This Aultman-Taylor traction engine is an unusual design that stands out in the crowd if you know your steam engines. Most traction engines have a clutch with wooden shoes which grip the inside surface of the flywheel. This century old beauty uses a sliding pinion gear on the crankshaft to drive a bevel gear which transmits motion via a drive shaft to another pinion, which turns the differential.
Click the photos to enlarge them for a better view of the system. This drive system uses fewer parts than the typical engine of its day, and I am sure that there was much less clanking going on when starting and stopping.
You can see the back side of the crankshaft drive pinion in this photo. Aultman-Taylor engines used the Woolf reverse gear that you will also see on Case steam engines.
3 comments:
I own this bevel gear AT
1895. #4500
Worked in a gravel quarry
Wore the steering rings on front tires off. Rear tire cleats are almost gone. It is at Old Threshers in Mount Pleasant Iowa Labor Day show. Sawport@gmail.com
I own this bevel gear AT
1895. #4500
Worked in a gravel quarry
Wore the steering rings on front tires off. Rear tire cleats are almost gone. It is at Old Threshers in Mount Pleasant Iowa Labor Day show. Sawport@gmail.com
Nelson, it is really great to hear from you! Are you still engineering on the Midwest Central? We haven't been to Mt. Pleasant for many years, but still go to shows around us in Southern Illinois. David and Susan
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