Historic Hood River
22 Horsepower
8-26-2025
Notes
These horse-drawn combines must have revolutionized grain production. It’s not clear if this image is from the Sherman County area of Oregon or from Eastern Washington.
What do you think was in those barrels? Water for the horses?
L. E.
I have similar photos from my grandmother who grew up in the Palouse country of Washington.
I remember her saying fire was always a big fear of these harvesting crews.
Thorn
Quite the contraption and collection of engineering innovations. I count at least 25 horses pulling the combine, and 6 people minimum to run the operation, if you include the water wagon driver–which includes a foal tagging along. I’m wondering if the buggy had a purpose other than perhaps a shuttle, or if it just joined the photo for posterity. Obviously a well posed photo, from an elevated position in the early or late light.
Pat A
I know where one of these old thrashers still sits. Just checked google maps.
It still had a box of the glass grenade type fire extinguishers back in 86 the last year I helped with harvest. Hot sweaty days with chaff in your shirt is what I remember.
Barrels of water for everyone needs water doing that task.
Buggy in the picture usually belongs to the photographer.
Focus on the guy on high point leading the team and the operation.
kmb
It appears the horses are offset from the thresher intake, so the horses don’t trample over what they are trying to combine. With regards to fire risk, what would the ignition source be for this type of equipment? Were there certain parts of the machinery that would get very hot?
Pat A
Yes Kmb the team is in the stubble, not knocking down the standing wheat.
Any metal on metal contact could create a spark, especially a bearing failure which is still a common problem. A modern combine caught fire this summer in Sherman county.
Dry standing wheat is very flammable!