Antique equipment anyone?

[charlief1]

I got a link to this in mail and thought it was really cool. The owner of the property has just about anything just laying there from the late 1800's early 1900's up to the 1960's. It's interesting that he's got a bunch of steam powered tractors and old water turbines that look like they could be restored. Hopefully someone gets to them before they're scrapped.

http://urbanindiana.com/in_mauzy/in_mauzy.html

 

[Phoneguy]

That is some serious history there !! The big question...is any of it for sale?

Bryan

 

[charlief1]

I was wondering the same thing Bryan. How cool would it be to see a steam powered tractor plowing the fields. My uncle grew up plowing fields with a mule team and when his father got a steam engine he had a blacksmith build a pan for it so he could steam the ground just before planting. It kept a lot of weeds from growing in the fields but he loaned it out and someone over heated it and cracked the boiler. It was never repaired and sold for scrap I'm sorry to say.

 

[INEEDAGN]

Some of that stuff will not be scrapped under any circumstances. There's some serious $$$$$ there for a lot of those items. Even if a scrapper bought it all by weight he'd be stupid to not find a retail buyer for a lot of it. Odds are good that will eventually be a REALLY good auction. Dude had an appreciation for steam, for sure. I've walked through my share of iron with large trees growing through it but never anything that size or with all the steam powered stuff or the HUGE fricken engines. How the hell would you even move some of that?

If you get the chance, go to a local threshing bee or old time/steam reunion or similar. It's really neat to see someone walk into a shed, go through the start process, and drive a 2 story tall tractor out and hook it to something. There's a local one to me where they run an old sawmill with belt drive off a steam engine and show the entire threshing process. It's becoming a lost art since the younger generations haven't really picked up on it.

On the steam engines, if the boiler will pass an inspection, it will run again. If not it may be parted out to keep another running unless it's a really rare model. Boiler repair is brutal. And if it's not right it can kill you (or whoever may be near it).

It was worth scrolling through, thanks for posting it. More proof that good stuff can still be found in peoples yards.

 

[charlief1]

What kills me is seeing the lathe in this condition.

 

[dr_frankenstein]

What kills me is seeing the lathe in this condition.

oooh momma! look at that belt driven lathe! look at the size of the bed on that thing! like a 10 foot bed! you could machine a solid driveshaft on that bad boy!

 

[charlief1]

oooh momma! look at that belt driven lathe! look at the size of the bed on that thing! like a 10 foot bed! you could machine a solid driveshaft on that bad boy!

Wouldn't be hard to convert it to electric power either. Just need a good drive system for it.

 

[futten]

some things ya might aswell just throw into recyceling but others are salvageble and can be made functional once again awsome stuff i dont think i would mind the pain in my knees from walkin around that place for some hours

 

[S10xGN]

If I had acreage, that's what I'd want it to look like. I'm surprised the land doesn't sink from the weight!

 

[charlief1]

You guys need to see some of the stuff we've got laying around. Found a model T frame will all the suspension plus front and rear axles complete. Thinking about making a track T with a draw through engine in it. I'll see about taking some pics of it tomorrow.

 

[Rivical]

Thanx for sharing that Charlie!

Among the many items, that trencher looked pretty interesting to me. It's something I've seen before. What amazes me is the teeth. When we consider what they use today with hardened teeth bolted on, I have to wonder just how much better the iron was made then to not even need it. I've never seen old equipment like that with broken or even bent teeth. Meanwhile, I just broke another off tooth off my backhoe's bucket over the weekend.

If that stuff was around here, it'd be covered over with tall weeds and vines. I've got tons of pictures of equipment in that state from local places.

That place was really immaculately kept!



Sidenote:

They're using what appear's to be an early 50's trencher/tiler in a neighboring field this week. And at that, it appears that it may have been either developed with older tech, or is a nicely modified pre-war piece with a deisel engine on it now. I'd like to get a closer look and some pics of that relic yet this week.

 

[Turbo-Archie]

I call dibs on the diamond T dump...

..

 

[charlief1]

That would be a very cool ride Archie.

 

[Bruce Urie]

GOD, I LOVE stuff like this! What a find! All belongs in museums........as I was looking closely at how all that stuff was made and put together I thought: the mechanical expertise and design that existed way back then is just phenomenal! The way those people got things to work like that is so admirable even to this day............man, I really loved looking at all that stuff........reminded me of my late Grandparent's old farm............thanks for sharing, Charlie, I sure enjoyed it! You're alright!

Bruce '87 Grand National

 

[groumoutis]

That place appears to be a few miles northeast of Muncie which has several TB members. It is about two hours worth of driving for me!

If anyone is into military tanks I've got the place for you. It is about five miles from my house. Google Ropkey Armor museum. This guy has the tank that was in the movie Tank with Thomas C Howell and James Garner. He has a bunch of old military equipment and it is amazing. On the top of his house it looks like a light house but it is more like a turret because he opens the windows and shoots his guns at coyotes. Very cool guy. So if you are ever on I-74 on the west side of Indiana stop in and check it out!