UPDATE!!
Some information about the engine from the owner Josh Maschhoff: "We run at 150 psi.
The Engine weighs around 42500lbs loaded with coal and water.
Torque is 3000 ft lbs at 240 rpm
The sled was definitely weighted and i know from experience first hand that the engine can drag the sled with the weight box all the way up and the bars dropped."

110 HP Case specifications here: [ Ссылка ]


Don't worry about the fire hazard. What you see is a very exaggerated amount of burning embers coming from the smokestack. The sparks are created as a night spectacle for entertainment. Before this pull, sawdust was added to the firebox to enhance the night "spark show." Having said that back in the day there was always a risk of fire. There was less of a risk during plowing season. The highest risk was during harvest when the steam engines returned to the fields to thresh (separate) the grain from their stalks, in typically dry fields. Weeks before the steam engines arrived the grain was cut and bundled by binders. These mechanized machines looked the front of modern "combines" but binders only cut and a bound the grain. The crops were cut close to the ground by the binder leaving the grain (heads) connected to the shaft. These bundles were approximately 8" in diameter and were about 3' tall. After the crops were cut, these bundles were stacked in small piles called "shocks." These shocks contained maybe 7 to 12 bundles and scattered all over the field. The shocks were left in the field until the grain was dry enough to separate. The threshermen traveled from farm to farm to thresh each farmers grain. Most individual farmers could not afford a steam traction engine so the threshermen provided this service to the farmer. On threshing day wagons were brought to the field and would load the shocks of grain and haul it to the threshing machine where it was placed quite a distance (and upwind) from the steam engine that provided the power for the machine to do its work. The steam engine provided power to the threshing machine via an extremely long belt to keep any embers away from the dry chaff and straw that was separated from the grain. The shock piles of crop were gathered as they were needed and not all gathered up and piled in one place at one time. That way, if there was a fire it would be small and contained to a small portion of the harvest and not all of it. The steam engines were also outfitted spark arresters while threshing. Not to mention these steam engines required water so water was generally available should a fire break out. Also the steam engines would burn the straw which was waste from process of threshing the grain.

The reason they needed steam whistles was to communicate with the people working in the fields along with the steam engine. Even when plowing they had crew literally riding on the plow to lower and lift the plows in and out of the ground. When the engine was used for threshing, they communicated with everyone in the field, whether it be people operating the threshing machine or the wagons to bring grain to be threshed. Also, they would signal when they were starting or stopping the thresher. They would indicate when it was time to come to work, stop for lunch and finally when the work day was completed. Here are some examples of the codes they used for communicating.

One long = Morning, stop for meal or end of day.

One long with three short= water needed

One short pause one short= Go ahead, commence work

Three medium = Grain wagon call

Two long = Work day done , Job completed

One short= Stop threshing

Four medium= Moving out, crew call

One long, three short= water call

One long, three short,one long= Runaway team

Three short rapid blasts = Fire or emergency distress

Today's Emergency whistle signals should be known to all engineers, directors, show announcers, first aid personals, fire and ambulance.

One long,three short , one long is well known run away team(s) to be heard by neighbors to look out.

Also these codes were used by trains in the train yards not just at railroad crossings. Ships still use similar codes to this day.

One day, I hope to make a video of these separate processes that is now preformed by a single combine.

As for now, if you watch the movie "Of Mice and Men" with Gary Sinise and John Malkovich you can see threshing in action.

I have posted another video of it that includes three synchronized videos that were shot from three different angles that night. (One angle is shot from a drone flying high in the air that can be spotted above the engine towards the end of this video. If you liked this video surely you would like that video even more. [ Ссылка ]

God Bless and thank you for watching.

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