Old Threshers Reunion, Mt. Pleasant Ia (Pictures added)

IL Bull · August 21, 2007, 08:46:13 AM

Is any one going to the Old Threshers Reunion in Mt. Pleasant Iowa? ???
IL Bull and Brother Bull will be there with our lovely wives. We will be wearing our Forestry Forum hats.
It runs from Thursday, Aug. 30 thru Monday Sept. 3.
Hope to see ya there. 8) We will be there Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
We are drawn to the steam power sawmill like fleas to a dog. ;D :D

thecfarm · August 21, 2007, 09:56:30 AM

Someday the wife and I are going to one of these Reunion.I'm sick and tired of watching it on RFD.The sights and sounds are great.But the smells are a lot to desire. :D I want to see those big machines up close and feel them rumble by and feel the heat and smell the exhaust.Just like I wanted a sawmill.I got it and other toys too.This will happen someday.

leweee · August 21, 2007, 12:50:24 PM

I think it is the LARGEST Steam show in North America.

Take pictures of all the sawdust makers. ;D
I would love to see pictures of a Shingle Mill. 8)

thecfarm · August 21, 2007, 03:07:08 PM

Do you mean like this one leweee?

There are 2 more closeup in my gallery if you want to go see them.They are in my shingle mill album.

RichlandSawyer · August 22, 2007, 12:15:37 PM

I probably wont make it over to Mt Pleasant this year but when you get there look for the Case steam engine in the picture below. The fellar running this engine is Bob, he is my brother and if you tell him Tony sent you over he will give you an up close and personal look at the big engine. He'll also talk your ear off but thats the price you have to pay for the tour. :D

IL Bull · August 22, 2007, 03:27:53 PM

The last time I was there I saw quite a few of those old Case Steam Engines. So now you are settin' me up to be old farted. ;D :D :D A lot of that goes on there. Tell Bob I'll be looking for him.
Joe

inspectorwoody · August 22, 2007, 06:27:24 PM

Along the same lines, Is anyone going to attend Antique Acres located in Cedar Falls, Iowa this weekend? (Aug 24th - 26th)

http://www.cedarnet.org/tour/sites/048-antiqueacres.html

leweee · August 23, 2007, 12:59:57 AM

Thanks thecfarm

;)

low_48 · September 01, 2007, 05:18:42 PM

Il Bull,
I wanted to thank-you for posting this before the show. I had heard about it, but didn't really know when it was. I took the day off work yesterday and had a FANTASTIC time over there.
The noon parade took about 2 hours. It started off with two rows of horses, then a row of steam and a row of gasoline at the same time. I sat in the sun right down at the dirt and had to wipe off the soot and grime afterwards, it was perfect.

I spent a fair time watching the circle sawmill. What a mix of sight, sound, and smell. When the top blade starting cutting, the steam traction engine would get the greatest deep thump to it. I didn't get there till around 9:30 am and I think it was that coal fired engine that I saw about 7 or 8 miles from town. It sure sent up a big column of black when the load stepped up.
The rotary veneer mill made really fast work of the 20-24"" poplar logs. They took it easy, but still had to walk at a pretty fair rate to pull the veneer off. I really had a good laugh as people gathered around and took pictures of a piece of lead shot that was about 5" in from the middle. I bet that photo of a 1/8" diameter lead shot in a piece of wet veneer really left something to be desired when they got home. They probably won't remember what that photo even is.
But the laugh was on me, I forgot the camera. You'll have to take my word on all this.

There was a huge Case traction engine there. It had three rows of steel rod to reinforce the width of the huge rear steel rims. The tractors that really impressed me were a couple of HUGE Avery tractors with some giant gas engines. The back wheels had to be 7' in diameter. I think those engines are basically like the hit or miss design.

Speaking of hit or miss, there must have been a thousand of them!!!!!

The one bit of modern tech there was a Blockbuster firewood processor. Kinda smiled though when I saw the dump truck take a big loop and dump over by the steam guys. They were going through that hard maple pretty fast feeding those 50 or so traction engines. Some were using coal though.

I didn't get to see it all, but I sure will be there next year. I kinda ran out of steam after 6 hours. It should be a must see for anyone with an eye for great old engineering and machinery. It was a really great day.

Bibbyman · September 03, 2007, 03:10:05 AM

Quote from: low_48 on September 01, 2007, 05:18:42 PM

The one bit of modern tech there was a Blockbuster firewood processor. Kinda smiled though when I saw the dump truck take a big loop and dump over by the steam guys. They were going through that hard maple pretty fast feeding those 50 or so traction engines. Some were using coal though.

Mary and I were up there a number of years ago and BlockBuster was the only piece of modern equipment there. They are built a couple of miles down the road from where the fair is held and supply all the wood for the steam engines.

I thought it would have been great to see a Wood-Mizer set up beside one of the circle mills just to see the contrast. But it was not to be.

IL Bull · September 05, 2007, 12:25:21 PM

I took some pictures of the event. I have more in my gallery.

sawguy21 · September 05, 2007, 01:05:02 PM

Great pictures, that must have been a lot of fun.

IL Bull · September 05, 2007, 01:47:23 PM

It was a great time. They had live music in three different places all through the show. They also had grand stand acts.
The two I remember are Sara Evans and George Jones(he even showed up). These were advanced tickets and the Bulls did not make the big shows. :( We had a great time and saw lots of neet stuff. 8)

Brother Bull checking out the big blades.