harvester in the world (1907).
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The “Milong Harvester” had a 26 ft. comb, being in three sections, each section is independently connected in one line and is driven by electricity, and is drawn by the big 430 Oil Tractor.
The big four cylinder oil tractor uses 130 test kerosene for fuel and consumes three – quarters of a gallon per acre at a cost of eight pence per acre or one pence per bag on the average eight bag crop.
A generator on the tractor produces the electricity which drives the electric motors.
One motor drives the thresher, another works the beaters, and a third the winnower.
The machine is 30 ft wide with a platform the whole length of the 26 ft comb which allows a man on this platform to clear the beaters if they become clogged.
A remarkable feature besides the simplicity of the machine is the fact that there is no side draft.
On the other side of the machine is a fair sized lorry attached which is used to receive the bags as they are filled by the winnower.
A tip cart arrangement allows for the bags to be unloaded without stopping.
The machine never goes out of the wheat and no time is lost turning corners and it travels at between 2 ½ and 3 miles per hour.
Young and Ralli had tried to develop a Co-Operative Farming concept based on Yannawah Village but for some reasons this concept failed.
Not the least helped by the fact that the big Oil Tractor blew up at a picnic day at Yannawah and killed two men.
RJ Young had purchased “Milong” from the Rutherford Bros, after he and his brother had sold “Mount Templeton” in South Australia, consisting of 40,000 acres to the Government.
RJ Young and SS Ralli, also from the Balaclava-Claire area, formed a partnership and purchased 24,000 acres in the Young district.
This included “Elton Hills,” “Milong” and part of “Yannawah.”
About 63 men, women and children transferred from South Australia to the Young area with Young and Ralli, mostly former employees of Mount Templeton.
One who a lot would remember was Mr Charles Western, who was Young and Ralli’s accountant.
Mr Young used Kanoona rams with Wanganella ewes for his merino breeding the reverse to which was used in South Australia and had 2500 Shropshires for crossbreeding to produce export lambs.
In August 1918 Stock and Station Agents Messrs.
Collins and Venn of Young reported that they had sold on account of Messrs.
Young and Ralli, their well and favourably known Milong property to Mr AW Scott of Goulburn.
Mr Scott had also purchased the complete flock of sheep which was now of almost pure South Australian blood and gaining a high reputation for their size and wool producing qualities.
