MONROE - What started as a hobby recognizing the history of farming became an annual event for Chris Guthrie, founder of the Thunderbridge Flyers, when the antique thresheree in Argyle began six years ago.
"It was just a bunch of friends with tractors and it turned into a full-fledged tractor-engine show in Argyle every year," Guthrie said. "I've got a crew that has been with me since the beginning."
Along with the show of antique Massey-Harris equipment, the Flyers, roughly 10 in total, have gathered to thresh wheat for the last four years. They met this week along 2.5 acres of cropland owned by Wuethrich Farms south of Monroe along Wisconsin 69.
Group member Dan Zimmerman of rural Monroe owns a mid-1920s grain binder, which is used to first cut the wheat using wooden beams attached to the machine in the fashion of a small ferris wheel. The wheat stalks are then scooped up and run through the binder before being gathered at the middle with twine and dropped back into the field. Then others follow along behind the slow-moving operation with pitchforks, tossing the bundles into a wagon.
The group crowded around as the sun was hanging low in the sky on Monday, preparing to thresh the winter wheat. Guthrie said the space, which can be combined in roughly 15 minutes, takes about three hours to cover with the grain binder.
"It's not a quick process," Guthrie said.
Jim Gempeler of Monticello remarked on the importance of remembering how past generations had to till the land to provide food and make a living.
"One reason we do that is just the love of being able to show how farming was done in the past, how equipment was run, how they did it: Preserve the history," Gempeler said.
That is also one of the aims of the antique thresheree hosted by the Flyers. Guthrie said the weekend event begins Sept. 9 and includes threshing demonstrations as well as other events like antique tractor pulls, a flea market and corn shelling.
Guthrie said he remembers using similar equipment in the 1970s when he was young. His father owned the early 20th Century machinery, and it has always been a point of interest for him.
"This is what our dads and grandpas did," Guthrie said. "We got the machines lying around. Might as well use them."
"It was just a bunch of friends with tractors and it turned into a full-fledged tractor-engine show in Argyle every year," Guthrie said. "I've got a crew that has been with me since the beginning."
Along with the show of antique Massey-Harris equipment, the Flyers, roughly 10 in total, have gathered to thresh wheat for the last four years. They met this week along 2.5 acres of cropland owned by Wuethrich Farms south of Monroe along Wisconsin 69.
Group member Dan Zimmerman of rural Monroe owns a mid-1920s grain binder, which is used to first cut the wheat using wooden beams attached to the machine in the fashion of a small ferris wheel. The wheat stalks are then scooped up and run through the binder before being gathered at the middle with twine and dropped back into the field. Then others follow along behind the slow-moving operation with pitchforks, tossing the bundles into a wagon.
The group crowded around as the sun was hanging low in the sky on Monday, preparing to thresh the winter wheat. Guthrie said the space, which can be combined in roughly 15 minutes, takes about three hours to cover with the grain binder.
"It's not a quick process," Guthrie said.
Jim Gempeler of Monticello remarked on the importance of remembering how past generations had to till the land to provide food and make a living.
"One reason we do that is just the love of being able to show how farming was done in the past, how equipment was run, how they did it: Preserve the history," Gempeler said.
That is also one of the aims of the antique thresheree hosted by the Flyers. Guthrie said the weekend event begins Sept. 9 and includes threshing demonstrations as well as other events like antique tractor pulls, a flea market and corn shelling.
Guthrie said he remembers using similar equipment in the 1970s when he was young. His father owned the early 20th Century machinery, and it has always been a point of interest for him.
"This is what our dads and grandpas did," Guthrie said. "We got the machines lying around. Might as well use them."