''No Tank, No Fan, No Freezing'

Enlarge Image Image Gallery Novo Type S engine

Leon Cox loved old iron. The North Carolina engine collector showed his spit-shined engines for decades at the Southeast Old Threshers Reunion held at the Denton Farm Park, Denton, N.C., each year since 1970. Sadly, Leon passed away October 2002 at 69 years old, but he certainly hasn't been forgotten.

In fact, Leon's memory lives on at the well-known farm equipment show thanks to fellow old-iron aficionado, Jimmy Yow, who proudly displayed Leon's favorite 1911 Novo stationary gasoline engine as a memorial to his friend at the 33rd reunion during the Fourth of July weekend 2003.

'He can't be here,' Jimmy explains as he sits near the Novo while it steadily pumps water as effectively as the day it was built. 'But at least a part of him can be.'

The 4-hp engine, which Leon bought and restored years ago, was originally used by farmers in North Carolina, Jimmy says. Leon always showed the slick, black engine at the reunion. When he died, Jimmy bought the engine and continued the annual tradition.

Jimmy's no stranger to the world of vintage gas engines. The 51-year-old collector owns a I NAPA auto parts store, j was the president of the I Antique Exposure Farm \ Equipment Collector's Club based in Asheboro, N.C., and has collected International Harvester engines as well as sausage stuffers for more than a decade. That's why he takes special delight in taking care of the engine Leon loved.

The Novo's striking paint job - red pinstripes highlight the black iron - as well as its unique sound when pumping water with an attached Barnes-made Hercules 225-psi water pump, attracted curious onlookers like a magnet as they filed past Jimmy's display. Or perhaps it was the simple wooden sign erected near the engine that carries Leon's name. Regardless, the beautifully restored engine turned heads, which made Jimmy proud because, he says, Leon would've loved the attention.

The engine maker's history is as interesting as the engine's pedigree. It was built in 1911, Jimmy says, although the engine's serial number, 83782, suggests it could've been produced a decade later. Nevertheless, the Novo Engine Co., Lansing, Mich., began building similar engines in 1911 when Hildreth Mfg. Co. first organized the firm.

According to a November-December 1983 Gas Engine Magazine article written by Phil Goetz, who worked at the Novo Engine Co. for 28 years, Hildreth Mfg. Co. began as the Cady & North Co. in 1890 and was based in a small repair shop in North Lansing. The company first produced picket sawmills, and then introduced a line of two-cycle, horizontal marine engines and small farm pumps along with a new company name, Hildreth & Son Co.