The Northeast Indiana Steam and Gas Assn. held its 36th annual antique tractor show last week in LaGrange. The three-day event featured steam engines, several hundred antique tractors, tractor pull, gas engines, antique farm machinery, a sawmill, a flea market, and arts and crafts.
Roger Smith of Churubusco has been coming to this show for many years. This year, he brought his collection of hit and miss engines, an antique motorized bicycle, a self-engineered can crusher, along with various other items.
The can crusher is a humble, yet fascinating innovation. It's powered by an old motor and pump jack. The pump drives a heavy pipe into a steel casing loaded with a popcan. The crushed can drops through a hole at the end and into a bucket.
"I had a hard time engineering it," he said.
Smith is a veteran of antique tractor shows. Before retiring, he worked as a farmer and a maintenance supervisor for a chain of grocery stores in northeastern Indiana. He has worked to restore several tractors.
Now, he spends his time tinkering with antique equipment and putting them on display for others to see.
"My son helps me," he said. "You see, I'm 85. I've been going to these shows for 40 years. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for my son Jim. I'm too old."
Although old age may be wearing on him, Smith still feels passionate about antique equipment and displays them with pride.
Last weekend, he brought his collection of hit and miss engines, along with a motorized Whizzer bicycle from 1946.
"My dad bought me that for a year's work in the peppermint still," he said.
The show in LaGrange drew crowds to watch steam engines belch smoke and antique tractors compete in a pulling contest. This year's featured equipment brand was Minneapolis-Moline.
Jim Eberly, club president from LaGrange, said there were roughly 200 Minneapolis Molines at the show, plus another 300 to 400 other makes.
The annual steam and gas event is a "laid-back show, so to speak," Eberly said, referring to the family oriented atmosphere where people can appreciate, or even buy and sell, "old iron."