What Do You Do For A Cow That Slobbers?

You have to teach the cow how to spit.  This old Cushman at Pinckneyville had a serious cooling system malfunction going on, and it was hard to pick a safe distance for shooting video.  You will notice that the usual closeups of small moving parts are absent from this vid, and that was for the benefit of the lens and electrical components of the camera. 




Cushmans always remind me of a high school pal who had one of these, in excellent original condition, because his grandfather always kept it under cover.  He took it to Old Threshers in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa to show while he was still a high school kid.  One of the Shellabarger brothers ( Ralph; an Old Theshers founder, no less!) visited with him, and gave him a clutch assembly, which was a significant upgrade.  Engine people are good, and the bigger they are in the scheme of things, the better they are.  At least that's been my experience. 

The Shellabarger brothers sold farm equipment, and they had access to lots of good collectible material.  One of the engines that Ralph showed was an extremely rare Eli two stroke engine, which could be run in either direction.  It just about broke my heart when Ralph sold that engine, and it left Mt. Pleasant.  The brothers saw so many different types of engines in their business that buying and selling was easy, and keeping an engine because of its rarity was not so important to them. 

It sure is peculiar how many memories and emotions can be brought up just by watching a slobbery old engine.