(800) 853-2651
SHOP NOW

Old tractor pic ID question

H

Howard H.

Well-known Member

One of the professors at the university here sent me this picture asking if I could ID it...

Is it a Case steamer???


<a href="http://s130.photobucket.com/albums/p268/case600lp/permanent/?action=view&amp;current=scan0041.jpg" target="_blank">
scan0041.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket
</a>

Thanks for any info!
Howard
 
Zoom in/sharpen the smokebox cover at the front of the boiler and look for Old Abe.

<img src = "http://i52.tinypic.com/211mk92.jpg">
 
Try posting on www.old-engine.com. Go to the smokestak page. Then post under the Steam forum. Somone there will for sure know.
 
General arrangement strongly suggests Case. Might also possibly be a Baker, though I doubt it.

It's definitely NOT a Farquhar, Reeves, Sawyer-Massey, Minneapolis, Port Huron, etc.
 
I may be all wet on this but; last year in an issue of Farm Collector magazines steam engine section a story was featured written and researched by George Hedtke in 1987 of Sample Engine #14666 built by J.I.Case engine wwwworks in 1904 for the Stator copper mine near Folsom New Mexico.This engine was 40X150 horsepower and was one of eight built.The other 7 were called Road Locomotives. This engine was used at first to pull a long wagon train of wagons loaded with bagged copper ore down the dry Cimmaron river to the rail line at Folsom a 55 mile trip.The ore was then shpped some where for smelting and the steamer made its way back to the mine. Interesting story,the Engine wore out rapidly ddue to inferior metal used in its Mfg. and in 1918 it was broke up and junked for the war effort going on at that era. I believe this is a picture of that engine.Note the 1/2 cab and the road light on the lower right side of the engine. These are distinguishing features of 14666.JH
 
I am inclined to agree with Fred. The CASE letters should show on the horozontal tank on side of boiler Also appear to be small diff. in the front axle, although back then, small changes were frequent. I would also think Old Abe would have shown in pic.
 
I might be inclined to agree with John Harmon.
I've got a copy of Floyd Clymer's Album of Historical Steam Traction Engines. I went all the way through it. Problem is,well one of many problems,a lot of the pictures in that book are of the right hand side of the engines,not the left.
About the only engines I can definately say have the round outfit standing behind the smoke stack AND the big tube down the side of the boiler are Case.
Advance,Russell,Keck Gonnerman,Baker and Nichols & Shepard,along with a few lesser known had that round outfit on top,but I couldn't find that tube along the boiler on any others.
 
Wonder why the tender is at the back of the train rather behind the engine. If that is a water tender, I also wonder if it had a coal compartment.

It also appears that the train is hauling ore. You gotta wonder how the engine could get enough traction to pull it. Do we have any 2 wheel drive tractors, with triple the horsepower, that could do the same? How many mules teams would it take to roll that load.
 
Here is a picture of the boiler that George Hedtke found in New Mexico of the Case 150 boiler it was sold in his estate sale a few years ago.

The smokestak and steam dome are not even close to the one in the picture.

I'm still leaning towards a Peerless of maybe Geiser engine
Wauseon09001-vi.jpg
 
Another reason I'm thinking Peerless or Geiser is the back wheels, this one is older and smaller but the wheels look very similar the spokes on this one are wood if you can believe it and the fronts are all wood.

The Geiser exhaust tube also runs to the very front of the smokebox instead of turning in and exiting directly under the smokestak like most other makes
Wauseon10050-vi.jpg
 
It's a Peerless, about a 20 HP I'd guess. Are you sure that isn't cotton in those wagons? I can't explain the water wagon being back there...Hmmmm.
 
Fred according to ,and this is just for the sake of discussion,"Hedtke says that,The old #14666 150 HP Case Steam engine sat abandoned at the Sator mine site until 1918.when a junkman broke it apart for world war 1 salvage, All the fittings,castings,parts,wheels,etc were gone;but the boiler clearly marked with #14666 cast in brass on the smoke box side remained." In other words ,any thing removalable was removed for salvage.it is clear from your photo that the boiler has been extensively refurbished and I doubt the stack or steam dome are original as they could have been easily removed when every thing else was salvaged in 1918. I don't suppose we will ever know and it is gratifying that at least a part of the old girl is still around.If the above photo is not #14666,I wonder just what the wagons contain? If not bagged copper ore would sacks of grain be out of the equation? If grain then I doubt as you if the posted photo is #14666.Regardless I enjoy hunting down stories such as this and I appreciate your photo so at least some one knows of what I post.
 
It is an 18 hp Peerless model U1 (see reprint of 1910 Peerless catalog). They were marketed as "double-drive hauling engines." The tanks are specific to certain Peerless engines(U1, Z1, ZZ, and Z3) and the drive wheels have a double row of spokes.
 
I have that book too! The only thing that I take issue with about that otherwise gem of a book is that it describes a British built engine as a "Fouler" ( It should be spelled Fowler ), but no book is totally free of miss-prints I guess.
 
Judging from the ground around the rig, it looks more like wheat field stubble than a mining area. The 'Bonanza' farms in NW Minnesota and the Dakotas in the 1890's used equipment of this scale. If you want some interesting reading on this subject, see Hiram Drache's book "The Day of the Bonanza". There are some amazing pictures and descriptions of farming 30-40,000 acres with horses and steam engines.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

H
Moline Plow Receipt
Replies
2
Views
1K
moll
M
H
JI Case Tool Kit
Replies
3
Views
664
Ande
Ande
H
Case toolkit
Replies
4
Views
853
Howard H.
H
H
Late Blizzard
Replies
15
Views
1K
Howard H.
H
H
Property Line Question and Pushy Neighbor
2 3 4
Replies
67
Views
5K
TJV
T
Tractor Parts Tractor Manuals

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Copyright © 1997-2024 Yesterday's Tractor Co.

All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of any part of this website, including design and content, without written permission is strictly prohibited. Trade Marks and Trade Names contained and used in this Website are those of others, and are used in this Website in a descriptive sense to refer to the products of others. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER: Tradenames and Trademarks referred to within Yesterday's Tractor Co. products and within the Yesterday's Tractor Co. websites are the property of their respective trademark holders. None of these trademark holders are affiliated with Yesterday's Tractor Co., our products, or our website nor are we sponsored by them. John Deere and its logos are the registered trademarks of the John Deere Corporation. Agco, Agco Allis, White, Massey Ferguson and their logos are the registered trademarks of AGCO Corporation. Case, Case-IH, Farmall, International Harvester, New Holland and their logos are registered trademarks of CNH Global N.V.

Yesterday's Tractors - Antique Tractor Headquarters
Website Accessibility Policy

Back
Top