Editorís note: The following article was written by Glenn Heiller, 62, of Louisville, Ohio. Glenn grew up in Brownsville, and worked on his uncle Donald Heillerís farms for several summers. This is the second of a two-part description of threshing season.
Threshing bee, part two: hard work
made the beer taste good
At the other end of the threshing machine was where the straw pile was being made. This was usually the job of the farmer whose land was being farmed, since it was the dirtiest job and needed to be done right. The straw would be blown from a long spout and the farmer would aim the spout at the place he wanted it. Then he would stand alongside and spread the straw with a pitchfork. He would be standing right next to this blast stream of straw, dust, chaff, and whatever.
When he had one area fairly level, he would move the spout so that he could work on the opposite side. Gradually the straw pile would rise from the ground and was always nice and square. If it wasnít square it could tip over before it settled. Since the stack was mostly air, it took awhile for it to settle, and if there was a high wind that day or the next it could literally blow the stack away or at least blow it down. I think the farmer did this himself, so that if it did blow down it wouldnít be anybody elseís fault.
Also near this end of the machine was where the grain was being bagged. There was a long tube with two spouts at the end. There was a diverter at the end, so that the grain could come out of one spout or the other. You placed an empty grain sack on one of the spouts and held it there. While the sack was filling you put another empty sack on the other spout. Just before the first stack filled you would flip the diverter so the grain would go to the other sack. Then you would tie the first sack with twine and throw it on a wagon.
There was usually somebody on the grain wagon to keep the sacks in order. The guy on the ground would always have two bags in process, one being filled and the other ready. This way the operation never stopped. Grain was always being loaded, separated, and bagged. It was very important to get the sack on the spout correctly. If it wasnít put on right, grain would spill out and go pouring onto the ground. It was always treated like gold.
Once the grain wagon was full of bags, it would be driven to the granary. There people would grab the bags, sling them over their shoulder, walk into the granary and sling the bag over the wall. Then the twine would be cut and the sack emptied. The empty sacks were stacked back on the wagon for the next load.
At lunch time everything would stop. The tractor driving the threshing machine would be turned off, and probably gassed up again. All work in progress would be finished, and when all the field hands came in lunch was served. Sometimes it was a sit down meal inside (for as many as could sit at the table) and other people would fill a plate and take it outside and sit under a shade tree or card table set up.
I was always amazed at all the women who were there ñ where did they come from? All you saw all day doing the outside work were different farmers and hired hands, all men. Work usually stopped for about an hour, and some people would take a little nap, but somebody would be doing maintenance on the threshing machine; greasing it, cleaning out straw, etc, and the same with the tractor. People drank milk, water, or coffee, since there was still a lot of work to do.
After about an hour, work work would gradually get going. Nobody would announce it, but somebody would walk to a tractor and start it up, somebody else would grab a pitchfork and climb on the wagon, somebody would start walking to the granary, the main tractor would start up and when the flywheel was engaged the threshing machine would fire back to life.
Usually when the last shock was loaded from one field you went to the next and when the last shock in the last field was loaded the field hands rode in on the last wagon. You were done. Gradually the different operations would finish, and when the threshing machine was turned off and the last bag was emptied you would meet back at the house for sandwiches.
This is when the cold beer would be broken out. You would make your own sandwich, grab a piece of pie, and a cold beer. I can still taste that beer ñ it had a unique flavor from doing a good days work.
After about an hour of relaxing or so, the farmers would start leaving to go home and do their chores, most on their own tractors and wagons. Finally the threshing machine would be hooked up and prepared for driving. All the spouts would be tucked back in and secured and it would be about one-third the size it was during the operation.
During the threshing season, it seems I would work on about six or seven different places. All of Donnyís neighbors; George Heiller, Petersons, Kuveblers, Wunneckas, Bobby Schnick, Doerings, and Piepers, Donnyís father in law. Very seldom did I get paid. I was considered part of Donnyís operation and I guess they expected it was part of my pay from Donny which was $10/week. I think one time somebody gave me a $10 bill, and I was riding high.
Overall it was one of the high points of the summer. It was hard work, but you could always depend on somebody helping you if you got overloaded. Working on Donnyís farm, there was nobody else to carry part of your load and you had to get it done by yourself. During threshing you were part of a big operation with everybody doing his small part to get a big job done.

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