Mechanical Reaper

The initial idea and design for the reaper actually came from Cyrus McCormick's father, Robert, who worked on the invention for 16 years. In 1831, 22 year old Cyrus took over his father's project and, within six weeks, he had built, field tested, remodeled and successfully demonstrated the world's first mechanical reaper. McCormick's invention automatically cut, threshed and bundled grain while being pulled through a field by horses.