These pictures show a Fuller & Johnson horse-drawn corn planter dating to the late 1880s. The planter was donated to the Badger Steam & Gas Engine Club by the Curtis family of Lodi, Wisconsin.
When we received the corn planter, it was rusty. Its wooden parts were well-deteriorated, but intact enough that copies could be made of white oak. Metal parts were sandblasted, primed and painted. A cast iron seat was found and reproduced. “Bonanza” was the trade name for this planter.
Club members Verne Kindschi and Lyle Opperman took over this project and had a lot of fun with it. The planter, Fuller & Johnson gas engines, implements and machinery are displayed at the Fuller & Johnson Museum at the Badger Steam & Gas Engine show grounds on Sand Road north of Baraboo, Wisconsin. For more information, visit the member page established by Lyle Opperman and Verne Kindschi on the club website:Badger Steam and Gas Engine Club.
Lyle Opperman, Baraboo, Wisconsin
