Headlie Shipard Taylor
Headlie Taylor was a wheat farmer whose invention of the header harvester revolutionised the grain industry.
Headlie Taylor left school at 14 years of age and set out to create a machine that would harvest damaged crops.
Convinced that farm machinery could be improved, in 1910 Taylor lodged his first patent, an improvement for stripper harvesters. Next year he set out to design a harvester which would handle storm-damaged crops better than the stripper harvester. With family support, working long shifts and teaching himself engineering, he produced his first machine for the 1911-12 harvest. Disappointed with it, he constructed a successful second machine and patented his design in October 1913. Its key features were a long-fingered comb which combined with a reciprocating knife and twin spirals to convey the cut crop from the comb to the elevators. In 1914 Taylor demonstrated a third machine at the Henty show. Interested farmers offered capital to produce it, but he preferred that an existing Australian manufacturer undertake its production.
In 1916 he signed with HV McKay and the Sunshine Harvester Works, where together they developed the Sunshine Header.
He also produced a string of other innovations: crop lifters (1917), pick-up attachments enabling the header to harvest field peas (1919), the 'Sunshine' engine-functioned header (1922), the 'Sunshine' auto-header (1924), a pick-up front for the auto-header (1929), the 'Sunshine' TD stripper harvester (1934), the 'Sunprong' pasture renovator (1936), power take-off mechanisms for the header (1938),
a comb cleaner for the header and for stripper harvesters (1943), a cutter bar for pick-up fronts (1943) and a redesigned auto-header (1953). In World War II he designed three machines to meet the pressing need for equipment to harvest flax.
The 'Sunshine' auto-header - the first self-propelled harvester to be manufactured in large numbers - stood out as Taylor's second major achievement. Capable of harvesting at 3.5 miles (5.6 km) per hour, it had a capacity of 4 acres (1.6 ha) per hour or more.
The Sunshine Auto Header was a blueprint for modern self propelled harvesters.
Widely respected in the Henty and Sunshine communities, he was a director of the Sunshine Employees' Trust Ltd and a member of the council of the Sunshine Technical School.
To Claim this Virtual
1. Send an email with the answers, to the following questions:-
a. Who was the Sculptor of the statue?
b. Who was the Water Trough in memory of?
c. Where was the anvil manufactured?
2. Take a photo of yourself, your arm & GPS or a sign with your team name on it & GPS,
in front of the statue, and attach the photo to your log.
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Virtual Rewards 2.0 - 2019/2020
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between June 4, 2019 and June 4, 2020. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache.
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