SUNRISE IRON, “100 YEARS OF OLD IRON” – ENTERPRISE, OREGON

Six times a year, on the first Saturday of each month from May through October, Erl McLaughlin opens the gates of his farm to welcome visitors to an amazing display of what might best be described as “reclaimed” antique tractors.  I’m not usually drawn to old machinery – or tractors old or new – but we were near Enterprise on the first Saturday of July so figured we would take a break from hiking to visit his collection, Sunrise Iron.  I’m so glad we did!

Erl McLaughlin is a farmer, and farming is what he does spring through fall.  In winter, he restores old machinery, mostly tractors (he has more than 30 in his huge tractor barn) – but other interesting farm machinery as well.   (His wife, Mary Ann, describes it as “a hobby run amuck”.) Each piece is cleaned; parts that are missing or broken are repaired or machined; the tractor is reassembled and repainted – then run for 5 hours before being settled into the tractor barn, to join the vast collection of machinery, old wooden wheels, tractor seats, a STONE plow (!), a water wagon and various other old farm implements. 

Farmers who couldn’t afford metal plows made plows of stone.	This wooden wheel has a pneumatic rubber tire.	These two wooden wheels have solid, hard rubber tires.

Sunrise Iron isn’t on a main road; in fact, it is a mile or two off the nearest paved road.  No big parking lot, no admission charge (though donations were accepted).  When we arrived, Erl and Mary Ann were assisted by a couple of friends from Joseph, who were busy cooking and serving cobbler baked in Dutch ovens.  There is absolutely nothing commercial about this display – it is simply a jam-packed barn on a working farm with a fantastic view of the Wallowas, the Seven Devils (in Idaho), the Zumwalt Prairie, and the big, big sky.

Each tractor has a sign identifying its age, manufacturer, model number, and where it was found.  My favorite of all the tractors is a Case three-wheeled model, manufactured in 1915, found in Baker City, Oregon.   This tractor was dismantled, all the parts stored in burlap bags, when Erl found it.  He described putting it together as “working on a puzzle”… yeah, a big, rusted, 3D puzzle! 

What tickled me about the tractor is this: the seat is in the back, sticking out on the right hand side. Sitting on the seat, the driver can’t see what direction the single front wheel points, so an arrow is attached to a shaft on the front wheel as a steering aid!

The 1915 Case 3-wheeled tractor, now one of two known to exist.  Erl found it disassembled, stored in bags.	The arrow allows the operator, sitting on a seat in the back, to see which direction the wheel is going.

Another machine that caught our eyes is simply a series of gears.  Two teams of two horses were hitched to the clot of gears; the horses walked around and around gear wagon, which transferred their energy to a drive shaft (protected by a ramp the horses walked on as they passed over the shaft) that could run a thresher, a mill, a pump.  Horsepower!  The whole setup was on wheels, so could be pulled by horses from site to site.

A series of gears converts real horse power to a 500 rpm drive shaft to run other machinery.	This is one metal wheel design – we saw many different designs.

The wheels of the old tractors were interesting in their own right.  Prior to 1934, rubber was not used on tractor tires.  Instead, we saw a variety of metal designs, all aimed at providing traction – and none very effective, according to Erl. 

Though Erl’s collection is fascinating, it is Erl and his wife Mary Anne that I remember best when I think of visiting Sunrise Iron.  We have found everyone in Joseph and Wallowa County to be friendly, but Erl and Mary Anne (and the friends who were helping out) will always stand out in my memory for their welcoming warmth and humor.   What an interesting slice of life!

Erl McLaughlin and Odel in the tractor barn.	Next up for renovation.