Antique farm equipment. Was manufactured for Alois Vogl, Neumarkt Salzburg, Austria, During the earl 19th century. A winnowing mill is a mill that separates grains, chaff and weed seeds. The necessary air is obtained by a paddle wheel. The first winnowing windmill dates back to the 17th century and had a precursor in China.

With a hand crank, a paddle wheel is rotated in a closed vertical drum, creating an air flow. The grain slowly falls from a hopper while the chaff is blown away. Later, the winnowing mill was also equipped with vibrating sieves or ratchets[1], so that weed seeds could also be removed. The sieves were shaken with a wooden beater and later with a camshaft. Later, a large gear was placed for the transmission of the paddle wheel to the crank shaft, which drives a small gear on the paddle wheel, which causes the paddle wheel to rotate faster.

Winnowing with a winnowing fan is the oldest method of separating the grains from the chaff. This was later replaced by a hand-operated winnowing mill. Today it is done mechanically in the same pass as harvesting with a combine harvester.