The Lilliput Turf Machine

As natural woodland depleted in the 1960’s turf became an important source of fuel for households. Throughout the 20th Century, peat was prized as a source of rural employment and an alternative fuel for heating and electricity generation during the disruptions to coal supply in WWI and II.

The remains of the Lilliput Turf Machine lying here is a very fine relic of the social, economic and cultural history of Kilteevan. This Lilliput Turf Machine was purchased by Jonnie and Paddy Dolan in 1965 from H.G. Shnitzer, Edenderry. The machine cost IR£5,000 (the equivalent of over €‎100,000 today) and was transported to Kilteevan in pieces and put together by Johnnie, Paddy and Eamon Connor in Carrowmore Bog. The first turf was cut on a fine day in March 1965 but was halted the following day due to unseasonably heavy snowfall.

The machine was powered by a Ford diesel engine and had a main frame, supported on power-driven caterpillar tracks. A multi-bucket digger boom at one side of the machine was inclined at a 45 degree angle when in the working position, with the forward side of the bucket cutting as the turf machine advanced. The buckets discharged the turf through the macerator unit onto a plate chain, marking it into sod lengths and then onto the spreader arm. The turf was then discharged onto the turf bank.

The first operators of the machine were Johnnie Dolan and Eamon Connor and in subsequent years both Paddy and Tom Dolan spent many a long day working on the machine with, what Tom recalls as, “great days but plenty of hardship”. The machine was the only one of its kind in the area and cut turf for many people in the locality and beyond. It was finally retired on this spot in 1997 by Tom Dolan.

Kilteevan Tidy Towns
Kilteevan Tidy Towns
Kilteevan Tidy Towns
The Lilliput Turf Machine

No Comments

Start the ball rolling by posting a comment on this page!

Add a comment about this page

Your email address will not be published.

March 2024
MTWTFSS
     1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30 31
« Feb  Apr »