For the first time, this year's Threshermen's Show at the Western Development Museum ran in conjunction with the annual show of the International Harvester Collectors Club (Chapter 38).
About 40 preserved and restored International Harvester tractors were on display around the museum for the weekend, along with other IH equipment.
"[The club] is fairly new," said Darald Marin, president of IHC 38. "It's only been six years since we formed it. This is our sixth annual show."
The largest chapter of the IHC Club in western Canada, IHC 38 has registered members from BC through Manitoba. The club's annual show changes location each year.
"We wanted to get closer to Manitoba because we have members in Manitoba and northern Saskatchewan," said Marin, who lives in Radville, SK. With much of the equipment on display brought in by Manitoba club members, the Yorkton show appeared to achieve its goal.
IHC 38 has about 225 permanent members. Marin explained their fascination with collecting and showcasing IH machinery.
"IH went out of business in 1985 when it sold to Tenneco and was merged with Case. At that point in time, if everything was just dropped, that piece of International history would have been lost forever. So we're kind of in the business of preserving the history before 1985 of International Harvester tractors, machinery, household items, and trucks."
That shared interest in historical preservation made the Threshermen's Show a perfect match for the collectors' show, said Marin.
"We've tried to present a pretty good group of machinery, tractors, and trucks. I think we've done that, and the crowd response seems to be great."
The equipment on display at the show wasn't exceptionally old, noted the club president. Most of the tractors shown were built from 1939 onward. But some of the pieces were quite rare.
"There's one 600 International gas tractor, which is very rare. There was only about 35 or 36 of them built. And the one that we have here today was purchased in Saskatchewan by a man from North Dakota, who brought it back to Saskatchewan to show it today. And he drove about 500 miles to show his tractor back in its home country."
