Ball mill
A low stone mill under a shed roof. Grain in the hopper. A padded leather yoke seats on both balls—or the root base if the foreman posts it. The beam runs to the mill arm. You walk circles. The stone turns. Flour falls. Oxen use shoulders. Here the sack takes the pull.
Clean wage set
Yoke on. Hands free of the bag. Pace steady enough that the flour tally climbs. The foreman watches turns, not speeches. Stop without leave and the cock shock ring reads idle. Crooked shuffle that spares the balls does not fill the bag—the stone knows.
Two-man yoke is allowed on clean days: opposite sides of the beam, matched step. Release pin on the yoke if the Boss posted one. Flour weight is the proof. Pay follows the chalked quota on the shed wall.
Under penalty
Required turn rate is double the clean flour pace. Slow circles void. No partner on the beam unless the Boss writes an exception. Premium clamps and continuous shock ring stay on. When the quota bag is full there is no aftercare—no balm desk, no soak credit. You unyoke raw and walk to the next charted job or the woodshed.
House line
Ranch talk: the mill does not care whose name is on the wage roll. It cares whether the stone turned fast enough. Men under sentence learn the difference between a clean circle and a counted one in their sack before the flour cools.