Wednesday, December 14, 2016

15th Annual Cumming Steam, Antique Tractor and Gas Engine Show


November is a busy month for shows in the Southeast Upstate Region. One last chance before the holidays and the onslaught of Winter shut things down for the year. With that in mind I packed up my gear and headed down I-85 toward Georgia.




The town of Cumming, Ga. has a small  population itself but the entire area is rapidly being engulfed by the Atlanta Metro sprawl. This becomes abundantly clear when you turn off 85 onto Ga.-20 and start the slow crawl past the miles of strip malls through Buford, Ga. I hadn’t anticipated running into bumper to bumper traffic 40 some miles from Atlanta on a Saturday morning.  About fifteen miles down the road you arrive at the fairgrounds on Castleberry Road, the venue for the show.




The Cumming Antique Power Association was founded in 2002 with the mission to: “Promote and preserve any and all antique power equipment”. 2016 marked the 15th year they have held their Steam, Antique Tractor and Gas Engine Expo. If you are a steam engine enthusiast, this is a must see event because they have one of the largest collections you are likely to find in this region.




According to the town’s website ( www.cityofcumming.net  ) the Forsyth County Steam Association has also been holding a steam engine 4th of July parade through the town square since 1957. If you’re looking for a change of pace from the usual firecrackers and bottle rockets next summer, check it out.




There was the usual contingent of tractors.




Plus some things you don’t see everyday.




Barry Mundy brought his gently modified ‘52 Allis-C.




Some things you could buy. This Farmall A will work for restoration.




And a whole bunch of other interesting exhibits  that we’ll take a look at in future posts.




With the sun setting on the 2016 show season it was time to load up the trailers and head for home. Like a bear or a groundhog larded up for the Winter the Mule had a camera full of good stuff to make it through the bleak cold months ahead.




Visit: http://www.capa-ga.com for more information about the Cumming Antique Power Association and next year’s show.

Thursday, December 1, 2016

Richland Creek Antique Fall Festival 2016

Richland Creek Antique Power Association presented their 21st annual show on November 4th through the 6th 2016. Headlining the exhibits were this 1913 40hp Case Steamer and a pair of Rumely Oil Pulls.
 
 


More than a show with tractor pulls and antique exhibits it’s an open house at Richland Creek Farm located a few miles outside of Saluda, SC. For three days in early November visitors can wander around this working farm and peruse the extensive collection of antique machinery assembled by the Berry Family that could carry the show by itself.
 
 
 
 
The exhibits that roll in through the gate are icing on the cake.
 
 
 
 
Permanent exhibits like this 50 hp Fairbanks Morse stationary Diesel engine powering a working sawmill are in operation throughout the show.
 
 
 
 
As you walk around the site you might find a demonstration underway behind any of the numerous out buildings.
 
 
 
 
And parked along every fence row you can find some interesting piece of history, hopefully awaiting restoration.
 
 
 
 
Like most shows there are vendors selling everything imaginable. Replacing your old drafty windows? Don’t take them to the landfill. You can sell them for good money to some artsy type who’ll paint a picture on them and sell them for even better money. I know. That’s what I did with the ones I tore out of my house this summer.
 
 
 
 
We’ll take a closer look at some of what was there in future posts. For more information about the Richland Creek Antique Power Association and next year’s show visit: www.richlandcreekantiques.com

 
 
 


 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 

 

 



Saturday, October 1, 2016

Huber Maintainer


Have you ever seen one of these before?  I hadn’t until Tom Furman brought his 1965 Huber M-500 Maintainer to the Dacusville Farm Show. It’s the prospect of finding something that I didn’t even know existed that keeps me wandering around in the hot sun at these shows.




The Huber Manufacturing Company of Marion, Ohio was founded by Edward Huber in 1854. Born on a farm in Indiana in 1837, he apprenticed to a blacksmith in his teens and later became a machinist and a wagon maker. He invented a revolving hay rake and moved to Marion to produce it. Huber was a prolific inventor and would eventually be granted 100 patents. By 1875 the company had added threshers to it’s catalog and by 1898 it was producing a line of portable and traction steam engines. By the turn of the century Huber had become a major producer eventually manufacturing 11,568 steam engines.




There were no flies on Ed. In addition to Huber Manufacturing, in 1884 he joined Henry Barnhart and George W. King to form the Marion Steam Shovel Company, a major producer of construction, mining and dredging equipment. He also operated a foundry and even found time to serve as the president of the Marion National Bank.




Huber Manufacturing produced a full line of portable and traction steam engines in a variety of sizes. They also manufactured steam rollers for road construction and maintenance. Around 1898 Huber ventured into the internal combustion engine tractor business with the production of 30 prototype tractors. The results were so disappointing
That they would not return until 1911. Huber manufactured a number of models of tractors for the next 31 years, but they were never big sellers. In 1936 they introduced a 3 plow tractor powered by a 4 cylinder engine that they called the model B. It later morphed into the model BG ( as in grader ). This was the genesis of the Maintainer.




The Maintainer was destined to outlive the company that developed it. Production of the agricultural tractor line it evolved from ended in 1942 when the War Department decided that the company should concentrate all its efforts on producing construction equipment. This was probably OK with Huber since they had never managed to run with the big dogs of the tractor biz. Even after wartime restrictions ended Huber never resumed tractor production. The Maintainer however, survived mergers and acquisitions to remain in production until 1984.




