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HomeMy WebLinkAbout31st Annual Huron Pioneer Thresher & Hobby Association 1992 Reunion, 1992-09-09, Page 5THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 1992. PAGE A-5. Steam engines9 glory days relived at Reunion Who can ever forget, young or old, their first sight of one of those huge steam engines slowly moving across the open terrain. Impressive in both design and All Steamed Up The big steam traction engines are the showpiece and the pride and joy of Blyth’s annual Thresher Reunion. These big engines operate with a steam pressure of 150 to 200 pounds per square inch. More tractors on display yearly appearance, the old steam engines were all built along the same line, but no two are alike. Often weighing more than 45,000 pounds and getting up to 120 horsepower, the steam engines operate with a steam pressure of 150 to 200 pounds per square inch. The steam traction engine may have reached the heights of its glory around 1910, but you can still relive those days at Blyth's annual Thresher Reunion. Raymond Hallahan is in charge of the steam engine exhibition this year. In the past, he has acted as committee chairman and director, and for the past two years he has been president of the Huron Pioneer Thresher and Hobby Association. Raymond says he has attended every show there ever was for the past 31 years. His interest was started through his father, Billy PROPERLY TILED FARM LAND IS A NECESSITY! OUR CREW IS READY AND WAITING FOR YOUR CALL • allows better crop rotation a yielding crops • increases land value Ron McCallum 887-6428 We install Call the experts drainage tubing KMM FARM DRAINAGE Joe Hallahan, one of the founding members. This year, he says, they expect more of the large traction engines than in previous years. Last year there were 12 present at the weekend show. Many of those coming this year, Raymond says, are invited every year. The farthest distance they generally haul from is the Milton Agricultural Museum. They try to stay within 100 mile radius of Blyth, he says; to bring anything further heeds the permission of the Committee Board. The huge traction engines are either transported individually or a float service is provided. To be displayed in public showings, Raymond says, the boilers must be inspected annually for Dractical safety reasons. Continued from A-4 Jeff says the show has grown considerably over the years, estimating it to be at least a third larger than say 10 years ago. This year Jeff expects to have about 200 entries in the gas tractor show. The furthest entry he has heard from so far, will be making the journey from the Milton area. Jeff personally knows the appeal the old gas tractors have for the many exhibitors, for he has spent many long hours himself restoring two antique tractors. Like most owners, he can vouch for the fact that a lot of pride and hard work goes into restoring an antique tractor to make it look, work and run the way it used to. He first discovered an old Oliver in an old bam of an acquaintance, and then got a John Deere Diesel from his father Bruce and his uncle Bill Andrews, who make trips to western Canada to buy old tractors. He had to rebuild the pup engine and the diesel engine of the John Deere, fix the injection pumps for the engines, replace the lights and have metal work done on the tractor's body, put three gears in the transmission and fix the clutch. Jeff has just recently finished restoring a 1966 John Deere 110 lawntractor, a "mini" to go with his larger model. He no longer has the old Oliver, having sold it to a couple of gentlemen from Austria at Bill Vincent's Antique Tractor Show this summer. The biggest problem, Jeff says, with the restored tractors is that after being stored all winter the generators and alternators keep going on them. They need to be used all the time to be kept in running condition, he says. He recommends a basic check every year and a changing of all oils and fluids in the spring. The engines themselves are usually in pretty good shape as they have generally been redone as part of the restoration process. General maintainance on the antique tractors isn't really much of a chore, for as Jeff explains "There's really not that much to the old girls, not like today's tractors." Perhaps this is their largest,appeal, the "old girls" not only represent an era that revolutionized farming, but also a time when everything seemed so much simpler and less complicated. 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