Peerless Portable Steam Engine

Early in 2017 the members of the Foothills Antique Power Association of North Carolina installed this seven horsepower Peerless engine display in the back room of their General Store building at the Hickory, NC. American Legion Fairgrounds. The engine is owned by the Conrad Moretz family and is on semi- permanent loan to the F.A.P.A. for the display. It appears to be powering an overhead belt drive power transmission system like those in use in most mills and manufacturing facilities of the period and the visitor can watch the engine’s machinery in action. The effect is quite convincing until you realize that there is no heat radiating from the boiler and you take a closer look for signs of a fire behind the firebox door.

The exact year for this engine isn’t given but it probably dates to the early 1900’s. Cast into the metal of the smokebox door on the front of the engine is a patent date of April 13, 1875. A search will turn up a Scientific American from March 30, 1878 courtesy of books.google.com . Here you will find an illustration of the “new Peerless Portable steam engine, 6 to 10 hp.” that looks similar to the engine shown here. 

Peter Geiser founded Geiser Manufacturing Co. in 1855 to sell  threshing machines of his design. He moved production to Waynesboro, Pa. in 1860. Apparently George Frick offered him part of the land he had purchased to build his factory on. It wouldn’t be long before Geiser Mfg. Co. was producing Peerless steam engines to compete with Frick Eclipse models. Emerson-Brantingham Co. bought out Geiser in 1912 but continued to use the Peerless / Geiser name for a number of years. The sources that I have seen agree that Emerson Brantingham acquired the Peerless line in 1912 but beyond that, accounts vary.

The most accurate and complete version of the story might be the one you can find at www.emersonbrantingham.com . This site has done yeoman’s work of assembling and making available online a collection of original source material on the subject. According to their history, EB went on an acquisition binge in 1912 gobbling up other companies like some crazed corporate Pac Man. The list included: The Pontiac Buggy Co. , LaCrosse Hay Tool Co. , Reeves and Co. , Geiser Manufacturing Co. , Rockford Gas Engine Works, Gas Traction Co. ( Big-4 ), Newton Wagon Co. , and American Drill Co. All this in one year! Like most benders, this one left a serious hangover in its wake and Emerson Brantingham found itself facing major financial difficulties. 

Emerson Brantingham had added two major manufacturers of steam engines and a producer of large heavy tractors to their portfolio, just as the demand for these products was beginning to decline. By 1928 it was EB’s turn to be acquired. J.I. Case of Racine, Wisconsin moved in and bought up what was left, mainly for the manufacturing facilities.

One of the documents you can download at the emersonbrantingham.com website is a Geiser Machinery Catalog from 1913. The forward contains the announcement that since the issue of the last catalog, the Geiser Works had become a part of the Emerson- Brantingham Organization. This catalog features illustrations of nine traction engine models, a line of threshers, hullers and separators for a variety of crops, accessories , water wagons and road rollers. Page 45 features an illustration of a Peerless Portable engine typical of engines from 4 to 15 horsepower. The copy states that larger engines were available from 20 to 35 hp. Hay presses, sawmills and gas engines were also offered that year. This catalog is just one of a number of interesting documents available at this website. Check it out.

The F.A.P.A. annual show will be May 18th and 19th 2018 at the Hickory American Legion Fairgrounds in Newton, NC. for more information click the link in the shows and events section, or do it the hard way by typing www.foothillsantique.com into your browser. Still have questions? Call the show chairman, Teddy Hefner at 828-310-5525.

Additional resources:

Encyclopedia of American Farm Tractors by C.H. Wendel

Encyclopedia of American Steam Traction Engines by Jack Norbeck

1932 Massey-Harris GP 15-22

It must have seemed like a no-brainer at the time. If two wheels pulling is good, all four of them pulling has to be twice as good. Right?  Unfortunately, the Massey design team chose to ignore two of the immutable laws of nature, the K.I.S.S. principle and Murphy’s Law. The result was predictable.

Massey-Harris certainly wasn’t the first to build an all wheel drive tractor and they wouldn’t be the last. The concept may be sound but the devil lies in producing results that are measurably better and this was where the GP fell short. Try as they might, Massey’s engineers just couldn’t manage to pull more drawbar performance out of it than some of the competition managed with two wheels.

Introduced in 1930 the GP was rolled out just as the Great Depression was beginning to take its toll with production spanning the lean years until 1936. It was a time when farmers were in no mood to try something new, especially when popular competitors like the Fordson and the Farmall were available, usually at a lower price. Sales remained disappointing throughout the production run with only 3000 tractors sold at $1000 per copy.

It’s obvious that a lot of engineering went into this tractor. Every part on it serves a purpose, all muscle and bone with not a bit of fat anywhere. Beneath the gas tank that doubled as a hood lay the four cylinder 226 cubic inch Hercules power plant that connected through a three speed transmission to a transfer case and differential for each axle. A belt pulley and a rear PTO offered power transfer. Electric lights and starter along with an implement lift were offered as an option. A metal seat provided the only concession to operator creature comfort. It was a lean machine to be certain.

Massey sent the GP to Nebraska in 1930 where it was evaluated in test number 177 from May 5th  to May 27. It managed a highest rating of 15 drawbar horsepower and 22 hp on the belt. Notes for the test indicate that no repairs or adjustments were required. Apparently Massey management was looking for a higher rating because they sent it back one year later when it underwent test number 191  from May 22nd to June 12, 1931. This proved to be a mistake because the best this tractor could manage was 13.02 hp drawbar and 20.31 on the belt. As if that wasn’t bad enough a number a parts failed and required repair or replacement during the course of the test. It clearly wasn’t what Massey had hoped for. 

The GP measured 119 inches long, 55” high and cleared the ground by 30”. Front and rear tread options were: 40”, 60”, 66” and 76”.  The tractor weighed in at 3900 pounds. Turning radius was six feet. Serial numbers began at 300001 in 1930 and ran to 303001 in 1936. 

The 1932 model shown here is owned by Dave and Pat  Kari who brought it from Minnesota to the 2017 Fall Harvest Days Antique Engine and Tractor Show near Asheville, NC. for the Massey Expo of North America 2017. Many thanks to them for contributing this interesting bit of history to the event. 

Sources:

University of Nebraska Tractor Test Reports number 177 and 191.

www.mfpartsonline.com 

The Big Book of Massey Tractors by Robert N. Pripps at books.google.com