For endless months, it seems, tractor shows are held every weekend. Then, one day, you look up and see geese overhead. The trees have dropped their leaves. In the Midwest, the weather changes. And suddenly, just like that, fall gives way to winter and shows are hard to find.
On these pages, the armchair traveler can drop back to show season. Photos taken by Farm Collector readers capture sights that are unique to one place but familiar to all. You can almost hear the chug-chug of a two-cylinder tractor; you can practically smell the coal smoke.
This year’s selection of photos celebrates simple pleasures. There is nothing remarkable about making homemade ice cream or playing a game of checkers on a shaded porch, and we’ve all seen shop-built conveyances and threshing demonstrations and restored tractors. But we like seeing these scenes, and we like spending time with others who feel the same way.
If your access to a show is limited this time of year, the photos on these pages are just what the doctor ordered. Toss another log on the fire and settle in with Farm Collector readers’ favorite shots from 2024!
– Farm Collector
Photography is a matter of perspective, as shown in this shot of Ryan Hembrough appearing to exhale flames at the Midwest Old Threshers Reunion in August 2023.
J.T. Buice with his son Beau at the Texas Early Day Tractor & Engine Assn. Show in October in Temple.
This 1941 John Deere Type W stationary engine was on display at the Greenville (Ohio) Power of the Past show in July. The Greenville group hosted the Ohio Two-Cylinder Club and featured John Deere tractors, equipment, garden tractors and gas engines.
During the 50th annual Le Sueur County (Minn.) Pioneer Power show in August, Dave Preuhs was captured next to the 28-inch Red River threshing machine he used at the very first show on his farm.
The crew of a 1920 Overland touring car on display at the Leduc West Antique Society show, Leduc, Alberta, Canada, in July was resplendent in period clothing (left to right): Garth and Bonny Glover, Rocky Mountain House, Alberta, and Sharlene and Les Bjork, Leslieville, Alberta.
A 1920 Overland Model 4 touring car on display at the Leduc West Antique Society show in July.
Cousins Kevin Hembrough and Christopher Hembrough prepare to run a 6hp McCormick Deering gas engine at the Fall Festival Days & Steam Show, Jacksonville, Ill., Sept. 22-24. Kevin is the son of Richard and Sheila Hembrough; Christopher is the son of Ryan and Becky Hembrough, all of Jacksonville.
Beverly Terlisner, St. Cloud, Minn., at the wheel of the 1953 Ford Jubilee tractor owned by her and her husband, Loren. Beverly drove the tractor in the Albany Pioneer Days parade in Albany, Minn., in mid-September.
Glen Braun, Le Center, Minn. (left), one of the founders of the Le Sueur County (Minn.) Pioneer Power Show, takes a minute to visit with his nephew, Lee Braun, during the group’s 50th anniversary show in August 2023.
Harnessing a team of work horses at the Le Sueur County (Minn.) Pioneer Power Show in August 2023.
Video games may be a strong pull for many kids, but cousins Kevin Hembrough and Christopher Hembrough found time for a game of good old-fashioned checkers at the Midwest Old Threshers Reunion in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, in August 2023.
Scott Moormeier takes the fun with him when he loads grandkids for a ride behind a 706 Farmall owned by Donelle Moormeier. Shown here, during the Red Power Round Up in Grand Island, Neb., In June 2023: Caydence Kuss, Claira Brandt and Kendyll Brandt with their mother, Betsy.
Howard Stemen’s favorite tractor lineup (left to right): Co-op No. 2, John Deere MT, IHC Super C, Case Model S, Cockshutt 30, Oliver 60, Massey-Harris 101, Ford 960, Farmall 300, Allis-Chalmers WD, Massey-Harris 44 Special, Minneapolis-Moline Z, Farmall 560, Ford 9000, International Harvester 856 and John Deere 4020.
Finley Hettinger, 2023 Cass County 4-H Fair Queen, takes a ride in the justreassembled1926 Ford Model T during the Tip Wa Antique Tractor & Engine Show, Walton, Ind., in September 2023. The vintage car is driven by owner Terry Bell, Russiaville, Ind.
Business is blooming at the tire dealer in Mediapolis, Iowa, where owner Herschel Smuck combines interests in antique farm machinery and gardening to create a unique floral display. Flowers are grown in pots shallow enough that they are not visible above the side of the elevator. Flowers in the vertical part of the display are planted in a plastic sewer pipe notched to hold pots at an angle, creating an effect of flowers pouring onto the ground.
A 1910 30hp Minneapolis steam engine owned by Dan Wyman, Le Center, Minn., is getting steam up on a foggy early morning at the Le Sueur County (Minn.) Pioneer Power show in August 2023.
Jerry Green, Frankfort, Ind., with his display of model engines at the annual Tip Wa Antique Tractor & Engine Show, Walton, Ind., in September 2023. Jerry has been handcrafting and displaying the engines for many years. In the background: Gil Zimmerman’s 1913 Case steam engine.
Dubbed “The Pink Lady,” this Allis-Chalmers tractor stood out from the rest at the Greenville (Ohio) Farm Power of the Past show in July 2023.
In a scene almost as old as time, Richard Hembrough prepares to make homemade ice cream at the Midwest Old Threshers Reunion in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, last August.
Surrounded by components, Terry Bell (center) coaches Justin Roller, Jodie Schmitt, Jim Musselman and Jerry Roller on the assembly of a 1926 Ford Model T. As part of a demonstration of Henry Ford’s assembly line process during the annual Tip Wa Antique Tractor & Engine Show, Walton, Ind., in September, this car was totally taken apart, re-assembled and driven away, all in just over 7 minutes.
In an idyllic setting on a beautiful summer day, a full house takes in the tractor pull at the Le Sueur County (Minn.) Pioneer Power Show in August 2023.
Kevin Hembrough takes his home-built tractor – powered by an antique Witte gas engine – for a spin at the Fall Festival Days & Steam Show, Jacksonville, Ill., Sept. 22-24.
Jason Hedrick, West Lafayette, Ind., on his beautifully restored 1948 Cockshutt Model 60 during the annual Tip Wa Poker Run. During an organized parade through Walton, each driver picks up a card from each of the five designated spots. At the final stop at the showgrounds, the driver with the highest hand wins a hat and a T-shirt.