Although Edward Huber was born on a farm and his company was started to produce agricultural equipment, construction and industrial equipment was where he would make his mark on history. Between 1902 and 1911 the Marion Steam Shovel Co. provided 112 steam shovels to the Army Corp of Engineers for use in the construction of the Panama Canal. Marion products played an important role in the construction of railroads and highways, dredging harbors and waterways and mining operations throughout the 20th Century. They even made the launch pad crawler that was used for the moon missions and the Space Shuttle Program.




Somewhat more prosaic, the Maintainer none the less filled a useful niche. Lighter and less expensive than a full power motor grader it served well in applications where heavy excavation was not required. A number of accessory attachments were available that greatly increased its versatility. In addition to serving as a motor grader it could function as a front end loader, bulldozer, side dozer, scarifier, road sweeper and sickle bar roadside mower. The first Maintainer rolled off the assembly line in 1943. It was followed by the M-52 and later the M-500 introduced in 1963. The M-500 was succeeded by the model M-600 in 1967.




As is often the case, information about specific models is hard to find on the internet. According to wikipedia the Huber corporate archives were donated to the Marion County Historical Society and Bowling Green Ohio’s Historical Construction Equipment Association. You can visit their websites, but you won’t find much about Huber Manufacturing Co.




An interesting synchronism: In the letters to the editor in the Sept. /  Oct. 2016 issue of Antique Power there is a Huber Maintainer  in serious need of restoration that is looking for a new home. It presently resides in Yuba City, California.  




Sources:
Encyclopedia of American Farm Tractors by C.H. Wendel
Encyclopedia of American Steam Traction Engines by Jack Norbeck
www.books.google.com The Earthmover Encyclopedia by Keith Haddock p. 152
www.farmcollector.com  Huber Tractors: A Proud Tradition by James N. Boblenz  

Thursday, September 1, 2016

1930 J.I. Case Model L


Looking like it just rolled off the the J.I. Case assembly line in Racine Wisconsin, This 1930 Model L was exhibited at the Tri- State Antique Power Association 2016 Show by owners Charles and Glenna Barkley.




In production from 1929 to 1940 Case manufactured 31,678 Model L tractors over that 11 year production run.




Rated for 3 to 4 plows and weighing in at 5307 to 8025 pounds it was a big, powerful tractor for it’s day. Powered by a Case 403 cubic inch four cylinder engine it provided ample power for plowing and was especially popular for belt work like threshing and powering sawmills.




Case literature claimed 32 hp on the drawbar and 45 hp from the PTO but the Nebraska Test rated it at 40.8 drawbar and 47.04 hp on the belt. For those who might be wondering what a Nebraska Test is, an interesting digression is in order.




Back in the day before politicians discovered they could create a “Foundation”  to
launder their bribes, kickbacks and payola from foreign powers for facilitating espionage, some of them actually had to work for a living. Like most of his constituents State Representative Wilmont F. Crozier was a farmer and he had been repeatedly burned by fly by night tractor salesmen. Together with State Senator Charles J. Warner he introduced a bill that became the Nebraska Tractor Test Law in 1919. Every tractor sold in Nebraska was required to be evaluated by a team of engineers at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. The results of these test were then made available to the public.




Testing began with a Waterloo Boy Model N 12-25 on March 31, 1920 and has continued to the present day. It has proved so valuable to consumers that it quickly became a national and is now an international standard. You can view and download the report on your favorite tractor’s performance by visiting the University of Nebraska Lincoln website at www.digitalcommons.unl.edu/tractormuseumlit




Sources:

Monday, August 15, 2016

Stover's Good Engine

As opposed to one of Stover’s bad engines? This interesting little engine was exhibited at the Foothills Antique Power Association’s 12th annual show in 2015.




During the 19th and early 20th Centuries it seems like everyone wanted to cash in on the manufacturing bubble and Daniel C. Stover ( 1839 - 1908 ) was no exception. In 1879 he established Stover Manufacturing Co. located in Freeport Illinois. The firm produced a variety of items that included agricultural machinery, water tanks, saw mills, the Ideal brand windmill for well pumps and the line of gasoline engines. Stover also made bicycles and in 1889 was issued a patent for improvements to bicycles  that included the coaster brake that is still used today on what’s called “cruiser bicycles”. Stover’s products were widely distributed through Sears, Roebuck & Co. If you fly on over to www.idaillinois.org you can find a nice “ Aeroplane view of the big Stover plant “ as it appeared on postcards of the period. Stover Manufacturing continued in business until 1942.



A point of interest is the Wico Electric Co. type EK Magneto that was widely used on single cylinder gas engines of the period. A reciprocating armature induction magneto, the only moving parts were the armature and contact points. It was  renowned for it’s simplicity and reliability. Printed on the Magneto is an amazing warranty. “Guaranteed for all time against defects in material and workmanship.”  Wow! Where can you get a product like that these days? Presumably one day billions and billions of years in the future, just before the universe stops expanding and collapses back into an infinitely dense point, if your engine stops working due to one of those defects; you could get your money back. That is of course provided you could find a Wico Company representative.




Sources:

www.gasenginemagazine.com  The remarkable Wico Model EK Magneto by Bud Motry May / June 1977
Illinois Digital Archives www.idaillinois.org