# Cheney Rod Weeder Co



## Ford5610II (Jun 11, 2020)

A few weeks ago there was a post that pertained to Rodweeders. Here is a bit of history on the origins of these machines. This example was my Grandpa’s. I have kept track of it for many years, and eventually I did a little research on it.








In 1907, 2 brothers from Cheney, Washington invented the rod weeder and started a company to build it. The first patent was issued in 1911. This machine uses a spinning rod to tear the roots of weeds and grass in a field that is summer fallowed (not farmed). The genius of this machine is that it does not use chemicals (which did not exist at the time), and does not promote erosion like a disk, since the surface of the ground is left undisturbed. Without re-telling their entire story, the links below provide some interesting history of their company and the uniqueness of their invention. Their value became very obvious during the dust bowl days of the 1920’s and 30’s.These machines were included in the Smithsonian Institute.
Cheney Weeder Included in Agricultural Innovation and Heritage Archive
Rod weeder - SARE
Henry Kyle Wolfe (1881-1966) - Find a Grave...
Cheney

My machine is 12 feet wide, with 4 C-shaped bars to hold the spinning rod. This seems to be the only configuration produced for many years. In old pictures I have identified 3 variations as follows:

The one I assume was the earliest version had wooden timbers as part of the framework, with the sprockets under the side frame (below).










Another model had a different chain and sprocket configuration that was bolted to the top of the frame (below).










A third version (probably later in time) had one of the sprockets bolted above the frame, and the chain had a guard underneath (below).









My unit is an example of #3. It was pretty cool to sand down the C-shaped bars and still see the hammer marks from the blacksmith that built it. The early rod weeder units were not painted, other than the company name and the patent date stenciled in yellow letters on the back (below). This unit had a patent date of June 1(3)? 192(4)? painted on it. The only identification marker other than the painted information is that 1 sprocket has the company name cast into it in raised letters (below).
















I had put the unit in the shop and sanded and primered before I concluded that the pre-1940 units never had paint. In my research, I found evidence that the later models in the 1940’s were painted red and white (from a post card). I went with this color scheme, as I refused to sand it and not paint it just to preserve ‘originality’. This seems to copy McCormick/ International, however, the official company color scheme of Internationals at this time was actually red, white and blue.








While this unit is nearly 100 years old, and has been in the family for most if not all of that time, it is still functional. Granted, the old U-joint and a few bearings could use some freshening if it was going to see much service. A comment made by a family member was that it was likely not damaged because Grandpa never had a tractor more powerful than a Farmall H. I was curious if anyone else has come across a Cheney Weeder Co rodweeder.


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## pogobill (Jan 31, 2012)

Never heard of one! Glad you painted it though, looks good!


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