Learn all about the Southern Indiana Antique & Machinery Club Classic event with highlights of Emmerson-Brantingham and impressive private projects.
When the Southern Indiana Antique & Machinery (SIAM) Club Classic Iron show got underway in Evansville on June 9, the club featured Ford and Fordson tractors and equipment and Emerson-Brantingham engines. But you’d have a hard time fitting everything you’d see at Evansville into neat categories.
The show offered hundreds of tractor and engine displays, a garden tractor pull, toy show, pedal tractor pull, working demonstrations, a big display of lawn and garden tractors, steam engines, steam sawmill, a huge flea market and a tractor rodeo. In 2023, the club also hosted the Ford Fordson Collectors Assn., whose members put on a very fine exhibit themselves. It was a familiar line-up but one with surprises around every corner: some very old, some very new.
Rolling into its second century
When engineer Paul Schue, Ferdinand, Indiana, fired up Mike Lindauer’s 1921 Buffalo-Springfield roller and took it for a spin around the show grounds, onlookers scattered to the side of the road before stopping to watch the behemoth pass by.
Bigger pieces of equipment were on the prowl at the show grounds, but few weigh in at 12,700 pounds. “They call this a 5-ton roller,” Mike says. Even at 5 tons, the Buffalo-Springfield was considered a small, compact unit well suited to work in narrow streets and alleys. “A lot of people think this was built to roll blacktop,” he says. “It wasn’t. It was used in Kentucky to roll coal cinders as a foundation for brick streets.”
The steam roller’s power steering was originally delivered via a 2-cylinder steam-powered steering engine. “Ninety percent of people who own these rollers take the steam steering off and put a gas engine on,” Mike says. His is equipped with a Ford Model A engine, which requires less maintenance than a steam engine would.
When he got the roller, Mike turned it over to his dad, Francis, for restoration. “Dad grew up as a water boy,” Mike says. Francis sandblasted it from top to bottom before conducting a full restoration, a process that ultimately took three years. One of eight steam engines Francis restored before his death, the Buffalo-Springfield was his final project.
Ninety percent efficient; 100 percent fun
The paint on Bill Bayer’s 4X4 articulated electric tractor was not wet, but it was still curing at the Evansville show. “It’s four days old,” Bill says of the project that started as two Cub Cadets sitting innocently by a shed. “I thought I’d put them together with a hinge,” he says. “Then I found out that had already been done.”
Bill has been doing electric conversions for eight years. His Cub Cadet’s 3-phase induction motor is 90 percent efficient. The rig has a 110-volt extension cord charger onboard as well as electric PTO and a deck with electric connect for his electric chipper, pressure washer and tiller.
The Cub’s battery units were salvaged from a Nissan Leaf. The motor produces 10hp continuously with a maximum of 30hp, and 80 ft/lbs of torque (“That’s a lot!” Bill says). The finished product weighed in at 1,610 pounds. “I was glad when I saw that,” he says. “I had no idea, but you want a tractor to be heavy.”
Electric power steering was salvaged from a Nissan Versa. The differentials are from a Cub Cadet hydrostatic transmission with hydraulics removed. “There’s no gearbox or clutch,” Bill says. “It’s very simple.” And it’s still evolving: Since the show, Bill’s been at work adding a brush cutter on front with 3-pt. arms. Editor’s note: For more, check out Bill Bayer on YouTube.
Remembering Emerson-Brantingham
The SIAM show featured Emerson-Brantingham engines, so Tom Jansen, Effingham, Illinois, brought his 1-1/2hp, 500rpm Emerson-Brantingham Type H to the party. “I’m guessing this engine dates to the mid-teens,” he says.
Emerson-Brantingham Co. of Rockford, Illinois, got its start by purchasing the long-established Rockford Engine Works, also of Rockford, in 1912. At various times, the company produced steam engines, gas tractors, farm implements and stationary gas engines. Emerson-Brantingham ceased manufacture of its farm equipment line in 1926. In 1938, the business was sold to J.I. Case Threshing Machine Co.
Tom’s Type H engine has no brass engine tag. Instead, the engine’s cast iron water hopper is embossed with the information that would typically be on a brass tag. “Very few manufacturers did that,” he says. The engine has a Webster magneto at the front. The muffler was gone when he got the engine, so Tom had a reproduction part made from an original muffler, complete with parts numbers cast in.
