The sounds of chugging engines and antique horns will soon be filling the air of Southwest Michigan.
The Michigan Flywheelers Museum is revving up to host the 39th-annual South Haven Antique Engine and Tractor Show this Thursday through Sunday. One of the largest tractor shows in the Midwest, organizers expect to draw up to 10,000 people to the event at the 80-acre Michigan Flywheelers showgrounds, 06285 68th Street in South Haven.
“It’s like a big reunion,” said museum president Pat Ingalls. “You get a lot of the same people back every year.”
Ingalls said the event features hundreds of rare antique tractors on display, daily parades, an operational steam-powered sawmill, a blacksmith shop, a large flea market, live music, kids games and much more.
There’s also an event called the Thingamajig Parade.
“That’s contraptions that people build,” Ingalls said. “We’ve had commercial floor cleaners that look like a big bug — and we’ve had a lot of stuff that people just build out of scrap parts.”
Visitors can get a good look at hundreds of rare antique tractors on display, including many nameplates that thrived at one time, but have long since disappeared: International Harvester, Farmall, Case, Cockshutt, Massey Ferguson, Allis Chalmers and others.
Gates open daily at 8am, this Thursday thru Sunday. Rustic camping will be available. For more information, visit michiganflywheelers.org or contact Ingalls on his cell phone at 269-906-0654, or call the showgrounds at 269-639-2010.
(Photos courtesy Michigan Flywheelers Museum)
