Mules to pull restored combine at Best Show on Tracks

by Wayne Ginsburg and Hiedi Anderson

Few people alive today have seen grain harvested by a mule team and ground propelled harvester in commercial operation. But later this month, hundreds of visitors to the Dan Best Ranch outside of Woodland will step back in time and witness such an awesome agricultural endeavor.

The Best Show on Tracks, June 20-22 in Woodland, will feature a 27-mule team pulling a 1905 Holt Jr. Ground Propelled Combine, harvesting and threshing acres of wheat on the Dan Best Ranch. This unusual activity featuring the third-oldest remaining combine in North America will occur at 11 a.m. each day and will be repeated at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

The ability to feature the mule-led harvester is due to a small group of dedicated enthusiasts, the Golden Sate Farm Education Center of Davis. Led by Lorry Dunning, 70, also of Davis, the group began restoring the Holt Jr. in 2001, and when they learned of the Best Show on Tracks, set up a work schedule to meet three days each week — rain, cold or shine.

One member of the group, Roy Ginochio, 83, of Concord, and Dunning together put 2,500 hours into the Holt restoration. Total input is now over 3,800 hours. Ginochio grew up with harvesters and without his knowledge, the restoration could not have been completed, Dunning said.

 The idea to find and restore a mule-powered harvester was born more than 15 years ago. Paul Reno, 85, of Oakland challenged Dunning to find a Ground Power harvester to pull with a mule hitch. Dunning accepted the challenge, found the 1905 Holt Jr., and restoration efforts got underway seven years ago. Wendell Jacob of Davis purchased the harvester, provided financial support for its restoration and donated it to Dunning’s group.

Reno’s contribution did not end with the challenge. This tractor enthusiast was key in restoring and putting together the missing pieces to make up the Schandoney Hitch — designed in the late 1800's in the Natomas area of Sacramento County and made by Schmeiser Co. in Davis, Calif. The Hitch Dunning’s group used was purchased in February of 1906.

 At the Best Show on Tracks, the specialty hitch will connect lead mules Molly and Alice to “mule skinner” George Cabral, 82, from Ceres, Calif. Cabral’s father farmed with draft horses and never owned a tractor. Following in his father’s footsteps, Cabral started working horses at a young age and changed to mules in 2000.

 

“We consider this a once in a lifetime experience. To find such an old harvester in such wonderful condition it is a privilege to bring it back to life. We are excited about the Best Show on Tracks to share the preservation and history of our Agricultural Heritage,” Dunning said.

Dunning has been collecting, restoring and consulting about antique farm machinery for public institutions and book authors since 1970. He is a fourth-generation native of Butte County, and his grandfather built the Harrington Harvester from 1909 to 1921 in Harrington, Wash. Dunning’s grandfather also made the Schandoney Hitch with permission from Schmeiser. Dunning’s father ran harvesters in the rice fields of Butte and Colusa counties as a young man, and once won a contest for sewing up the most grain sacks in a single day.

There are only two older combines in the United States. The oldest is an 1889 Holt, currently in the Smithsonian Institute. The second oldest is a 1904 Haines Houser featured in the Haggin Museum in Stockton. The fourth oldest, a 1906 Best “Century” will also be working at the Best Show on Tracks, and is owned by Joe Heidrick, Jr. and will be pulled by his 1906 Best Steamer.

The Mules at work and play at the recent Best Show On Tracks in Woodland, California