The first time volunteers wearing bib overalls reenacted threshing in Pioneer Village at the Indiana State Fair in the 1960s, many in the crowd still had vivid memories of those days. After all, it had only been 20 to 25 years since threshing rings were replaced by combines. Today, some 80 years since that happened, watching a threshing demonstration is new for lots of folks.

The Pioneer Village volunteers set their threshing demonstration back further in time, to about the late 1920s. The Red River Special threshing machine is powered by a Keck-Gonnerman steam engine, fueled by wood. This particular steam engine was rated at 19 horsepower and was built in 1925. Keck-Gonnerman machines were built in Mount Vernon, Ind.

Ben Carter, a longtime volunteer at Pioneer Village, notes that the Red River Special grain thresher used in the state fair demonstration was originally built in 1910. Owned by Purdue Ag Alumni, it was completely refurbished by Amish craftsmen in Ohio before the 2019 Indiana State Fair. Refurbishing the machine meant a $30,000 investment to be able to demonstrate this long-forgotten farming practice well into the future.

“It runs very well now,” Carter said, watching it thresh oats during the first demonstration for the 2023 state fair on opening day. “It’s like a new machine.”

THRESHER IN ACTION: A volunteer pitches a bundle of oats into the refurbished Red River Special grain thresher during a demonstration in Pioneer Village at the Indiana State Fair.

Threshing is just one demonstration conducted daily, weather permitting, inside Pioneer Village. Using straw from threshing, the crew also demonstrates baling with a baler that requires a person to complete tying bales. There is also a timber handling and sawing demonstration, using authentic equipment from earlier days in farming.