Weekend Steam

I wish there was a date on this ad for the Pitts traction engine. This is copied from 'Old Time Agriculture in the Ads' by Robert F Karolevitz, 1970, North Plains Press, Aberdeen, SD. The Pitts company was started by John and Hiram Pitts, twins born in 1799. In 1837 they patented a thresher that set the pattern for all successive threshing machines. They moved to Buffalo, New York in 1840, and that is why the company became know as Buffalo-Pitts.

This particular engine is an early one, possibly one of the first traction engines produced by this company. It has a Stephenson reverse gear; the 1896 catalog has engines with a Woolf reverse gear, so we know this ad is before 1896.

More information about the Buffalo-Pitts engines can be found in the Encyclopedia of American Steam Traction Engines by Jack Norbeck, Crestline Publishing, Glen Ellyn, IL, where I found the information about this company.

More Model T Mechanic Mania

We saw this fixer-upper at Boonville, IN last summer. The owner probably keeps it going with his copy of Dyke's Ford Supplement. Click on each page below to enlarge, then save it to your hard drive. Click on the T's label to collect all of the pages.

Next time: Carburetors!

Piece By Piece

The Midwest Central Railroad Blog has a great series of photos in their current post. Number Six engine at Mt. Pleasant had some leaky flues, and when the teardown began, one thing led to another, and now the boiler is off and will be receiving new stay bolts in addition to the new flues. It's well worth your time to click over there if you are curious about the inner workings of a boiler.

One Of Our Local Heroes

J.R., Orchardville, IL Fire Chief has built a well equipped and well trained fire department that responds to fires, accidents, and other emergencies in a sixty square mile area. Working with only a thin financial shoestring he has managed to accumulate two pumpers, three tankers two brush buggies, a well equipped rescue truck, plus generators, water pumps, and other equipment for emergencies. His latest project is this little 4WD truck that will serve as a lightweight-go nearly anywhere brush buggy. He is equipping it with a 50 gallon water tank, pump, hose reel, and corner nozzles. It will have an additional 50 gallons behind it on a trailer to take to fire sites.

Water is J.R.'s obsession for rural fires. A neighboring fire department frequently loses houses because they respond with their pumpers, quickly run out of water, and have to call for tankers. The Orchardville Fire Department's first truck on the road to a fire is a tanker. The second truck out is a pumper, which probably will pass the tanker on the way to the fire. Everyone in this department is thoroughly trained to drive sanely and safely, so they arrive at every fire they are called to. It is a real pleasure to work with organizations like this one.

The Wind Was Blowing, and Snow Was Falling,

and my SKS has the world's worst trigger, but I had a good time shooting out behind the barn Sunday afternoon. That is my prone target in the photo, which was my best one with the SKS. I ought to take the trigger group to a gunsmith and have it tuned up, but then I would have to come up with another excuse when I miss a shot. The old Winchester 74 makes me look a bit better. This was supposed to be slow fire, but I was cold, so I popped off my ten rounds in under a minute and went back to the house for a cup of coffee. Go to the sidebar and click on the Gun Blogger Rifle Match and do likewise. You have until March 21, so maybe you can pick a day with better weather.


UPDATE!! Results are in; click to go there!

Not My Victrola

This version of the St. Louis Blues will have you tapping your toes all day. A big Thank You to 24052, over on YouTube for a great record!

Here Comes Monday Again!

Back To The Old Grind!

Gun Blogger Rifle Match

Fight cabin fever by getting out to your range and shoot your targets for the Gun Blogger Rifle Match. Click the link under 'Shoot More,' on the left side of the blog to learn the rules, and to download your target. You can enter in three classes: Kalashnakov/SKS rifles with iron sights at 50 yards; .22 rifles with iron sights at 25 yards; and .22 rifles with a scope at 25 yards. I hadn't fired my SKS in quite some time, so I took it out back today to check the sights. It is centering up 2 1/2 inches high at 25 yards, so with a minor adjustment I will be ready to shoot my 50 yard targets tomorrow.

UPDATE!! Results are in; click to go there!

Weekend Steam

Let's take a hop across the pond and have a look at an English plowing engine. This scale model is a joy to watch, and it highlights a method that was little used in the US. English plowing engines pulled the plow back and forth across a field with a winching drum, instead of being hooked to the plow with a drawbar. The plows used in this method were actually two plows in one, with a set of wheels between them, and made so that only one is in the ground at one time. Below is a photo from the "Encyclopedia of American Steam Traction Engines" by Jack Norbeck, of an Engilish plow at the Henry Ford Museum.

Ride The Narrow Gauge Model T!

Take a ride on the narrow gauge Model T at Old Threshers! After your trip, be sure to click on each page below to enlarge, then right click and save for future reference when you are working on your Ford. If you are new to this site, click on the T's label to bring up all the posts with pages from Dyke's Ford supplement.