As a youngster, Bill Brethorst grew up operating a Port Huron steam engine that was used as a power source by farms around Sibley, Ill. He cherished that experience and retained thoughts of someday purchasing a similar machine.

“In 1957, he heard about that particular piece of equipment lying in a scrapyard near Milwaukee,” says his grandson Tanner Brethorst. “After contacting that business owner, he learned it was slated to be cut up and hauled away at any time. Grandad went to that site and saved the machine from demolition by paying the price for scrap iron at so many dollars per ton.”

After being used to operate a rock crusher, the steam engine had been neglected for several years and was in rough shape. The boiler appeared to be OK, and most mechanical parts were still in good condition. Due to very little road work, the gears and cast-iron wheels were immaculate.

Flagship machine

This steam engine was the flagship of the Port Huron Brewing Co. that originated in Wisconsin Dells, Wis. In 1874, that enterprise became the Upton Manufacturing Co., located in Battle Creek, Mich. Ten years later, it moved to Port Huron, Mich., and built its first model engine. By 1890, the thriving business, now called Port Huron Engine and Thresher Co., was producing units with portable steam, water wagons, threshers, sawmills, hay press balers, corn shellers and road-building machinery. When the company closed in the 1920s, over 6,000 steam engines had rolled off the assembly line.

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In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, huge rigs like this were used for threshing grain. They could move over the roads under their own power at 2 to 6 mph. Individual farmers did not usually own such machines; the owners made a business by moving them from farm to farm, threshing grain during harvesttime. Speed was optimized for efficiency rather than a high velocity.

Today, Brethorst, who is employed as the brewmaster at Capital Brewing in Middleton, Wis., exhibits the steam engine at various local shows around his home in Portage, Wis. During these events, it goes on the band saw and rock crusher but never plows. Visitors can also watch it operate a 1919 Port Huron Threshing Machine, just one of a half dozen still in existence today, that was purchased in 2019 for $1,500.

Brethorst also owns three other pieces of antique equipment: a 1910 Port Huron sawmill, a 1918 Eagle two-cylinder tractor that was built in Appleton, Wis., and a late-1920s Avery steel threshing machine.

Family favorite

Brethorst owns the engine with his dad, Dave, and started working with it when he was 5 years old. He would grab the oil cans, gather wood for the day and try to scrape the flues, a challenging job considering his height at that time. His least favorite maintenance chore is deep cleaning all the ash and soot out of the crevices inside the firebox at the end of the season. The next job is to cover every nook and cranny on that wall with used oil to prevent rusting.

“This is my favorite tractor, serial number 8009, because Grandad had the foresight to save it from total destruction” he says. “I truly enjoy working on the belt to run the band saw and cover huller. There’s immense gratification in being able to showcase the heritage associated with steam power. Hopefully my kids, Phoebe, 11, and Conrad, 7, will be able to take ownership and showcase its heritage someday.”