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- Beloit Daily News, September 4, 2007
- by Achley Rhodebeck, Daily News staff writer
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[Image] Mike and Eva Kohls, of Janesville, stroll past a row of giant steam engines Monday during the Rock River Thresheree, in Edgerton.
As a boy growing up on a farm near Cambridge, Charles Birkrem
would watch a 1923 steam engine pass his family's property to
the neighbor's tobacco beds, and he'd run back outside once the
tractor's whistle signaled its return.
He couldn't help but watch.
By this era, gas tractors had entered the market, and young Birkrem never thought he'd run - or learn to operate - a steam engine, he recalled Saturday at the 51st Rock River Thresheree, his white gloves blackened from feeding coal and wood into the very machine that mesmerized him decades ago.
Hordes of people flowed past Birkrem as he leaned over the side of the 12-ton tractor, which excludes water weight; it holds a combined 525 gallons in its boiler and tank. He gladly answered questions and said the other participants would talk about their machinery, too. After all, they were there to keep agriculture history alive.
"It's important to keep the heritage going because these machines would sit and rot if people don't take an interest in running them," Birkrem said.
Each year nearly 800 exhibitors participate in the Thresheree showcase in Thresherman's Park between Edgerton and Janesville. The event featured about 30 steam engines and 500 tractors of all shapes and sizes. Based on prior years, organizers predicted about 5,000 people would attend the event each day, bringing the four-day total to 20,000.
Some, like the Schreier family from Fort Atkinson, travel to Thresheree Park.
"It's just an enjoyment," Arnold Schreier said, adding he and his wife, Lisa, remember pulling their now 12-year-old son, Ben, around the grounds in a wagon. Lisa Schreier's memories date back even earlier: her father used to take her to the Thresheree and explain how the steam engines work.
The regular traction engine Birkrem showed was made in Racine and initially cost between $5,500 and $6,500. From midsummer to late fall, farmers would use the tractor to do custom work for their neighbors, such as thrashing grain, shredding corn and filling silos, Birkrem said. In the spring the tractor would steam tobacco beds.
Starting a steam tractor isn't complicated. "Just light a big match," Birkrem said, explaining it takes about an hour for the engine to steam up when it's warm and an extra 45 minutes when it's cold.
Keeping the tractor running isn't as simple, though. There's a lot to keep track of, such as safety valves, Birkrem said, stressing operators mustn't let the engine run out of water.
"She would go kaboom," he said.
While Birkrem stayed close to the steam engine, other exhibitors, such as Larry Zwart, wandered the grounds. The Roscoe resident brought three cub tractors - a high boy, low boy and regular - to the show, which is just one of the 15 he attends each year.
What's the appeal? "It's just fun," Zwart said. "You meet a lot of people. It's a good getaway." Plus, he said, events like the Thresheree show the youth and city folk where their food comes from.
As a retired farmer, Zwart said he can't get farming out of his blood and is hooked on buying tractors. His tractor collection begins with pieces from 1939 and runs through 1965.
Young people typically have questions about the antique tractors, Birkrem said, and some want to learn to operate the machines after the show, which the older generation more than welcomes.
"We can't let it die out," Birkrem said. "That's why we do what we do."
