C. R. Voth had equipment and crews to thresh wheat and other grains. He was hired by his neighbors and by farmers in nearby towns. He became quite well-known for threshing (removing grains from the stalk) with his equipment. Later, he used combines (large tractor-like machines that cut the stalks and also threshed) as well as his traditional threshers. His sons Moses and Waldo helped him in the business and later ran their own "rigs."

Recorded in the account books are the name of the farmer, name of the grain, how many bushels threshed or acres combined, if the farmer had paid, cost, and sometimes the date. For the most part, the labor crew is entered in the back of the book. Around the 1920s, Moses and/or Waldo Voth operated their own threshing (or a combine) rig and recorded their jobs also.