In traction
Bruce Eberling (l) and Colin Farquhar operate the 65-hp 1916 Case steam traction engine powering the threshing machine.
Photo: Dave Bedard
Steamy work
At nearly a century old, this Case steam traction engine still operates each year at the Manitoba Agricultural Museum.
Photo: Dave Bedard
By the forkload
Lisa Roy forks stooked wheat into a 28-inch 1952 McCormick Deering threshing machine.
Photo: Dave Bedard
By the forkload
Lisa Roy feeds wheat to the threshing machine.
Photo: Dave Bedard
People-powered
Lisa Roy and Erron Leafloor handle the task of forking stooked wheat into the thresher.
Photo: Dave Bedard
Feeding the thresher
Ryan Down mans this 1952 McCormick Deering threshing machine.
Photo: Dave Bedard
Belt-driven
A near-century-old steam engine drives the belt powering the threshing unit.
Photo: Dave Bedard
Belt-driven
A closer look at the belt -- but not too close.
Photo: Dave Bedard
Loading up
A 1951 Deere MT pulls the wagon.
Photo: Dave Bedard
Loading up
Volunteers load up the last stooks of red spring wheat to finish the threshing demonstration.
Photo: Dave Bedard
Spring wheat
The yield from the morning's work.
Photo: Dave Bedard
The end result
The estimated yield from just about an acre's worth of stooks: 46 bushels of red spring wheat.
Photo: Dave Bedard
Out back
All that's left is to find a home for the straw and chaff from the morning's demonstration.
Photo: Dave Bedard
Blowing off steam
A detail shot of the Case engine (artificially aged via the Snapseed app for iPhone).
Photo: Dave Bedard
Done for the day
One last look from behind the Case's wheel.
Photo: Dave Bedard
Volunteers from the Canadian Foodgrains Bank and Manitoba Agricultural Museum brought their skills, and their iron, to Winnipeg Tuesday to show the sort of work a world-record threshing bee is made of.
The demonstration of old-school threshing was held at the Red River Exhibition fairgrounds as a preview of Harvesting Hope, an event scheduled for July 31 next year at Austin during the Manitoba Threshermen’s Reunion.
Harvesting Hope organizers expect to have over 500 volunteers from about 100 communities, sourcing equipment from as far away as Ontario and Minnesota, with net proceeds to benefit the Canadian Foodgrains Bank and the Manitoba Agricultural Museum.
To break the record for the world’s largest threshing bee, organizers said, all threshing machines involved must operate simultaneously and continuously for at least 15 minutes, and must be driven by a steam engine, tractor or stationary engine built between 1890 and 1950.
The standing record was just set on Saturday (Aug. 15) at Festival de la Curd at St-Albert, Ont., with 111 machines operating, breaking the previous record of 41, set at another Foodgrains Bank fundraiser in 2013, at the Olde Tyme Harvest at Langenburg, Sask.
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