December 2016 Mystery Tool A
Horse collar pad. Identified by Donald E. McBride, Bedford, Ind., and Edward Fett, Lennox, S.D. See patent no. 294,769 for a similar piece. Photo submitted by Jim Allen via email.
Patent no. 294,769: Horse collar pad. Patent granted to Dexter Curtis, Madison, Wis., March 11, 1884.
December 2016 Mystery Tool B
Possibly a hand-powered hedge trimmer but no positive identification possible. Photo submitted by Jim Allen via email.
December 2016 Mystery Tool C
Possibly an oil drain plug, manufactured by Wodack Co., Chicago. Identified by John Nagyiski, Felton, Del. Photo submitted by Robert Johnson, Canyon, Texas.
December 2016 Mystery Tool D
Trocar, missing the vent tube that slid over the handled shaft. “The missing second part is a chrome or stainless steel tube with a flange on the top of it,” explains Glen Taylor,
Catoosa, Okla. “The missing tube is slightly larger in diameter and just a bit shorter than the pointed piece in your picture. The pointed shaft is inserted into the missing piece allowing both pieces to be inserted (poked) into the flesh of a sick animal that is bloated or has fluid build-up. This condition usually occurs in animals with compartmentalized stomachs such as cows, goats, sheep, etc. Once inserted, the pointed piece is removed, allowing the gas or fluid to escape. The flange on the missing piece keeps the tube from falling into the body cavity of the animal. Caution: Stand clear when the pointed piece is removed from the tube!”
Identified by Sam Beaver, Boonsboro, Md.; Bob Stickner, Cranesville, Pa.; Jack Ottosen, Morrison, Ill.; William H. Dykhuis, Hallock, Minn.; Donald Noll, Lamar, Mo.; Leonard Wurtz, Mt. Lake, Minn.; Gerald Hanna, Red Rock, Texas; Larry Harpster, Pennsylvania Furnace, Pa.; Karl Fretz, Ridgeway, Ontario, Canada; Don McKinley, Quincy, Ill.; Robert
Holtzer, Windsor, Calif.; Don Schroeder, Berger, Mo.; Al Henn, Cherokee, Iowa; Marlin Smith, Kensington, Kan.; Walter Johnson, Mackay, Idaho; Gary Stern, Halliday, North Dakota; Maurice Frazee, Wabash, Ind.; Jon Comp, White City, Kan.; Royce Chambers, Sterling, Colo.; Arthur Kallstrom, Kent, Conn.; William A. Pass, Jordan, Minn.; Harvey W. Hayden, Sharon, Conn.; Jerome Mueller, West Bend, Wis.; Gary L. Kramer, Iowa Falls, Iowa; Dick Veenstra, Emmett, Idaho; Donald Bemis, Plymouth, Wis.; Joseph Zimny, Shelton, Wash.; and Francis G. McGrady, Hillsboro, Ind. Photo submitted by Carl C. Friesch, Sullivan, Wis.
December 2016 Mystery Tool E
No positive identification. Vern Notestine, Frankenmuth, Mich., believes it was used to transfer barbed wire from the ground into a manageable spool by winding it onto the
reel. Photo submitted by Gary Kupferschied, Mediapolis, Iowa.
December 2016 Mystery Tool F
Unidentified. Norm Hays, Vernon, Colo., believes it might be part of a salesman’s sample of a horse-drawn spreader. Photo submitted by Harold E. Passow, Humboldt, Iowa.