What Is It?

Phorester · January 25, 2013, 03:03:31 PM

Came off one of my relative's farm in Tennessee. Anybody know what it is? Looks to be manufactured, not homemade. No label, manufacturing stamp, or anything like that on it. If it's homemade, somebody did an excellent job on those tines. One foot rule in some of the pictures for scale.

Side view

Front

Back

Closeup of tines.

beenthere · January 25, 2013, 03:07:39 PM

I would guess that it is used to collect seed.... maybe like wheat or oats or barley.

But just a thought.... being as the tines look like they would act like a comb.

giant splinter · January 25, 2013, 03:12:24 PM

Looks like a regulation buffalo chip sizing scoop, you find a buffalo chip that fits on the scoop without hanging over more than an inch. If it fits you then inspect the chip for its aerodynamic properties prior to entering the buffalo chip smiley_airfreshener hurdling contest.

Shotgun · January 25, 2013, 04:11:46 PM

It looks a little like a cranberry picker scoop.

Norm

Roger2561 · January 25, 2013, 04:22:06 PM

Comb for King Kong? Roger

Delawhere Jack · January 25, 2013, 04:39:35 PM

Shotgun beat me to it, but I think maybe for harvesting blueberries.

Or possibly for grooming back hair..... ;D

beenthere · January 25, 2013, 04:45:05 PM

There ya go Norm... Bingo!!

But in a TN barn?? maybe,.... :

Shotgun · January 25, 2013, 04:58:56 PM

Quote from: beenthere on January 25, 2013, 04:45:05 PM
There ya go Norm... Bingo!!

But in a TN barn?? maybe,.... :

Yeah, I thought about that, but stuff moves around the country. Ever watch the Pickers on TV? :D

Norm

DigDug · January 25, 2013, 08:29:30 PM

Looks like it could do blueberries?

SwampDonkey · January 26, 2013, 07:58:25 AM

I'd say it was a home made harvester for collecting oats. Not a very efficient shortcut method. I don't think the wooden teeth would hold up to blueberry harvesting, it would snag and after awhile bust the teeth out. I see modern hand held harvesters used to collect wildflower seeds.

Phorester · January 27, 2013, 02:01:43 PM

How about a grain elevator bucket?

beenthere · January 27, 2013, 02:58:18 PM

QuoteHow about a grain elevator bucket?

How so?

Phorester · January 27, 2013, 03:48:49 PM

BEENTHERE; it doesn't appear to be a strong enough implement for some of the uses suggested. The tines are close together, coarse finish, and thin. Looks like they'd snag on vines, wool (a local friend suggested used for combing wool), grain stalks, etc. The thin piece of wood in the bottom between the front piece and the back would keep seeds from catching in this angle and pore out easier. It is awkward to use by hand, even though the handle seems to be shaped for a human hand to use. (Looking at the cranberry scoop posted by SHOTGUN, that would be easy to use. )

Also, the shape suggests some old elevator buckets, although it seems that most of those were metal.

Just guessing.

Phorester · January 28, 2013, 06:46:47 AM

I noticed small nail holes on one side, so I examined that side with a magnifying glass. Found a little piece of a label about 1/4" diameter stuck to it that had a few letters on it. So it looks as if this thing was manufactured and not homemade. I examined the rest of it with the magnifying glass and found nothing else anywhere.

sprucebunny · January 28, 2013, 07:06:43 AM

Maybe for threshing ? Just a wild guess.

ely · January 28, 2013, 08:56:22 AM

i say blueberries.

DanG · January 28, 2013, 01:41:14 PM

It seems strange for a manufactured item to be made from rough sawn lumber. You can see the circle saw marks on it. Maybe it was refurbished? Don't have a clue what it is though.

JuniperBoss · January 28, 2013, 02:56:46 PM

It is obvious that it's a rocking chair for a sasquatch.

Seriously it's probably a crop harvester or something used for harvesting.

Offthebeatenpath · January 28, 2013, 03:52:08 PM

I don't think the tine spacing is wide enough for cranberries, unless they were awfully dang small. Here's a shot of another short handled wooden cranberry rake with a ruler for perspective. I'm gonna check with my dad who is an antique dealer and see if he has any ideas...

Jed

Phorester · January 28, 2013, 06:24:38 PM

Quote from: DanG on January 28, 2013, 01:41:14 PM
It seems strange for a manufactured item to be made from rough sawn lumber. You can see the circle saw marks on it. Maybe it was refurbished? Don't have a clue what it is though.

I agree on the possible origins. None of the parts appear to have been smoothed in any way. But all the pieces are very well cut in size and shape and fit together perfectly. Look at the sides. They are perfectly tapered along the width of each side piece (the grain is oriented vertical) from the back to the front of the implement. You can't see it in the pictures, but each of the sides is hollowed out along a perfect arc where they join the bottom and both are exactly the same arc and dimensions. Each of the teeth tips are uniformly shaped. The tiny piece of label I found was glued on, and the letters look like professional printing used on a label. In other words, not typed on paper that was stuck on by a user.

Don_Papenburg · January 29, 2013, 03:22:09 AM

The label could be from the shipping crate that the mistery guest was made from.

Ron Wenrich · January 29, 2013, 06:09:21 AM

What type of wood? I think the teeth are too close together and too small to have to do with any type of berry picking. The small tines also makes me think it has something to do with separating something out.

The flat back design gets me to thinking it was meant to be hung up on a wall and the handle is mainly for carrying. It looks to cumbersome to be used as a hand tool. Its some sort of farm piece of equipment, or else the woodwork would have been better.