Maumee Valley Antique Steam & Gas Association
33rd Annual Show, August, 2010

Jefferson Township Park, New Haven, Indiana

All Photographs Copyright © 2010-2011 by Robert E Pence
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This ingenious rig was built to tow a threshing machine to a work site, and then provide belt power to
run it. The 1934 Ford truck carries two 85-horsepower Ford flathead V-8 engines connected in tandem
via a pair of differentials to drive a belt pulley built with wood and a truck rim.

Blacksmiths demonstrate their craft in a building constructed especially for their shop.

The Aultman Company was one of the few that built undermounted traction engines, with the engine mounted on a frame beneath the boiler.
Advocates of undermounted engines claimed that their design avoided the stress on the boiler caused by the vibration and torque of an engine
mounted on top. Detractors claimed that the undermounted engines were more vulnerable to damage and wear because they were down in the dirt
and dust.

Double-cylinder engines are beautifully smooth-running and have an advantage in that they cannot stop on dead center because the two crank throws
are set ninety degrees apart.

Stocking up fuel in the sawmill engine's bunker. Coal is available, but operators are encouraged to burn scrap wood from the sawmill whenever
possible because it costs nothing and doesn't make sooty black smoke.

The Bryan Harvester Company, of Peru, Indiana, produced a steam tractor using steam automobile technology. The water-tube boiler used flexible
tubes, held only about fifteen gallons of water, operated at 600psi, and could reach that pressure from cold in minutes. The burner was fired by
atomized kerosene, with a gasoline pilot light. The tractor was rated at 70 horsepower and appears to have been functionally successful.

Information from Bryan Steam, still making boilers in Peru, says that the company gave up on tractors
in 1922. Internal combustion tractors had achieved market dominance by then, and the huge
marketing, manufacturing, and distribution capabilities of companies like Ford and International
Harvester simply overwhelmed other technologies.

Russell & Co., of Massillon, Ohio, known for steam traction engines, threshing machines, and
sawmills, also built gas tractors between 1915 and 1924. Only fifteen Russell gas tractors are known
to exist.

I first saw this 65-horsepower Atlas steam engine 50 years ago powering John Harper's sawmill, east of New Haven, Indiana, along US 24. It drew
steam from a Marion steam shovel boiler that was fired with slabwood from the sawmill. As I recall, John said that the engine came from a factory in
Muncie, Indiana.

This engine bears a brass tag from Fort Wayne Oil & Supply Company. All I've found so far about that company so far is that in 1911 they were
jobbers of plumbing and heating equipment and supplies, located at 225-227 East Columbia Street. I think that would be approximately where
Freimann Square is now. As they were jobbers, the engine was made for them by someone else.

Rumely tractors, steam engines, and threshing machines were built in La Porte, Indiana. The two-cylinder kerosene tractors were legendary for their
rugged reliability and efficient use of fuel, but it was a design that Rumely held onto far into obsolescence. By the time they came out with a
conventional tractor that had impressive performance, it was too late. Allis Chalmers acquired the company during the Great Depression.

Second from left, the sleek Graham Bradley tractor was built by the company that built Graham automobiles. Graham Bradley tractors were sold
through Sears, Roebuck & Co. The tractors were of advanced design for their time, with numerous innovative features and very smooth running
and quiet.

A trailer-load of uncommon ones. The Avery Ro-Trak's front wheels can be adjusted from row-crop to standard (wide) spacing. I've seen photos of Fageol tractors before, instantly recognizable by the
spiky cast iron wheels, and I think the Porsche diesel is more common overseas than here. Porsche built farm tractors from 1914 through the
early 1960s.

A model of an English Aveling-Porter showman's engine. These were used in the circus parade to pull equipment to the show grounds, and then set
up to provide electricity from the large dynamo mounted ahead of the smokestack, to light the circus.

Only 150 Minneapolis Moline UDLX tractors were built, in 1938. They're a rarity now. In addition to the all-weather enclosed cab, they featured
automotive accessories like a radio, speedometer, and heater, and were capable of speeds up to 40mph. The idea was that the UDLX could work in
the fields all day, and then function as a car for family trips to town. A restored UDLX of this quality could bring more than $150,000 at auction.

George Schaaf's 1911 Imperial 40-70 Tractor was built in Minneapolis about 1911. It has a four-cylinder opposed engine, with cylinder bore of 7.5 inches
and stroke of 9 inches. It sounded good on the sawmill.

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