-Farm News photo by Karen Schwaller
Al Puterbaugh pulls the potato plow with his John Deere 3046R utility tractor, connecting the past and the present in a one-of-a-kind event for local participants and onlookers. Dennis Christensen (left) walks beside the potato plow he brought, as the plow starts out its job of unearthing potatoes to be used as a fundraiser (in part), to help feed people in the area who need food.

RUTHVEN — A piece of history hooked onto a John Deere 3046R utility tractor and created an event that older onlookers remembered, and younger onlookers drank in.

Ruthven United Methodist Church members annually conduct a fall produce and bake sale fundraiser for their mission project of feeding people in need on a local, regional and international scope. The mission project of feeding people in need was originally spearheaded by church member Al Puterbaugh about a decade ago. Part of the produce they grow and sell for that mission is potatoes.

This year, the job of digging the long rows of potatoes from the church’s community garden in Ruthven has been somewhat eased by a potato plow that dates back to the early 1900s. The plow is owned by Dennis Christensen of Ruthven, and Harold Christensen of Graettinger, whose father, Ernest Christensen (from Emmetsburg), purchased it on a sale southeast of Graettinger in the mid-1970s.

“He used it until the mid-1980s, and just parked it in the grove,” said Dennis Christensen.

The younger Christensen retrieved it from the grove when the people of his church were wanting to dig potatoes and were using a homemade potato plow, which was only “so” successful.

-Farm News photo by Karen Schwaller
An early 1900s-era potato plow arrived to the potato digging/gathering event in Ruthven on a trailer, waiting to take participants and onlookers on a trip back in time.

“I mentioned that I had an old potato digger and showed them a picture of it the next week, and they wanted to try it,” said Christensen.

The plow was made by the Standard Harrow Company from Utica, N.Y. He said the first ones manufactured in the late 1800s had spoked wheels. The heavier wheels (such as the ones on Christensen’s plow) came in later models. The wheels measure around 45 inches tall and have angle iron machined onto them to help with traction in the fresh dirt.

The technology of the potato plow was simpler than today. Simply put, the wheels turn the cogs that turn the apron that separates the potatoes.

“This is a later one, so it dates between 1900 and 1930. It appears to have the same sides and chain that was on the original ones,” said Christensen.

The potato plow was originally built to work behind horses, and Christensen said he thinks there were two wheels on the front of it in the day, and a tongue that protruded from those wheels to hook onto horses.

-Farm News photo by Karen Schwaller
A throng of people from the Ruthven United Methodist Church (sponsors of the food pantry project) follow the potato plow as it brings potatoes from beneath the ground to the top, where they can gather them.

“That clevis is how we’re hooking it to the three-point on the tractor,” he said, adding that he controls the depth of the potato plow with the three-point. He said sometimes it takes a few tries to get the depth right.

The plow digs into the dirt and finds the potatoes below, and when the plow finds the potatoes, it brings them up the apron “chain” and shakes the dirt off of them, and they fall behind the plow on top of the fresh dirt. After that, the potatoes are collected by hand.

A seat bar and foot bar once graced the top of the plow, and the plow’s depth was adjusted by a lever next to the seat. Today a fender is also missing. Christiansen said to the best of his knowledge, some models had another set of apron chains that would help shake more dirt out of the freshly-dug potatoes.

Christensen said they have newer potato plows now that have a power take-off (PTO) that runs the apron on them. When tractors started coming out, the models being built then were changed to being driven by PTO instead of by horses.

He said he thinks the company was sold during the 1930s-era.

Today he is most amazed that the plow has lasted this long and is still usable.

Christensen said he’s not sure what the plow is worth today if he were to sell it, even with it being in working shape.

“It depends on who would want to buy it. I’m not sure what they’re worth. Some (buyers) would maybe want a horse-drawn one for demonstration purposes, and some would maybe want PTO-driven old ones — it would just depend on what they are looking for.”

A local woman watched the potato digging event with fascination.

“I remember digging potatoes with one of these plows, except we used horses,” she said, adding that — even with horses at the helm — it was a much easier way to dig potatoes than doing it all by hand.

Christensen said he enjoys watching people watch the potato plow at work.

“I enjoy making sure it works right, and watching everyone (as it’s being used),” said Christensen, adding that he sometimes thinks about the way implements have been made safer today. “If your foot slipped to the side (especially if the fender was missing), it would go right into the spokes of the wheel, especially if you hit a rock. A horse might stop, but a tractor probably wouldn’t.”