He found the engine in Pennsylvania, but it came with no back story. “It got used,” he says. “The teeth show that. It would have been used to pump water, or run a small burr mill or washing machine.” The engine was on a Fairbanks, Morse & Co. cart when Tom bought it; he’s since found an Emerson-Brantingham cart for it.
It’s only original once
Rick Butts, Troy, Indiana, has been a regular at the SIAM show for 25 years. “It’s a nice show with all the trees and shade,” he says. At the 2023 show, he displayed a Bull’s Eye 6hp sideshaft and a 4hp Lauson-Lawton Wisconsin engine with vertical flyball governor, both in very nice original condition.
The Bull’s Eye was produced by Jacobson Machine Mfg. Co., Warren, Pennsylvania. Rick believes his engine dates to the teens of the last century. With a magneto on the front end and the flyball governor on the shaft, “It’s neat to watch it run,” he says.
Rick has a preference for original engines. “The Bull’s Eye has the original pinstriping,” he says. “The more I rub and clean on it, the more detail I see.” That’s a change from his early days as a collector. “When I started out, it was all about sandblasting and painting,” he says. “Now, we just restore the engine mechanically and keep it original.”
Built in a range from 2hp to 6hp, the Bull’s Eye was likely designed for farm use. “It’s a pretty heavily built engine,” Rick says. “I like the bigger stuff, like my 4hp Lauson & Lawton Wisconsin engine.” And on that engine, he especially likes the vertical flyball governor. “At some point, the cam stopper on the sideshaft continues, but at the end, the cam remains stationary until it’s time for the engine to fire,” he says. “It’s pretty unique.”
Scale-model semi and trailer
When brothers Fletcher and Mitchell Bayer (who are not related to Bill Bayer who was set up nearby with his electric tractor) decided to take their show on the road, they did what only they could do: built a scale model semi and low-boy trailer to haul their scale model John Deere creations around the showgrounds.
“After we built a John Deere 430, it turned out to be kind of rough to drive around,” Fletcher, 21, says. “So, we got the idea of making the semi and trailer.” The Bayer brothers are landscapers near their home in Brookville, Ohio, specializing in hardscape projects. In their spare time (mostly in the winter), they have more time to work on their hobby: creating scale models. The semi and trailer were designed to haul earlier projects: a John Deere 430 and John Deere 4020.
The brothers used the engine and transmission from a John Deere 245 lawn tractor as the foundation of the semi-tractor and stretched the frame. Once they had a rolling chassis, they mocked up the rest with cardboard. Mitchell, who had taken a class in AutoCAD, created drawings for the semi and trailer and sent them to CNC for machining.
The semi’s front axle presented a challenge early on. “We didn’t know what we were doing,” Mitchell, 18, admits. “We started in February 2020 just as Covid started, so we had plenty of time to work on it.” Nearly three years passed before the project was complete.
The tractors, trailer and semi are all close to half-scale. “They’re not perfect,” Fletcher says, “but they’re close. The semi and trailer were designed to fit in a 28-ft. trailer.” Mission accomplished: The overall length is 27-1/2 feet.
At the end of the day, the brothers admit that the biggest challenge was working together. “There was a lot of debate,” Fletcher says. “Different personalities,” Mitchell adds. “He keeps things moving; he gets things done.” And they’re already thinking about the next project. “We have an uncle in California who builds equipment used in almond orchards,” Mitchell says. “We’re thinking of building a John Deere 60 orchard tractor for him.” FC
The 2024 Southern Indiana Antique & Machinery Club Classic Iron Show and Lawn & Garden Tractor Extravaganza will be held June 7-9 at Vanderburgh 4-H Center, 201 E. Boonville-New Harmony Rd., Evansville, Ind., and will feature Farmall, International and Case tractors and garden tractors. Marking the 110th anniversary of the Hercules Gas Engine Company’s launch in Evansville, the show will also feature Sparta, Hercules, Economy, Jaeger and other Hercules-related engines. Contact the club at www.siamclassiciron.com.
Leslie C. McManus is the editor of Farm Collector magazine. Email her at LMcManus@ogdenpubs.com.
