# Oldest machines that are still in practical use **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 14, 2015, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508 "2015-06-14T14:09:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Gbro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Gbro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gbro)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2015, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508/81 "2015-06-16T00:33:19Z")
The [Areal Lift Bridge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerial_Lift_Bridge)was originally designed as a [Transporter bridge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transporter_bridge)in 1905. It was upgraded to an areal lift in 1930 and is still in operation except for an extreme spell of hot weather where the bridge was shut down because the heat put such stress on the bridge that many rivets were sheared off from the expansion of the metal. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2015, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508/82 "2015-06-16T20:22:52Z")
The Center Street Swing Bridge in Cleveland, OH has been operating since 1901. > **[Center Street Bridge - HistoricBridges.org](https://historicbridges.org/bridges/browser/?bridgebrowser=ohio%2Fcenter%2F)** > > Historic Truss Bridge in Cleveland Cuyahoga County, Ohio. One of the oldest bridges in Cleveland, this bridge features a rare bobtail design. ---
**Author:** ![Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e47c2d/32.png) [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hershele_Ostropoler)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508/83 "2015-06-17T01:11:20Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > The Cyclone roller coaster on Coney Island in New York was built in 1927 and is still in use. They constantly have to check it out and replace boards and nails and over the years they have probably replaced every board at least once. Though it’s stalled out twice this season, so it’s anyone’s guess how long it’ll continue to be in use. ---
**Author:** ![stui\_magpie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stui_magpie/32/11010_2.png) [@stui\_magpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stui_magpie)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508/84 "2015-06-17T02:48:38Z")
[Windmills](http://www.google.com.au/search?q=windmill+australia&safe=active&es_sm=122&tbm=isch&imgil=OIEHEjMqkECd-M%253A%253B_8DqOvwSSUyhpM%253Bhttps%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.flickr.com%25252Fphotos%25252Fphotojour%25252F2357069620&source=iu&pf=m&fir=OIEHEjMqkECd-M%253A%252C_8DqOvwSSUyhpM%252C_&biw=1242&bih=585&usg= __Q-so9xktOtAs9SFvyjOfjpeQWtI%3D&ved=0CCcQyjdqFQoTCMuxuIXZlcYCFUZ_vAodqtUAmg&ei=S92AVYvgEcb-8QWqq4PQCQ#imgrc=CWVcXkPaXGxLjM%253A%3BYxVhRHIS9N6FnM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fthumbs.dreamstime.com%252Fx%252Fwindmill-paddock-tankstand-queensland-australia-windmills-commonly-used-pumping-water-bores-dams-to-troughs-32601284.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.dreamstime.com%252Fstock-images-windmill-paddock-tankstand-queensland-australia-windmills-commonly-used-pumping-water-bores-dams-to-troughs-image32601284%3B400%3B266&usg=__ Q-so9xktOtAs9SFvyjOfjpeQWtI%3D). The same basic design has been used to pump ground water to the surface in outback Australia since the mid 1800’s ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508/85 "2015-06-17T12:03:18Z")
> [@stui\_magpie](#): > > [Windmills](http://www.google.com.au/search?q=windmill+australia&safe=active&es_sm=122&tbm=isch&imgil=OIEHEjMqkECd-M%253A%253B_8DqOvwSSUyhpM%253Bhttps%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.flickr.com%25252Fphotos%25252Fphotojour%25252F2357069620&source=iu&pf=m&fir=OIEHEjMqkECd-M%253A%252C_8DqOvwSSUyhpM%252C_&biw=1242&bih=585&usg= __Q-so9xktOtAs9SFvyjOfjpeQWtI%3D&ved=0CCcQyjdqFQoTCMuxuIXZlcYCFUZ_vAodqtUAmg&ei=S92AVYvgEcb-8QWqq4PQCQ#imgrc=CWVcXkPaXGxLjM%253A%3BYxVhRHIS9N6FnM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fthumbs.dreamstime.com%252Fx%252Fwindmill-paddock-tankstand-queensland-australia-windmills-commonly-used-pumping-water-bores-dams-to-troughs-32601284.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.dreamstime.com%252Fstock-images-windmill-paddock-tankstand-queensland-australia-windmills-commonly-used-pumping-water-bores-dams-to-troughs-image32601284%3B400%3B266&usg=__ Q-so9xktOtAs9SFvyjOfjpeQWtI%3D). > > The same basic design has been used to pump ground water to the surface in outback Australia since the mid 1800’s If you’re going by “basic design”, the _shadoof_\* has that beat all hollow, being datable back to 2000 BCE. > **[Shadoof](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadoof)** > > A shadoof or shaduf is an irrigation tool that is used to lift water from a water source onto land or into another waterway or basin. It is highly efficient, and has been known since 3000 BCE.\[citation needed\] > The mechanism of a shadoof comprises a long counterbalanced pole on a pivot, with a bucket attached to the end of it. It is generally used in a crop irrigation system using basins, dikes, ditches, walls, canals, and similar waterways. > One theory states that the shadoof was invented in pre... Other human constructions are a LOT older – fish weirs, whistles, stone tools of all kinds, but they don’t qualify as machines, in most people’s definitions. Are _atlatkl_s machines? They date back to at least 30,000 years, and some folks still use them. > **[Spear-thrower](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spear-thrower)** > > A spear-thrower, spear-throwing lever, or atlatl (pronounced /ˈætlætəl/ ⓘ or /ˈɑːtlɑːtəl/; Nahuatl ahtlatl \[ˈaʔt͡ɬat͡ɬ\]) is a tool that uses leverage to achieve greater velocity in dart or javelin-throwing, and includes a bearing surface that allows the user to store energy during the throw. > It may consist of a shaft with a cup or a spur at the end that supports and propels the butt of the spear. It's usually about as long as the user's arm or forearm. The user holds the spear-thrower in one han... But all of these, no matter how you classify them, aren’t what I think the OP was after – things that we’d call “machines” and the actual device itself still in regular use. \*One of many spellings. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508/86 "2015-06-17T12:34:00Z")
> [@Marion\_Wormer](#): > > The thing about planes is the one that exists today is not really the same physical plane as was built. Not as one plane, but most of the bodywork is going to be from a plane built in 1963 or before… One air frame with issues may have the wings from some other plane installed, it may have the fuselage sections replaced similarly… The issue with replacing every single part of the body doesn’t exist, SOME joints in the structure get replaced as that is where the bending causes cracking. They have plenty of spare parts since the 1990’s destruction of the 52G’s, and therefore only flying 80 52H’s now, due to the treaty with the Russians. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508/87 "2015-06-17T13:01:31Z")
