As harvest season approaches, farmers across Ohio will soon begin one of agriculture’s most important tasks—threshing.
Threshing is the process of separating the edible grain from the stalks, husks, and other plant material after crops such as wheat, oats, barley, and other small grains have been harvested.
While today’s combines perform harvesting and threshing at the same time, the process was once done with large, belt-driven threshing machines powered by steam or gas tractors.
For Jason Hoffman, of rural Champaign County, preserving that history has become a passion.
Sitting at his kitchen table, Hoffman shared how he grew up on his family’s farm, where he developed a love for cattle and the farming way of life.
As a teenager, he watched his father build a collection of vintage John Deere equipment.
After leaving for college, Hoffman returned home following his father’s passing.
For years, more than 30 pieces from his father’s collection remained tucked away in a barn. Eventually, he decided it was time to sell most of the collection, keeping only a few sentimental pieces.
As he restored those tractors and implements to their former glory, Hoffman found himself reliving memories of working alongside his father.
Before long, he had caught the antique farm machinery bug himself.
Hoffman is also an engineer, a skill that has proven invaluable during his restoration projects.
When original replacement parts can’t be found, he is often able to fabricate them himself, helping return decades-old equipment to working condition.
His latest project is one of the most impressive yet—a vintage threshing machine that once played a vital role in bringing in the harvest before modern combines existed.
Recently, Hoffman and fellow antique machinery enthusiasts harvested wheat the traditional way using a 1924 John Deere D pulling a mid-1920s John Deere grain binder.
They also put a 1918 Waterloo Boy tractor—built the same year John Deere purchased the Waterloo Gasoline Engine Company—to work in the field.
A Farmall Super M tractor was then used by the crew to gather the bundles of wheat.
Those bundles have been saved for the next step in the process.
During the West Liberty Labor Day Festival, they will be fed into Hoffman’s vintage threshing machine, where the grain will be separated from the chaff and straw, just as it was done on farms more than a century ago.
The machine will make its public debut during the festival, giving visitors a rare opportunity to watch a traditional threshing demonstration, learn how grain was harvested before modern combines, and experience an important piece of Ohio’s agricultural heritage firsthand.
Hoffman explains what visitors will see during the threshing demonstration at the West Liberty Labor Day Festival.
The West Liberty Labor Day Festival is September 4-7, 2026, at Lions Club Park.
