During the World War I1 period and in the post-war years, Queensland
canegrowers and others pioneered and tested many machines in
search of the commercial production model to solve the problems of a
diminishing labour force concurrent with an increasing production of
cane.
Two distinct types of machine were seen to be evolving: whole-stalk
and chopper-harvesters.
Whole-stalk models such as the Crichton and the Toft (Churchward,
1965) found early commercial acceptance because they could be used
with the existing cane transport system and, as low and high capacity
machines respectively, catered for individual or group harvesting requirements.
But they were doomed to obsolescence in a rapidly advancing
and cost-conscious industry because they had the disadvantage of
dropping the bundled cane on the ground, necessitating further mechanical
intervention to load it on to low-capacity stanchion tram trucks.
Also, they were incapable of handling the heavily-lodged crops of parts
of the far-north and the Burdekin.
It appeared that, by their very