In terms of HEAVY engineering, London’s Tower Bridge was opened in 1894… and is still in use. The only original part of the mechanics though are the big gears that attach to the lifting the spans… The original mechanism to rotate those gears was only replaced in 1974 though, that was heavy engineering in service for 84 years… Well of course steam engines that powered it were repaired … There were 2 and then 3… so they could rebuild one while the other was in use. In terms of still working mechanisms, Hawthorne Bridge, USA, opened 1910, and while it had the upper pulleys replaced, its otherwise seemingly original and still lists 200 times a month. Its probably due to the use of electric motors… new mechanisms are not required if it was originally designed to be electric… so around 1910… they started using electrics. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508/88 "2015-06-17T13:37:36Z")
I’m certain that an ancient mortar and pestle sets thousand of years old are still being used somewhere. Either in a modern kitchen in some rich persons house or in a third world village where things are used as long as they are useful. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508/89 "2015-06-17T20:58:06Z")
150 year old pianos and even older harpsichords still work. But Stradivarius violins and other strings are not only fully functional but considered superior to their modern counterparts. Cuba is reportedly full of 60 year old cars. There is a functioning Jacquard loom in a textile museum in Kyoto that is well over 100 years old. However the operator admitted that the punch card reader had been electrified and the cards themselves for the design he was working on had been punched by a computer. But the complex design he was working on required hundreds of cards, as well as some hand work. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508/90 "2015-06-17T21:39:58Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > …Stradivarius violins and other strings are not only fully functional but considered superior to their modern counterparts. That’s a really good point, actually, though “considered” may be [all we have](http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2012/01/02/violinists-cant-tell-the-difference-between-stradivarius-violins-and-new-ones/#.VYHo50ZQt5c). ---
**Author:** ![dr\_zippermeyer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c0e974/32.png) [@dr\_zippermeyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dr_zippermeyer)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508/91 "2015-09-13T23:11:00Z")
This Salisbury Cathedral clock is something truly remarkable. It’s builder would probably be proud to see it still running. But to be honest I think it would be more practical to replace it now with something else so it is “just” a novelty in that sense. For me it now seems the oldest useful, still practical thing that is without any doubt a machine could be some factory equipment from 19th century. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508/92 "2015-09-14T00:05:48Z")
> [@Habeed](#): > > Could also be survivor bias. The machines that were not accurate decades ago got replaced eventually with machines that were accurate enough. This is a major reason why older machines that are still in use today tend to be “better made” than newer machines. It isn’t that, out of the new machines being manufactured today, at a significant fraction of them are probably made as well or better, but 50 years from now, only those well made machines will still be in use from this era. This is also why you rarely find Yugos on the road today, but you can find plenty of Toyota Corollas from that same era still out there. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508/93 "2015-09-14T04:59:19Z")
In Chicago, [Buckingham Fountain has three big pumps,](http://www.wbez.org/series/curious-city/nice-pipes-inner-workings-buckingham-fountain-112844) each one being original 1927 DeLaval hardware. ---
**Author:** ![Ken001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/43a26b/32.png) [@Ken001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ken001)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508/94 "2015-09-14T09:58:42Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > And surely some Dopers have a treadle Singer (or other brand) sewing machine. This are still available brand-new in developing nations such as the Pacific Islands where electricity is intermittent or none. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508/95 "2015-09-14T11:03:25Z")
The clock at St. Etienne Cathedral in Beauvais, France gets a good many mentions, mainly as a tourist attraction. Unlike the Salisbury clock, it’s provenance does not seem to have been authenticated and I can find no drawings or pictures of the mechanism. It should not be confused with the much later and more elaborate astrological clock at the same location. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508/96 "2015-09-14T14:21:04Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **Dorjän** : > > The Center Street Swing Bridge in Cleveland, OH has been operating since 1901. I’m certain I remember it being heavily refurbished, back when I was a kid. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508/97 "2015-09-14T14:45:13Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’m certain I remember it being heavily refurbished, back when I was a kid. It was rehabilitated in 1989 and again in 2010. Both rehabilitation projects were for the mechanical and electrical components. The structural components of the bridge are still mostly original. ---
**Author:** ![dr\_zippermeyer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c0e974/32.png) [@dr\_zippermeyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dr_zippermeyer)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508/98 "2015-09-14T15:03:48Z")
WWII era C-46 cargo planes are still being used in their original role [http://www.icepilots.com/fleet\_c46.php](http://www.icepilots.com/fleet_c46.php) ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508/99 "2015-09-14T17:48:11Z")
Bottle and can openers. And they are machines, not mere tools! That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2015, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508/100 "2015-09-16T12:59:23Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Bottle and can openers. And they are machines, not mere tools! That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Can openers have been around less long than cans. By quite a margin. :smack: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508.md?page=6)