HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1987-08-12, Page 5THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12, 1987. PAGE 5.
The way it used to be
Preparations for the Huron Pioneer Thresher Reunion
bring living memories of harvests of the past
Every year the Huron Pioneer
Thresher Reunion in Blyth gives a
taste of the past to thousands of
visitors. The sights, the sounds
and the smells of earlier days, days
ofclanking threshing machines
and hooting steam tractors are
brought to life again.
Part of the re-enactment is the
actual threshing of grain with a
huffing steam engine powering a
threshing machine. But to make
those moments of reality happen,
weeks before some of the volun
teers relive another moment from
Frank Hallahan scratches his head wondering what to do next to repair the tempermental binder while his
father Dan takes a crack at the job. The old tricks that kept cantankerous binders going have to be dredged
up from the memory.
Back in the driver’s seat 81-year-old Dan Hallahan recalls the many
hours he spent on the seat of a binder in the days before combines took
over the harvesting chore.
farming days gone by: the cutting
and stooking of the grain.
Lastweek on a beautiful fresh
sunny afternoon the cutting of the
grain for this year’s Thresher
Reunion took place. Memories of
times gone by come flooding back
as Frank Hallahan, his father Dan
and Norman Cook get the tractor
and binder ready for work in an
oat-field on Frank’s Westfield
area farm.
Binders, as did many of the
machines of the era, seem to take
on an almost human personality,
and today the mood of the binder
seems to be cantankerous, as befits
being hauled out of rest to work at
its advanced age.
No sooner are the trucks (wheels
used for transporting the binder
that are taken off when field work is
to begin) removed than there is a
problemwiththetongue. Sweat
and dirt and grease intermingle as
Frank squeezes under a corner of
the binder trying to tighten the
elusive nut. Finally, they have to
unhook the binder from the tractor,
tip the machine back on its derriere
and, after it’s blocked up, Frank is
able, finally to reach the bolt and
tighten it.
The binder’s tipped back down,
the tractor hooked on again and
with a flic of the crank Frank has the
ancient McCormick tractor purr
ing; and with Norman on the seat,
they’re off, into the field, the
canvass slapping, the mower blade
clacking, the reels raggedly stepp
ing their way through the grain like
a gingerly spider. The binder spits
out sheaves every few feet as it
makes its leisurely way around the
field.
But as it completes the first
round there’s a call of “whoa! ”
from Norman on the seat of the
binder and the operation grinds to
a halt. The “table” canvass, the
one right behind the cutting blade
that transports the cut stalks of
grain up to the knotter that ties the
sheaf with a loop of twine, has
stopped moving.
Investigation shows a buckle for
tightening the canvas has broken
away from the strap. Old memories
dredge up how similar problems
were solved in the past. Stubborn
fingers try to put the old skills to
work, skills long since useless with
huge modern combines.
Finally the strap is fixed, the
binder is on its way again and this
time it all works until the required
number of sheaves are left lying on
the ground. (The rest of the field
will be left to the combine.)
Later, in the cool of the evening,
a half-dozen more volunteers
arrive to put the sheaves into
stooks to dry until they’re needed
for the threshing demonstration.
Photos and story
by Keith Rouiston
Sometimes things run well and a scene from days gone by is played out on the East Wawanosh tarm where
the oat crop for this year’s Thresher Reunion is grown. Frank Hallahan drives the tractor while Norman
Cook keeps a watchful eye from the seat on the binder.