AN HISTORIC piece of machinery, which represents more than 100 years of early farming history in the region, will be preserved for all time at the Pringle Cottage complex thanks to a group of hardworking volunteers.

Crowds of locals gathered at the Warwick and District Historical Society's museum yesterday for the unveiling of a fully restored corn thresher, dating back to the late 1800s.

The corn thresher, a rarity due to the fact it's primarily wooden, was found in a shed on a property in Swan Creek - owned by long-time farming family, the Wiedmans.

Warwick and District Historical Society president Janice Flood told the crowd that the thresher would have pumped out as many as 137 bags of corn a day.

"It's rare that a thresher like this would survive as wooden machinery tends to deteriorate over the years," she said.

"At one time many of these would have been seen about the district."

Among the historical society volunteers who remembered seeing the threshers in action was Bernie Stephens, who helped restore the historic piece of machinery back to its former glory.

"By the early 1950s these would have been pulled into a shed and never used again," he said.

"We had a lot of experience putting it together. For John Eastwell it was a miracle to do those boards so great."

The thresher had long sat in the shed of the Wiedman family property, and was used by Graham Wiedman's pop.

"As kids growing up we thought it was the greatest plaything ever," he said.

"They've always been on the farm. It's great to see it here fully restored."

Money to build a shade structure around the thresher was funded by the Southern Downs Regional Council to the tune of $6000.

Representing the council at the unveiling, Mayor Peter Blundell passed on his congratulations to the dedicated volunteers.

"All too often machinery such as this sits in a paddock and rots away. We lose the history," he said.

"This is a wonderful marking of the passage of time. I think it's absolutely fantastic."

Work is currently under way to restore and find a new resting site for an even bigger wheat thresher, which the Wiedman family has also donated to the historical society.