Late 19th Century "Flop Over" Hay Rake

 Becoming popular by the mid-1800s, the "flop over" hay rake enabled farmers to gather and more easily dump hay and other grasses being gathering during the harvest. After cutting hay or another grass with a mower like the nearby Milwaukee No. 5, a farmer would gather the cut hay by using a rake like this one, probably pulled by two horses.
 As the rake moved forward, the cut hay would gather on the front of the tines. When enough hay had accumulated, the farmer, who walked behind the rake, simply pulled up on the handle. When the farmer pulled up on the handle, that action caused the front of the tines to dig into the ground, which in turn caused the tines to upset so that the back of the tines flopped over and became the front. This upsetting motion dumped the gathered hay onto the ground and left the tines empty to acquire more hay.

 As you walk around Stuhr Museum's farm machinery exhibit, you will see a variety of tools used to plant and harvest hay and other grasses. The basic process involved sorting the grass seeds to be planted with a fanning mill like the Johnston & Linihan Gem Grain Grader found near the center of the exhibit building. Once the best seeds were sorted out, or graded, they were loaded into a planter like the wheelbarrow grass seeder located near this "flop over" hay rake. The nearby harrow might be used to help cover the seeds with soil.
 After the grass had grown tall enough to be harvested, a mower like the Milwaukee No. 5 was used to cut the grass. After the grass was cut, a hay tedder like the Osborne example in this exhibit, might be used to toss the hay, aiding with the drying and curing process. Then a rake like this "flop over" hay rake or the nearby "self-dumping" hay rake was used to gather the grass into piles or windrows. The gathered grass was then often rolled up or baled for storage or for market.