RICHLAND COUNTY STEAM THRESHERS—

Wood smoke filled the air along with the marvelously antique sounds of a calliope as the threshers celebrated their 53rd annual reunion recently on rural SR 603 near Mifflin.

Paul Ward of Lexington had his Peerless Model Q 1897 vintage, steam powered tractor at the show while Roland Brodbeck from Michigan displayed his 1924 Nichols & Shepherd 20/75 horsepower model which weighed in somewhere near a very hefty 15 tons.

Broadbeck explained the 20 horsepower was the draw bar rating while the tractor could sustain 75 horses worth of power while operating its belt driven accessories. His big machine (pictured above) would be worth between 20,000 and $30,000 on today’s market.

These machines enjoyed their prime years between 1900 and the 1920s on the farms of America.

Wards “Geiser” model tractor cost $1,300 new and takes nearly two hours of boiler firing to reach its 100 pounds of steam pressure necessary for operating.

After sweating over yet another reload of wood in his tractor’s boiler Ward quipped, “Makes one appreciate the internal combustion engine.”

In fact, that is what led to the demise of these delightful brutes of machinery. Farmers of the day quickly adapted to filling the tank with gasoline and turning a key to start their newer model tractors.

Shawn Volz, of Lexington, also was there with his ageless, belt driven hammer mill which was busy making chicken feed out of a generous supply of dried corn on the husk.

He also was showing his collection of “Hit and Miss” engines from the early 1900s. New, these machines ranging from 4 to 8 horsepower, cost between $130 and $220 from the Sears and Roebuck Company.

They still fuss and pop and snort a lot as they lumber along in their role of historical reenactment only occasionally needing a drink of water and a few squirts of oil to keep their moving joints loose.

All in all, the event really is a bunch of boys playing with their antique toys while sharing with appreciative onlookers these amazing machines that bridged the gap between actual horse power and today’s incredibly complex and powerful farm machines.