Tractor pull spectators covered the hillside at the Le Sueur County (Minn.) Pioneer Power show on Aug. 27, 2011. “Antique construction equipment is shown at front, the stationary steam building is at the back, as well as the sawmill,” writes Dave Preuhs, Le Center, Minn., who sent the photo. “We moved in a 1902 church, double corn crib and granary, and built a new country store for the 2011 show."
Photo by Andrea Griep, Le Center, Minn
2 / 33
A four-horse team plowing at Heritage Park Steam Threshing Days in Forest City, Iowa.
Photo by Pam Olson, Kensett, Iowa
3 / 33
People provided the “horsepower” for the working dedication of a seven-pole/14-horse sweep unit held during Spring Farming Days at the Eastern Washington Agricultural Museum, Pomeroy, Wash., in April 2011. The sweep unit was used to power a stationary thresher and other stationary farm equipment from 1885 to 1900.
Photo by Bud Henderson, Lewiston, Idaho
4 / 33
Pat Galasso, Clear Lake, Iowa, tried her hand at milking a model cow at the Steam Threshing Days Festival at Heritage Park of North Iowa in Forest City, Iowa, Sept. 16-18, 2011. The model was provided by the Cerro Gordo County Fair, Mason City, Iowa.
Photo by Renee Small, Thompson, Iowa
5 / 33
You don’t see this at every antique tractor show: The 1st Cavalry Division’s horse cavalry detachment, Fort Hood, Texas, gave a demonstration at the Buckholts (Texas) Cotton Festival June 4, 2011. In the background: cotton trailers.
Photo by M.J. Hall, Red Oak, Texas
6 / 33
“On April 16, 2011, my two sons and I lined up our antique tractors in the yard and took the aerial photo from the manure scoop,” Carl Baumann writes. “Our fleet of six 2-cylinder tractors is a work in progress, as one week after these pictures were taken a tornado hit our farm, destroying seven farm buildings and three concrete 18-by-50 silos. The antique tractors suffered varying amounts of damage, all of which can be fixed. The pictures taken the week before have become very special.”
Photo by Janet Baumann, Highland, Ill
7 / 33
Hay-stacking demonstration during the Andersons’ Rock Creek Relics Threshing and Sawing Show Sept. 10-11, 2011, Rush City, Minn.
Photo by Judy Anderson, Rush City, Minn
8 / 33
“Kevin Hembrough loves gas engines,” writes photographer Janet Healy. “He’s been trying to start an engine since he started walking.” Here Kevin is trying to start his granddad’s (Kevin Hembrough) 1-1/2 hp Stover at the Steam Show and Fall Festival, South Jacksonville, Ill., Sept. 23-25, 2011. Kevin is the son of Richard and Sheila Hembrough.
Photo by Janet Healy, Fulton, Mo.
9 / 33
Engines on the move at a Ceresco, Neb., show.
Photo by Susan Eddy, Numa, Iowa
10 / 33
Field demonstrations at the Albert City, Iowa, show, where, as the photographer notes, “any John Deere will do.”
Photo by Pam Olson
11 / 33
David Walker, Macon, Mo., carries on family tradition by helping start a Superior gas engine that belonged to his father, the late Dale Walker, at the Midwest Old Threshers Reunion, Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, Sept. 1-5, 2011.
Photo by Janet Healy
12 / 33
“This is my 1916 Rock Island 2 hp engine at the Inman, Ga., show,” Allen Knight writes. “I removed the background from the photo so that I could use the picture on my business card.” The engine (serial no. A32723) was manufactured by Alamo Blue Line for Rock Island Plow Co.
Photo by Allen Knight, Peachtree City, Ga.
13 / 33
Bill Ingram, Clarkston, Wash., put the finishing touches on a handsomely restored 1922 Fairbanks-Morse Model YH 25 hp engine at its “homecoming” during the Garfield County Fair in Pomeroy, Wash., in September 2011. Bill purchased the single-cylinder semi-diesel engine in Portland, Ore., and restored it over an 18-month period before learning that the engine was originally used in Garfield County.
Photo by Teresa Bingman, Pomeroy, Wash.
14 / 33
At the Missouri River Valley Steam Engine Assn. show, Boonville, Mo., Charles Atkinson, Centralia, Mo., prepares to start one of the club’s engines, a 300 hp Fairbanks-Morse.
Photo by Janet Healy
15 / 33
Mike Healy and Richard Hembrough line up engines at the Jacksonville, Ill., Steam Show and Fall Festival Sept. 23-25, 2011.
Photo by Susan Eddy
16 / 33
A 35-70 Minneapolis pulling a 10-bottom platform plow during the Andersons’ Rock Creek Threshing and Sawing Show.
Photo by Judy Anderson
17 / 33
Nancy (Anderson) Seifert parading a 1919 Titan 10-20 at the Andersons’ Rock Creek Threshing and Sawing Show Sept. 10-11, 2011.
Photo by Judy Anderson
18 / 33
Craig Babington and Clarence Reed start an engine at a show in Exline, Iowa.
Photo by Susan Eddy
19 / 33
The next generation of steam. Young engineers Scott Evans (left) and Nicholas Swanz (right) watch the proceedings at Heritage Park Steam Threshing Days in Forest City, Iowa.
Photo by Pam Olson
20 / 33
A Deering header owned by Kenny Mathieu paired with Roy Drake’s and Dennis Klein’s Percherons cutting wheat at the Humboldt, S.D., threshing show in August 2011.
Photo by Steve Schroeder, Humboldt, S.D.
