Portland Show

Billed as the largest gas engine show in the world …

… the Tri-State Gas Engine Show in Portland, Ind., was held Aug. 26-30, 2009.

As I make my way past the engines and tractors, parts and pieces, and dodge golf carts and moving iron, I know it must be true. (My feet say so, anyway!)
 

	Click the two images above for larger versions.

The feature this year was Lesser-Known Tractors (or Orphans). Orphan tractors usually come from companies that went out of business or weren’t merged into another company. There were 100 different models of orphan tractors featured, with names like Rockol, Global, Gray, Happy Farmer, Love, Wards and on and on. The feature engine was Ohio-built engines.

Here’s a small sampling of some of the creative thinking I saw. This Harley-Davidson garden tractor and this souped-up snowmobile were engineered by Scott Werling of Decatur, Ind., and this custom tractor tricycle was invented by Myrl Hawley of Onandaga, Mich.

Left to right: Myrl Hawley's custom tractor tricycle, and Scott Werling's Harley-Davidson garden tractor and racing snowmobile.

	Lee Anderson, Frazee, Minn., stands with his motorized horseless carriage.
	A look at the motor of Lee’s horseless carriage.
	The Corn Items Collectors booth was an interesting and colorful spot to visit.

Lee Anderson of Frazee, Minn., constructed a motorized horseless carriage that drew a lot of attention. This 1908 motor buggy is a reconstructed blacksmith-built auto. The engine is from an unknown make of a 1908-era auto.