Comfort, efficiency and digital technology are hallmarks of 21st century agricultural equipment that make it possible to complete farm work with astonishing speed. But when it comes to the “wow factor,” modern equipment has nothing over the previous century and a half when steam engine tractors were all the rage.
The late Joe Samek of rural Pauline, Neb., was once the water boy for a steam engine threshing crew. He frequently told his family of a steam engine being run into a lagoon as crews tried to move it to another field after dark. He is pictured here in 1971 at the Niobrara, NE steam engine show. Joe was a great-uncle to Melvin Haba of rural Pauline.
People are also reading…
Just as surely as lightning bugs, cicadas and warm weather sweep the plains during summer mo…
Note: This is the second in a three-part series of articles about how antique steam engines helped transform the Great Plains into America’s breadbasket.
