October 2011 Item A 

Champagne bottle tool with brush, seal cutter and corkscrew. Photo submitted by R.C. Haufler, Comfort, Texas. 

October 2011 Item B 

Mainframe and treadle bar for an 1895 Mehring treadle milking machine manufactured in York Road, Md., identified by Mike Gleason, Herkimer, N.Y. Photo submitted by Pioneer Village Museum, Barron County (Minn.) Historical Society.

October 2011 Item C 

Bread cutter. Photo submitted by Gordon Hadley, Vankleek Hill, Ontario, Canada. See patent 72,709 for a similar piece.

October 2011 Mystery Tool D

We received several answers for this piece. Among them: Cargo hook, says Mike Intlekofer, Bellevue, Wash. Other theories: Chain "slip" hook, available in two sizes for different sizes of chain, used to vary chain length; "banjo" hook probably used with a three- or four-leg chain sling to lift steel plates at a factory; rope hook for a hay barn rope used to operate or tie off a hay trolley and fork pulley or sling. Photo submitted by John Crofoot, New Era, Mich.

Do you recognize this tool?

"AL 1002" is cast into the piece.

Check back here Nov. 15 for the correct answer, or find it in the December 2011 issue of Farm Collector.

Have a tool you want to submit? Email us at editor@farmcollector.com with at least one photo taken in a well-lit area against a plain background. Include dimensions and any markings on the piece.

Do you recognize this tool?

It measures 12-3/4 inches tall, 12 inches deep; tray measures 7-1/2 inches wide; blade measures 12 inches. The device is made of cast iron; tray is made of tin and has a wooden handle. There are no markings. The blade goes up and down in a slicing motion and has a moveable guide with range of up to 1 inch.

Check back here Nov. 15 for the correct answer, or find it in the December 2011 issue of Farm Collector.

Have a tool you want to submit? Email us at editor@farmcollector.com with at least one photo taken in a well-lit area against a plain background. Include dimensions and any markings on the piece.

Do you recognize this tool?

If you recognize this mystery tool leave a comment by clicking the Comment link below.

Check back here Nov. 15 for the correct answer, or find it in the December 2011 issue of Farm Collector.

Have a tool you want to submit? E-mail us at editor@farmcollector.com with at least one photo taken in a well-lit area against a plain background. Include dimensions and any markings on the piece.

Do you recognize this tool? It is marked "J. Rodger & Sons" on back.

If you recognize this mystery tool leave a comment by clicking the Comment link below.

Check back here Nov. 15 for the correct answer, or find it in the December 2011 issue of Farm Collector.

Have a tool you want to submit? E-mail us at editor@farmcollector.com with at least one photo taken in a well-lit area against a plain background. Include dimensions and any markings on the piece.

I am trying to find the manufacturer of a planter I recently purchased at auction. “Pat’d Aug 11 03” is cast in to the seed box lid. The following part numbers are cast in the various parts: The drive wheel is “AC10,” inside the seed box lid is “AC45” and the axle is “B10?” It has a rod on the left side used to prop it up in the soil while stopped. Frequency of seed drop is determined by dogs on the drive wheel placed at various radius distances. The colors are probably not correct. Would this planter be pulled by a goat or sheep? It’s pretty heavy to push through soil. There is a hook at the rear aimed at the operator. What would that be for? I am also researching Martin Kingman of Kingman Plow Co., Peoria, Ill. Does anyone have any Kingman products I could acquire photos of?

Rich Brehmer, P.O. Box 53, Deer Creek, IL 61733; (309) 447-6435; surveyor@a5.com. 

Those who treasure the past know the challenge: It’s one thing to find relics from another era; altogether another to learn their story. But old iron remains almost defiantly mute, and those with firsthand knowledge to impart are fast disappearing. Solid resources are hard to come by, which is why we are particularly pleased to present a special edition containing a retrospective of Sam Moore’s columns for Farm Collector.

With us almost from the beginning of the magazine in 1998, Sam has written on a stunningly diverse array of topics. Impeccably researched and richly detailed, his columns breathe life into traditional farm practices long forgotten, fill in gaps on long defunct manufacturers and clear the fog surrounding actual use of long forgotten machinery, implements and devices. (He’s also a prolific blogger: Check out Sam’s blogs at www.FarmCollector.com.) 

The product of a four-generation family farm in Beaver County, Pa., Sam has been an apt student of farm life. I like to picture him as a boy, doing chores on the farm, knowing when to keep out of the way and when to get in the middle of things, asking questions and filing away the answers for future reference.

Sam left the farm after high school and found a life’s career elsewhere, but his passion for farm life never faded. In addition to a modest collection of tractors and implements, he’s built an enormous reference library of books and publications, catalogs and sales literature, vintage magazines and manuals. Those form a sturdy foundation for the columns he writes monthly for Farm Collector – a selection of which is showcased in Harvesting Heritage: 150 Years on the American Farm. 

In these pages you’ll find everything from directions for setting up perfect check-rows to wry recollections of truck-swallowing mud roads, the stories behind early manufacturers to making hay. The lore he shares is priceless. “Very few Americans today have even a remote connection to our farming heritage,” Sam notes, “and the people who still do are vanishing.” At Farm Collector, we consider Sam one of the leading resources in the hobby. We are honored to work with him, and thrilled to be able to share some of his best work with you in Harvesting Heritage. For ordering details, click here: Make space on your bookshelf for this one. FC