Horse-works in Nungarin

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I took these photos at the Nungarin Military Museum Open Day, where we were able to watch a ‘horse-works’ or whim in operation. This mechanical device was in common use before the days of mechanisation. The horse-works supplied power for various tasks such as chaff-cutting, winnowing/threshing, pumping water, etc. Some of the whims were bigger than others and might be operated by two or more horses or even pairs of horses on opposite sides of the circle. A large bevel gear at the base of the machine turned a smaller one on a take-off shaft. The shaft, with universal joints, went to the device needing power e.g. chaff cutter. The horse steps over the shaft on each circuit and, once trained, would obey verbal commands and didn’t need to be driven.