The photo above show the sack hoist in the Prairie Mill.  The sack hoist lifts sacks of grain from the meal floor (the ground floor of the Prairie Mill) to either the stone floor or the sack hoist floor.  The grain would then be loaded into a bin or hopper for grinding.

To lift a sack of grain, the miller ties the sack hoist rope around the top of a grain sack.  He then releases the hand rope that is tied to the sack hoist lever.  The friction wheel drops onto the friction ring on the main spindle.  The friction ring turns the friction wheel and the windlass, which winds the sack hoist rope around the windlass and lifts the sack.  The sack goes through two trap doors, one in each floor.

When the miller pulls on the hand rope, the sack hoist lever lifts the friction wheel off the friction ring.  A chain on the end of the sack hoist rope unwinds the rope and drops back to the meal floor.

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