2015 Show Highlights

HPOCA Summer Show Information

The 45^th annual Threshermen & Collectors Show brought one of the largest crowds to the show which was held Aug. 7-9. Attendance was estimated at 14,400.

The event included days filled with field demonstrations, antique tractor and machinery displays, antique cars and trucks, Civil War reenactments and many other events and activities.

Hart-Parr Oliver enthusiasts brought 348 tractors and implements. Other exhibits included 284 tractors, 109 antique autos or trucks, 39 horses, 60 gas engines, 74 miscellaneous exhibits, 40 crafters plus a wide variety of toy and doll show displays and over 15 vendors selling farm-related items. There were also demonstrations by the Cherokee Ridge Runners and the Army of the Southwest.

The Thursday afternoon tractor ride included about 40 tractors of all makes and models. The winner of the Oliver 77 tractor raffle was Jeff Meyer from Omaha, Nebraska.

Little Red Devil exhibited

Rare and unique tractors were displayed at this year’s show as they traveled here from the Floyd County Museum in Charles City.

The Little Red Devil was a small, 3-wheel tractor with a 2-cycle engine which produced 15 drawbar horsepower and 22 belt horsepower. The 3-wheel configuration and 2-cycle engine made the Little Devil a unique tractor. It actually was a low-cost, row-crop tractor for the Midwest farmer which could pull a cultivator, because the two front wheels could straddle two rows of corn while the 64-inch diameter drive wheel ran between the two rows. The operator’s station was located on the right side of the tractor, beside the shielded drive wheel. The Little Devil was powered by a 2-cylinder, 2-cycle horizontal Hart-Parr kerosene engine with an early form of fuel injection, so it had no valves, no carburetor, and no differential.

The Little Devil was plagued by two operating problems. If the operator let the engine lug down under a heavy load, the engine could suddenly reverse its rotation and then the tractor would be going backwards instead of forward. Also, there was no adjustment to the fuel injection system. Due to these two problems, Hart-Parr recalled the Little Devil tractors. However, it is said there are two or three remaining and one of them will be at this year’s show.

Hart-Parr 20-40 exhibited

The 20-40 Hart Parr was built from 1911 to 1914. They were built with a 2-speed transmission. The engine used exhaust piped into the crankcase to splash oil into troughs that fed oil to the main bearings and troughs that were used to oil the rod bearings. The centerline of the cylinders are offset 2.75 inches from the centerline of the crankshaft. A special design on the rods was used so the rods didn’t hit the piston skirts. The tractor owned by the Floyd County Historical Society is the only restored 40 known today to exist.