Carlo and the Bennett’s Stump Puller

A successful trial of the Bennett stump-puller was held last week at the Bunyip village settlement. It was arranged between Mr. Catani, C.E., of the Public Works department, and Messrs. J. Davies and Co. that a three days' test trial take place with a view of letting the settlers see the advantage of the stump-puller to clear the scrub. The objection against the old method was that it took a long time to clear, it being so heavily timbered, also that if any, of the root fibres were left in the ground they, would grow again. The puller was started at the back of Mr. Leithhead's store, in the presence of a great many settlers. The stumps were pulled clean out of the ground without grubbing. Some of the holes caused by pulling up the stumps were eight feet by four feet deep, thus showing the quantity of root fibres. The settlers were greatly pleased with the work done. The Government intend hiring the puller out to them at a very cheap rental, and the men who worked the puller at the trial put their names first on the list tor the use of the machine. Last Friday the Minister for Lands visited the settlement, and was greatly pleased with the puller. A couple of men can work it easily. The Government, we understand, intend ordering several of these machines.  (The Australasian February 3, 1894) 

A further report in The Age of the same day said that Mr Catani had accompanied the Minister for Lands, Mr M’Intyre and Mr Callinan, the chief surveyor on the visit. They had arrived by train to Bunyip where they then transferred to a very primitive but serviceable tram car which was drawn by a reinless horse over a tram line built by the settlers, with timber provided by the Government at the small cost of about £50 per mile. The car was loaded with bags of flour, boxes of provisions and eight passengers; and although the progress made was slow, it was safe and sure. At the end of a mile and a half we came to a locality known as the Bunyip Junction. It was at Bunyip Junction [at the Junction bridge] behind Mr Leithhead’s store that the Bennett’s Stump puller was demonstrated.

Advertisement for Bennett's Stump Puller

The Australasian November 18, 1893

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/138110589?

The Bennett’s Stump puller which had clearly caught the eye of Carlo Catani, Chief Engineer of the Public Works Department,  had been advertised in Melbourne papers since late December 1892. It had been imported by John Davies & Co., Franklin Street, Melbourne.The first demonstration was carried out at Mr William’s orchard at Doncaster, here the puller was put on its trial and it extracted 20 stumps with the ease of a dentist drawing teeth with the aid of electricity. One of the stumps was 3ft 6in diameter, but as some of the party thought that a pull at a green stump would give more satisfactory results, a growing tree was cut down. The stump was double-rooted, but, nevertheless, It came up, when it was found that the sap root measured 10in, in diameter. Everybody was highly pleased with this test.(The Herald, December 2, 1892) It was later exhibited at Glen Farm in Clyde, the property owned by Mr Wadey.

John Davies & Co. displayed the machine at the Melbourne Agricultural Show in 1893 and The Argus of September 1, 1893 had this to say about how the machine was advertised -  The notice erected around it that one man can lift 20 tons attracts a great deal of notice, but such is the fact. They have a large piece of cast iron weighing 1½ tons suspended from the puller, and the smallest child can lift it. During the visit of His Excellency the Governor to the show he was shown the puller and was greatly pleased with it, and tried for himself the power of it. Five pounds weight on the lever will lift a ton.

Bennett's Stump Puller

The Leader, December 10 1892.

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/196893111?

How did the machine work? This description in The Leader of February 3, 1894 attempts at an explanation -  This appliance is in the form of an ordinary sledge, the two cross bars underneath being shod with a steel plate set to enter the ground like the edge of a plough share. The sledge being drawn forward acts upon the scrub and roots by means of the steel shoes. One of the selling points was that the  whole machine could be moved by one horse. The machine has been invented in the United States by Harwell L. Bennett and Russell B. Adams of Westerville,  Ohio and it was granted a U.S patent on February 27, 1894. Read the Patent application and see the original specifications, here. There is a photo of Bennett's manufacturing plant on a tour of Westerville's Industrial area, here.

I don’t know how Carlo got onto the Bennett’s Stump Puller but he was an innovative man and was obviously interested in machines that would make the work quicker, easier and more efficient. It was this same reason that he imported the Lubecker Steam bucket dredge to the Swamp in 1913.

If you are interested - John Davies, who imported the Bennett's Stump Puller, died on July 9,  1926, He was also an engineer and had worked on the construction of Princes Bridge. This is part of his obituary from the Emerald Hill Record, July 10 1926 -   Mr. Davies resided in Harold street, Middle Park, and was a close observer of the advancement of this municipality. He was a strong supporter of the  policy of teaching boys trades, and his enthusiasm for this important contribution to national development led tn his appointment to the council of the local technical school in October, 1919 (read full obituary, here  It is more than possible that Carlo and John Davies knew each other as they were both engineers and that is how the Bennett's Stump Puller came to Carlo's attention. Or perhaps Carlo had just read the reports in the paper of the wonderful Bennett's Stump Puller and decided to give it a trial.

I have created a list of articles from Trove, about the Bennett's Stump Puller. You can access it here.