Building a Collection from the Ground Up

By Bill Vossler
Published on December 1, 2004
1 / 9
 New Way 4 1/2 hp Model E Type C upright
New Way 4 1/2 hp Model E Type C upright
2 / 9
 6 hp New Way upright farm engine
6 hp New Way upright farm engine
3 / 9
 Unknown model engines
Unknown model engines
4 / 9
 4 hp Root & VanDervoort screen-cooled engine
4 hp Root & VanDervoort screen-cooled engine
5 / 9
 4 hp Root & VanDervoort Reindeer engine
4 hp Root & VanDervoort Reindeer engine
6 / 9
 One Minute gas engine
One Minute gas engine
7 / 9
 4 hp Root & VanDervoort Reindeer engine
4 hp Root & VanDervoort Reindeer engine
8 / 9
 Advertisement
Advertisement
9 / 9
 4 hp Root & VanDervoort air-cooled model
4 hp Root & VanDervoort air-cooled model

The love of old farm engines was planted in El Juenke’s heart when he was a child. ‘We had a couple of old Fairbanks-Morse engines on the farm in a shed that I used to go in and play around on,’ recalls the 67-year-old truck driver. ‘We never used them, but every once in a while dad would start one up, and we always thought that was great fun.

Those childhood memories never faded. In about 1980, when El spotted a throttle-governed 2 1/4 hp Stover engine, he bought it on the spur of the moment. That debut was followed by a Root & VanDervoort 2 hp engine, and then others, like Fairbanks-Morse, IHC and Monitor. Today, he has more than 30 engines in his collection.

As El began displaying some of his early engines, like the Fairbanks-Morse or Monitor, he noticed that most engines shown were horizontals. Not many upright farm engines were being shown. ‘I’m kind of a different person,’ he laughs, ‘and I like to have things that other people don’t have many of, and show something that’s a little bit different, so I decided to go into the uprights.’

His collection of uprights includes Stover 2, 3 and 4 hp engines, New Ways from 1 to 6 hp, 2 and 3 hp International engines, a 2 hp Fairbanks-Morse Jack of All Trades, and a 2 hp Fairbanks-Morse made to run an electric generator. These Fairbanks electrics are kind of a collector’s item, kind of unusual and scarce,’ he says. He also has a 6 hp upright Fairbanks-Morse Jack of All Trades, and a very collectible 2 hp Monitor with a short neck.

El says it’s difficult to choose a favorite line of uprights, but he probably has the most New Way engines. When a friend sold all of his New Ways, El bought them. ‘They are a very dependable engine, well-balanced and well-made,’ he says. The only horizontal New Way he has is a two-cylinder 8 hp model. His only other horizontals are a couple of Root & VanDervoort (R&V) 1 hp and 2 hp models, ‘and why I have them I really can’t tell you, except that the 2 hp was quite similar and reminded me of the second engine I’d ever bought, that 2 hp R&V horizontal that I’d originally sold. After I got into the uprights, I started letting all of my horizontal engines go. Some of them I sold for less than I actually paid for them.’

If pressed, he’d admit the Root & VanDervoort engines are his favorites, ‘probably because they are more collectible,’ he says. ‘You don’t see R&V engines at shows as often as you see other brands.’ But a close contender is his One Minute engine made by the One Minute Manufacturing Company of Newton, Iowa. ‘They are very hard to find, and very desirable and collectible.’

Online Store Logo
Need Help? Call 1-866-624-9388