J.I. Case 30 HP Portable Steam Engine

A new steam engine made an appearance at the Dacusville Farm Show this year. Fired up and powering a sawmill was this 30 hp J.I. Case portable.

The brass data plate attached to this engine doesn’t give you a lot of information, just the horsepower and the engine number.

The owner told me he believes it was built between 1915 and 1920. A register of Case engines posted at www.steel-wheels.net list engine number 23033 and  number 23052 as being built in 1910 but does not include this engine’s number. A list of serial numbers posted at www.jicasecollector.com has 1910 production running from 22870 to 24277 . Based on those two sources I think 1910 is probably about right.

I haven’t found a 1910 Case catalog online but there is a 1916 catalog posted at https://archive.org . Portable engines were available in sizes ranging from 18 up to 80 horsepower. Judging by the catalog illustrations available, the design of the Case engine did not change very much from year to year.

All sizes except for the 18 and 30hp models were available with straw burning attachments and jacketed boilers for an extra $50. With this engine your choice of fuel was limited to wood or coal. If you were operating a sawmill like this one, that wasn’t an issue.

This photo gives a good look at the side mounted engine with the water heater below it. The Case catalog included testimonials from owners like: “ It’s an easy steamer.” and explained that the heater used exhaust steam from the engine to heat makeup water before it entered the boiler to increase efficiency.

Case portable engines were offered at prices ranging from $600 for an eighteen hp to $1300 for an eighty hp model..

Rumely Oil Pull Type M 20-35

Meinrad Rumely was dead, there was no doubt about it. Even the board of directors said so. His grandson, the good Doctor Edward A. Rumely had returned from Germany where he had been studying medicine to head up the company. He had met Rudolf Diesel while he was there and was  impressed by the potential of his engine. On this side of the pond John Secor had also been developing an engine that could burn cheap fuels and in 1908 Dr. Rumely recruited his services. Assisted by the Rumely factory superintendent, William Higgins, he designed the first Oil Pull tractor in 1909. By the end of 1910 more than a hundred had been manufactured.

Early production models like the Type B 25-45 Oil Pull were large, heavy and expensive but they were well received and Rumely sold a lot of them. As it turned out Rumely sold too many of them ( most on credit sales ) and a crop failure in 1914 sent the company into bankruptcy when farmers defaulted on their loans. The company was soon reorganized but without the Rumely family who were left holding a lot of worthless paper. Maybe Ed Rumely should have studied business administration instead of medicine.

In the day of sod busting on the the prairies the big tractors were king, but by the 1920’s the market was shifting toward smaller, lighter and less expensive equipment. Rumely had produced a light tractor as early as 1916 when it introduced the 8-16 All Purpose which was followed in 1919 by a 12-20 Oil Pull. The type M 20-35 Oil Pull ( the subject of this post ) was introduced in 1924 and remained in production until 1927.

Early in 1925 Rumely packed up serial number 79 of the M 20-35 and shipped it off to the University of Nebraska at Lincoln where it was tested between March 29 to April 15 in Tractor Test # 111. You can view and download a complete copy of the test report by visiting http:// digitalcommons.unl.edu/tractormuseumlit/ .

Specifications listed on the report gave the model M a horizontal 2 cylinder valve in head engine with a bore of 6 13/16” and stroke of 8 ¼” . Turning at 640 rpm it produced 35.39 brake hp and 21.13 hp at the drawbar while consuming 3.586 gal. of kerosene per hour. Forward speeds were recorded as 2 mph in first, 2.5 mph in second and 3 mph in third.

Sources: Nebraska Tractor Test # 111 report, Encyclopedia of American Farm Tractors by C. H. Wendel. And special thanks to the members of the Richland Creek Antique Power Association for providing the photo op.

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.

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.archives.hcea.net

https://en.wikipedia.org

www.farmcollector.com  Huber Tractors: A Proud Tradition by James N. Boblenz