Visit



On Sale Now

cover



Farm-related videos online! Check out the Farm Collector video index on YouTube, the quickest way to find farm-related videos on the Internet. We've done the searching, all you have to do is the watching! Click below for the Farm Collector video index.



RSS 0.91
RSS 1.0
RSS 2.0
ATOM 0.3
OPML




Page 3 of 3

"The build-up of grime, grease and oil decreased the engines' life spans, Randy said. Before the development of the pressure cleaner, there was no way to keep the engines clean. And early grease and oil products did not match the quality of today's products. Decades ago, the massive engines were routinely retired early, cast aside to be consumed by rust, or hauled off for scrap.

Big as it is - weighing in at 12 tons, and dwarfing most other tractors - Randy's Russell is one of the smaller steam engines.

"It was used for the sawmill, or to pull threshing machines from farm to farm, or pull a water wagon," he said. "This engine was not built heavy enough, though, to plow with."

Everything about steam engines speaks of a group effort. It takes more than one man to load the engine, and another to operate equipment to move it. That teamwork is part of the fun for Randy. He also enjoys the educational aspects of showing the Russell at events like the Strawberry Festival.

The image that comes to mind when Randy stokes the burner with wood and shows off the huge engine to admirers is one of threshing. Pictures of the huge machines belching smoke as the thresher separates grain from chaff remind today's farmers of yesterday's labor, back when a massive steam engine was "The Boss" of the crew.

Cindy Ladage is a freelance writer based in Virden, Ill.


<< Start < Prev 1 2 3 Next > End >>