working

One of the huge machines pulls away from it's holding spot and lumbers over to the threshing area. These machines are not graceful when they move but they are powerful when they are working.

The Case tractor pulls at a distance behind the thresher, which is belt driven. Farm hands attach the belt, one end on the steam tractor and the other on the thresher......and work begins. It takes awhile and a good amount of hard work for the men to feed the contents of the loaded haywagon into the thresher. They work in unison, lifting each pitchfork full into the air and the waiting jaws of the old machine.

This was dangerous work. As a young farm boy in the 1930's my stepfather slipped and fell into the thresher, losing a leg. It was every farm woman's nightmare as they carried his wounded body back to the farmhouse. He was only 12 years old. There were many, many farm accidents back then.