schram ih

yesterday i was at a tractor salvage yard came across a tractor that said schram on the hood and grill but on the rear axel housing it had a ih serial tag looked all factory the motor is a 6 cyl front 3 had spark plugs the back three were used as a air compressor kind of neat i might go back there today ill get some pics any one know anything about it

Sounds kinda like the Leroi compressor tractor from the40s.There is one here,right on the main drag,hasnt run in years.it has 4cyl gas engine with 2 compressor cylinders cast into the front of the block,(looks like a six)it has 2 heads(4cyl gas,2cyl comp)air tank in front of the raidiator.it is real loonng,painted yellow.Please find and post all model#s to help us identify what you have-pictures,too

Schramm is still in business although they no longer make the self- propelled compressor. They were, and still are, principally involved in water drilling equipment. The engine/compressor was their own design and fitted to an IH chassis. They were frequently seen on road building projects where ledge needed to be drilled and blown up. They could get close to the rock drill. This reduced set up time and improved the quality of the compressed air. That means PSI and CFM for an equal sized compressor. I suppose they also saw some light duty tractor service on construction sites. That might include dragging blasting mats.

They met a need when air compressors were heavy and bulky. They would require a 4wd truck or standard tractor to move them around. The 4wd truck was not widely available as they were not built by the OEMs. So if you needed a tractor anyway, why not reduce the drilling air supply down to one unit

This dual use engine concept goes back to at least the Model A Ford and most likely to the Model T with a company called Smith. It was carried forward into the '80's and '90's with small block Ford V8 engines. They were quite popular but I can't remember the brand name of the compressor. Nearly all portable compressors nowadays are screw type rotaries. They are more efficient and have a longer service life .

Wardner - The Schramm/IHC "Pneumatractor" used an modified IHC block and internals (the C263 perhaps?)

Two different 3 cylinder heads were installed on the block - a cut-down IHC head on the front and special compressor head on the rear. Modified (cut down) intake/exhaust manifolds were used on to the front head. The rest of the tractor however was Schramm designed/build.

Schramm also offered a diesel variant - the "Pneumadiesel" based on the D282(?) IHC engine.

Fascinating old compressors!

This subject has came up several times and sometimes one is for sale on e-bay. They were quite popular in their time but as Wardner has said the rotaries have replaced the piston compressors cleaner air and more CFMs for their size and wt.

Bob, that may be true of the six cylinder units but the earlier four cylinder units were not derived from IH designed products. I carried on a correspondence with a Schramm owner who was selling his non-wheeled engine/compressor on eBay. He sent me, or added, some closeups of the engine. It was totally different from any 4, 6, 9 series engine. As I remember, the ignition, governor, oil filter were all opposite. And the water pump was different.

I may still have the pictures. I'll take a look later. It's too bad eBay doesn't have an archive. With a brand name non-comsumer item, it would be easy to find. I suppose Google could locate some pictures.

well didnt make it back to the junk yard today the honey do list grew as the day went on but maybe next weekend and ill post some pics the machine is all there and its for sale be kind of neat to own it thats why i didnt argue the honey do list i can use it as leaverage and sweet talk myself into another tractor lol

The LeRoi was called a MonoBlock compressor,2 large cyls compressed air , and they were driven by the 4 cyl engine thru the common crank. I spent alot of time repairing them in the late '60's