Vintage Machinery Donated To Museum

Vintage Machinery Donated To Museum Lynette Winters says, “Whenever Loren (her husband) would haul another one of those old combines home, and I’d tell the kids, they’d ask, ‘What are we going to do with those when you’re gone?’ Now I have an answer. They’re all in the Pembina County Historical Society Museum near Cavalier, N.D.” In 2022, the Winters donated their collection of 12 vintage combines, an ear corn picker, and four tractors to the museum. Loren says he’d been looking for a suitable home for his collection when he and his wife went camping at the Icelandic State Park near Cavalier in 2021. They visited the Pembina Museum across the road, were impressed by its excellent displays, and asked the director, Zelda Hartje, whether the museum would be interested in a dozen combines and a corn picker. “We sure would,” she said, thinking they were toy models that kids would enjoy. “They’re not toys,” Winters said. “They’re full-size, and all of them are in working condition.” Hartje says she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “I was lost for words at first,” she says, “then I said we don’t have a place to keep them inside.” Winters then replied with an even better offer, “We’ll help you put up a building to store them.” Hartje says the exchange has since evolved into the 60 by 158-ft. Winters Harvest Center building, which houses the 12 combines, the corn picker and four tractors that Winters donated. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime donation, and we’re extremely happy and honored that they chose our facility,” Hartje says. “The collection adds an entirely new dimension to the museum grounds that attracts visitors from a wide area, especially during our September harvest days.” Winters says he and his wife searched for a “home” for the collection so future generations could learn about the history of harvesting. The combines include Case, Gleaner, International Harvester, Deere, Massey, Oliver and Minneapolis-Moline models. Half are pull-type; the others are self-propelled. The corn picker is a New Idea 2-row pull-type model. The tractors include a 1952 Massey 44, a 1962 AC D15, a 1970 Ford 6600, and a 1940 IH B. Now retired after working as a consulting engineer and farming near Fullerton, N.D., Winters says he developed a love for combines as a youngster. “I’d rather be harvesting than anything else,” he says. That enjoyment grew into collecting real machines in the early 1990s. “I bought a few at auctions, but only if they were stored inside and didn’t have rusty metal. People donated others to me. They didn’t all work, so I had to buy two or three of the same models to have parts.” Over the years, he restored them all to working condition. Then it was time to retire and figure out where they’d go. “We checked a few museums that we weren’t quite happy with, so finding the Pembina facility was a stroke of luck,” Winters says. After the building was constructed on the Museum grounds, Winters began hauling the machines to Cavalier on his 5th-wheel trailer. Each trip took 4 1/2 hrs. one way, but Winters was glad to bring them to a new home. “Now they’re in a place to help tell the harvesting story to hundreds of visitors,” Winters says. They’ll also be outside and running during the Museum’s Pioneer Machinery Show and Parade each September. The pull-type models will be drawn by vintage tractors, and open-station self-propelled models will also be on the route. One of the crowd favorites is “The Candy Combine,” a self-propelled Gleaner that augers 100 lbs. of Tootsie Rolls from its grain tank as it travels the parade route. Adults and kids alike love the excitement it provides. The Winters will make one more combine delivery in the spring of 2026, hauling a freshly painted Minneapolis-Moline G4 machine to its new home. “We had that one painted because it looked really tough,” Loren says. “When it warms up so the decals can go on, it’ll be on its way. There’s probably no other collection like this in the country, and we’re very pleased to have the machines where visitors can see and learn how harvesting was done after the big threshing machines and before modern-day combines.” Winters says the museum will use the collection to focus on education and the importance of harvesting within the food supply chain. “In the past, harvest was a very labor-intensive effort, unlike now, where one person and a support crew for hauling can harvest hundreds of acres a day. The social fabric of society rests heavily on a stable food source, which farmers and modern combines help provide.” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Pembina County Historical Museum, 13572 Hwy. 5, Cavalier, N.D. (pchsm@polarcomm.com) or Loren Winters, 9975 80th St. S.E., Fullerton, N.D. 58441.

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