Stump Pulling

 A mid 1800s stump-pulling device that was designed to clear the wooded lands before workers started digging the canals.  The device had two huge wheels, sixteen feet in diameter, on the ends of a very sturdy thirty foot axle.  Fixed at the center of the axle was a slightly smaller wheel, fourteen feet in diameter, wih a broad rim that held a coiled rope.

The machine straddled a stump and the big outer wheels were tied down to hold it steady.  A chain wound around the axle was tied to the stump.  A team of horses was hitched to the end of a rope wound around the rim of the middle wheel.  As the animals strained, the rope grew taut, and made the center wheel rotate.  This moved the axle which, in turn wound up the chain which was fastened to the stump. The difference in size of wheel and axle multiplied the force tremendously, and the stump would pop out of the ground.  Seven men and two horses could pull thirty to forty stumps a day with this rig.

The Mooney Museum,  223 S Main St, St Marys, will be open Sunday July 27.  Their displays include information about the Miami-Erie Canal as well as some of the smaller tools (not a stump puller) that were used in the canal construction.  

Admission is free, and I will be there from 1 to 4 pm for a guided tour, or you can opt for a self-guided tour and explore the displays at your leisure.