I tell you, it was such a thrill seeing these old steam tractors! The atmosphere at the Powerland Museum was wonderful…hundreds and hundreds of people, some with their keiki, who were seeing these tractors for the first time. The kids looked tiny compared to the tractors!

I loved this old beauty.  Loved the iron wheels, and the smokestack, and the chugging noise it made as it rolled along.

This is a 1911 Altman and Taylor Tractor. I’m not sure what the box on the side is for.

This old Russel tractor is a beaut. I am fascinated by the iron wheels, as always.

This next one is an old Case tractor. And the unique thing about this one is that the front wheels are steered by the chains attached to each wheel!  Can you see the chains running underneath the tractor?

Old Ford truck advertising the steam-powered sawmill at the Powerland Museum.

This one is a fabulous old Titan tractor; there were several of them in the parade.  This one is also steered by the use of chains on the front wheels. Can you imagine the effort it must take to do that?

Now this is a really interesting tractor; it’s also a Titan.  See that gray thing at the top of it, right in the front?  That’s a water-run cooling system for the engine!  We could see the water running down, just like a waterfall!  Talk about innovative!  This tractor caused quite a stir.

I even got a video of it!  I know it’s kinda hard to see the water falling down the sides, but I think if you look close, you’ll be able to. And listen to the pops and horn toots, too!

And oh my goodness!  A steam-powered steam roller.  That’s what we called them when I was growing up.  Steam rollers. But I have no idea now whether or not they were really run by steam.  And check out those enormous wheel da kines on either side! Got that in the video, too.

Okay, now try look the wheels on this Cheer Engine Company tractor from Portsmouth.

I have to tell you a really cool thing about when we were watching the parade. Seated next to us, with his wife, was an old farmer. And just like my dad-in-law, he knew something about every single thing about every single tractor in the parade. So if I had a question, I could just ask him and he’d know the answer.

So I asked him about these wheels, and he told me that they were made especially for working wet fields; they would grip the mud better than a smoother wheel. I tell you, we picked the right place to sit that day!  That man was a wealth of information.  His wife just smiled as she listened to him tell me all kine stuff.

Ho da kewt, yeah?  I think this was also a Case tractor.

My friendly neighbor wasn’t there for a few minutes, and so I couldn’t ask him about this one.  Talk about fascinating!

Its driver was quite the character, too.

Next came an old Allis-Chalmers tractor.  My neighbor was back, and he told me that these old wheels were excellent in mud, too. And the tractor was pulling something neat.

It also had iron wheels, and I think it was a discing da kine.

And still more to come!!