These photos showed up in my mailbox recently, and were sent to me by an old friend who took these shots about fifteen years ago, not too far from Oblong, Illinois. The engine is a Superior, of the same type as in this video.
The engine and an eccentric assembly sit in a power house, and rods connect the eccentric to oil wells in the surrounding area.
My curiosity is killing me, and I am going to have to make a trip and find out if this artifact is still in use. The tank in this photo is made of redwood. They were assembled with copper hardware, which withstood the ravages of saltwater better than steel.
There is a bellcrank assembly at each well to transfer lateral movement to vertical. Wells opposite each other on the eccentric would pretty well balance each other so the machinery ran smoothly, and iron could be added to individual wells for fine tuning the load.
UPDATE!! It's Still There!!!
I love old artifacts! Let us know if you go down there or find more treasure. :)
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