MANOR - The Old-Time Harvest held at Ken Wilson’s farm north of Manor saw cooler weather on Sept. 10, but this did not slow them down on the display of equipment.
The Zilm-Wilson farm was established in 1911, when Ken Wilson’s grandparents moved from Iowa to the farm, where he now resides.
Over the years the old equipment was replaced with the new, and often is parked along the fence lines to retire, but not at the Wilson’s farm.
Ken and his son Kevin enjoy restoring these old, retired pieces, along with Ken’s grandson Colton. Although Colton is not as involved with the restoration as before, he does come out for the day of the old-time harvest. Kevin’s partner Marilee Simmons is also heavily involved in all the aspects of the show.
They have two running thresher machines, seven combines, plows and tractors.
“Over the years they had to restore three of the combines and some of the tractors have needed to be stripped down to work,” said Kevin.
They began to hold the Old-Time Harvest because it was a passion and hobby.
“There seemed to be nothing like this in the area,” said Ken.
The event, which is usually held during the Labour Day long weekend, would have had hot weather on it’s traditional weekend, but a week later this year the weather was much more bearable.
A large crowd came to check out the parade, which was at 10:30 a.m. Many locals came out to support the event.
A luncheon was provided by Raise the Rafters, a group from the Wawota United Church.
In 2016, the family took their thrasher machines to Austin, Man. It was there that they took the world record for having a machine that thrashed for 15 minutes or more, competing against over 130 machines.
Other antiques on site were Massey tractors belonging to Don and Rodney Lees, and a homemade tandem tractor by Al Fletcher.
Over the winter Wilson and Kevin restored a 1947 Dodge truck. It was completely stripped down, the motor rebuilt, and paint replaced. All the work was done by the pair, and they are immensely proud on how it turned out.
Not all the equipment runs when the Wilsons purchase a piece. Although they enjoy the time together restoring the equipment, they try to get items that run.
They have already started to make plans for the show in 2023.
