Custom Threshers GOT THE JOB DONE

They hail from all over the Midwest and Great Plains; places like Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, the Dakotas and Colorado. As they arrive on the north side of town, make their way through town and then out again, they bring with them an air of anticipation and excitement…

Back down the line

This being the May issue and with wheat harvest nearly underway here on the Great Plains, I thought we might visit over a picture of a harvest crew. Before we talk about the actual crew, let’s look at the equipment. You can make out Minneapolis on both the steam engine and the thresher. I assume both were built by Minneapolis Threshing Machine Co., Hopkins, Minnesota. The threshing machine looks like it is constructed mainly of wood. The steam engine is putting out a bit of smoke, so the boiler must be warmed up.

What I found really interesting is the barrel mounted in front of the smoke stack; it looks like it has a hose of some type attached to it. I assume that barrel holds water, but I wonder: Was it used for the engine or maybe mounted up there in case of a fire? I suspect one of you readers will be able to help me out.

While we are talking about the barrel, the two