The wheat threshing equipment restored by Mr Franco Risi, which is now on display at the museum, comprises three machines:
- The Richard Garrett & Sons portable engine, which you can read about on a dedicated page on this website.
- The Hofherr Schrantz Clayton Shuttleworth threshing machine.
- The Welger straw baler.

The portable engine was tasked with generating energy, by spinning the flywheel, which drives the mechanisms of the threshing machine and straw baler.
The threshing machine separates and harvests the wheat grains from the rest of the plant, while the straw baler compacts the stem of the wheat plant into bales, preparing them for transport and storage.
It takes at least 10 people to operate this wheat threshing equipment.
The driver of the portable engine;
those who, from the ground, using pitchforks, must place the bundles of grain on the upper level of the threshing machine;
those who, from the upper level of the threshing machine, correctly feed the machine by inserting the bundles of wheat into the dedicated inlets;
those who are in charge of operating the straw baler, checking its correct operation and taking care of the manual task of tying the bales of straw as well as unloading them at the outlet of the straw baler;
and those in charge of replacing the sacks full of grains of wheat with empty sacks to be filled with the new grains of wheat sieved by the threshing machine.
Mr Franco Risi put this wheat threshing equipment into operation at several events, attracting the interest of many intrigued young spectators and nostalgic older ones...
The last demonstration that this threshing equipment was featured at was ‘La Campagna a Vapore’, which was held in Bentivoglio, in the province of Bologna, in 2018. 
Below is a video of the event.
The Hofherr Schrantz Clayton Shuttleworth threshing machine was found and purchased in 1995 on a farm estate in Migliarino, near the municipality of Ostellato, in the province of Ferrara.
The machine was in good condition.
Repairs involved the wooden parts that required routine maintenance and some mechanical components that required functional adjustments.
The Welger straw baler was at the disposal of the Museo della Civiltà Contadina e della Canapa ‘G. Romagnoli’ (Museum of Rural Civilisation and Hemp) in Castagnolino di Bentivoglio, near the municipality of Castemaggiore, in the province of Bologna.
At the time of purchase in 2008, the condition of the machine was such that it required repair work on the lifting table, the gear transmission, and some routine maintenance.
The wheat threshing unit is now in perfect working order.