Essential Engines

Once Harold stripped the engine, he again discovered the magneto was destroyed by mouse urine. Yet, after Harold cleaned the engine - and added a condenser and coil to make it start easy - it ran smoothly. Harold originally intended to mount the engine on the Little Bull tractor - thus the new red paint job. Unfortunately, the engine on the Little Bull tractor rattled for an unknown reason. Harold didn't want to ruin it, so he removed it from the scale tractor.

With so many engines to house, Harold hopes to move into a larger workspace. 'My garage is packed so tightly I don't have room to work on any of the engines,' he says.

'This hobby is a lot of fun,' Harold declares. 'I get to look for something new and different. I'm familiar with a lot of old stuff, but there's also a lot of it that I'm not familiar with. I'm always going to junk piles and always looking for stuff. That old machinery and those old engines used to work really good on the farms.'

Harold may be retired from the farm, but he isn't likely to lose his enthusiasm for old farm engines. 'I was just always kind of interested, and I just kind of bought one here and there, you know, and monkeyed with them so I'd have something to do. Now I have plenty to do,' Harold chuckles.

'This hobby is a lot of fun. I get to look for something new and different. I'm familiar with a lot of old stuff, but there's also a lot of it that I'm not familiar with. I'm always going to junk piles and always looking for stuff. That old machinery and those old engines used to work really good on the farms.'

- Bill Vossler is a freelance writer and the author of several books on antique farm toys. Contact him at Box 372, 400 Caroline Lane, Rockville, MN 56569; (320) 253-5414; e-mail: bvossler@juno.com