21 / 33
Controlled power: A unique perspective and good timing make this photo of an Emerson-Brantingham 60 hp steam engine particularly compelling. Photo taken at the Ozarks Steam Engine Assn. Steam-O-Rama in Republic, Mo., Sept. 17-18, 2011.
Photo by Lindsey Johnson, Republic, Mo.
22 / 33
Against a backdrop of the Bitterroot Mountains, Jerry Lemon’s 1941 John Deere Model A (driven by Bob Thorson, Corvallis, Mont.) pulls Jerry’s 1930s-vintage John Deere tractor-powered 8-foot binder.
Photo by Barbara Staats, Corvallis, Mont.
23 / 33
Scale model steam traction engines displayed at the Steam Threshing Days Festival. Front to back: a Gaar-Scott and a Case owned by Lawrence Swanz, Zimmerman, Minn.; Case 110 and Woods Bros. engines owned by Jerred Ruble, Hanlontown, Iowa; and a Case owned by Jim Evans, Iowa Falls, Iowa, and Monte Topp, Fertile, Iowa.
Photo by Jon Beilke
24 / 33
Taking a spin around the show grounds during the Steam Threshing Days Festival at Heritage Park of North Iowa in Forest City, Iowa, Sept. 16-18, 2011: Engineers Kenneth Sellers, Clear Lake, Iowa, and Jerrad Knutson, Forest City, Iowa, aboard a 1902 Rumely 15 hp steam engine owned by Jerred Ruble, Hanlontown, Iowa.
Photo by Jon Beilke, White Bear Lake, Minn
25 / 33
Carolyn Senkel was all smiles at the wheel of the Farmall Model H she and her husband, Hal, restored. The tractor was part of the festivities at the Buckholts (Texas) Cotton Festival, June 4, 2011.
Photo by M.J. Hall
26 / 33
This 1947 Dodge truck, owned by Dale Rudy, Duncannon, Pa., was among the displays at the 26th annual Sherman’s Valley Heritage Days, Blain, Pa., Oct. 7-9, 2011.
Photo by David Casner, Loysville, Pa.
27 / 33
Chris Bolling driving a 1959 Ferguson TO-35 owned by Robert E. Thomas, Butler, Mo., during a July 4 parade in Adrian, Mo. The tractor was originally purchased by Bud Thomas, Robert’s uncle, to maintain Rose Hill Cemetery, Lisbon, Mo. After his uncle’s death, Robert spent three years restoring the Ferguson.
Photo by Debbie Thomas
28 / 33
John Swanson’s John Deere Model 50 and Joe Kleckner’s John Deere Model B, cultivating check-planted corn at the Heritage Power Assn. show, Genoa, Neb., in August 2011.
Photo by John Swanson, Lincoln, Neb.
29 / 33
“This is my grandson Gabriel, not quite 2 years old,” Jean Leclair writes. “He is showing his grandfather (Ray Leclair) how to drive the 1940 John Deere Model H at the Central Massachusetts Steam, Gas & Machinery Assn. Show June 25 at the Orange (Mass.) Airport.”
Photo by Jean Leclair, Winchendon, Mass.
30 / 33
Old iron and sunflowers make a classic partnership at the Andersons’ Rock Creek Relics Threshing and Sawing Show.
Photo by Judy Anderson
31 / 33
An action shot from the greased pig contest held during the Steam Threshing Days Festival at Heritage Park of North Iowa in Forest City, Iowa, Sept. 16-18, 2011. “The pig,” writes Wyndham Sellers, Clear Lake, Iowa, who sent the photo, “appears to be winning.”
Photo by Renee Small
32 / 33
John Maley’s 1938 Allis-Chalmers B. “This is a working tractor (though the belly mower is not shown), and as you can see it does not have a pampered life,” John writes. “It is a landmark in Thompsons Corner as I keep it ‘styled’ in my front yard.”
Photo by John Maley, Thomsons Corner, Md.
33 / 33
Go to enough shows, and sooner or later you’ll see a scene like this one. “This was at the Ozarks Steam Engine Assn. Steam-O-Rama in Republic, Mo. Sept. 17-18, 2011,” Lindsey Johnson writes. “This was their 50th Anniversary show and it rained all weekend. It may not have been the best weather for visitors to the show, but it sure made for some amazing pictures.”
Photo by Lindsey Johnson
Got those midwinter blues? Shake ’em off with a look at our readers’ best photos from the most recent show season. We think this year’s crop of photos is the best ever but go ahead: You be the judge!
What do we look for in show photos? First, quality. The image must meet better-than-average standards in focus and exposure. Then, in no particular order, we’re looking for a compelling subject, rich color, faces rather than backsides, composition and creativity.
We invite you to spend a bit of time with these photos; put yourself behind the lens and imagine what the photographer went through to capture the image. Some of these shots were the result of nothing more than luck and good timing, but others show discipline, skill and passion. If you’ve ever worked with old iron, that’s something you can relate to. FC
Click on the Image Gallery to see the collection of Show Season 2011 Photos.
More, online! Visit Farm Collector’s Show Photos to see more readers’ favorites from the 2011 show season. And if you missed the chance to send a photo for this issue, it’s not too late to show off your favorite shots: Just post them on the Farm Collector CU photo sharing website. It’s a great way to share your favorite photos of tractors, gas engines, steam engines, memorabilia, club events and more – and it’s all free! Check it out today at CU FarmCollector.
Do you have a special place in your heart for the good old days of life on the American farm? Do your ears perk up at the sound of an old Johnny Popper John Deere? Do your eyes widen at the sight of a vintage Stover stationary? Then Farm Collector is for you!