1986 PAWNEE SHOW SET A NEW STANDARD

except for the parade may be. At Pawnee they nearly all do
something to show activity. Even the engines that are not fully
restored to perform under load move about the grounds with
pride.

Then there are a large number of engines at Pawnee operated by
the knowledgeable and active engineers who put on the excellent
show with both tractors and steam engines. The star of the show is
the star for several reasons. He is an excellent knowledgeable
engineer with great skill; he operates as near perfect a steam
engine as one can find; he performs the difficult and most widely
known engine demonstration from the steam traction engine period of
history; he in addition to all of that is one of the nicest men you
can find. You readers must surely know that man’s name, Chuddy
Attebury of Blackwell, Oklahoma. Right along with Chuddy there are
a large number of very knowledgeable, interested and active engine
and tractor men at Pawnee. They range in age from high school
onwards. Some of these names are Kenneth Kelly, Floyd Kelly, Don
Messing, Lyman Knapp, Harold Ottaway, Ivan Burns, the Martens
bros., David and Henry, Steve Dunn, Dave Bonnet, Dale Wolf and many
others.

This article tells of the Prony Brake activity at Pawnee, which
is located adjacent to the famous Case Hill Climb event. At the
1986 show many tractor and steam engines performed on the brake at
various levels. Some performed at part load and others at full
load. Data was collected on 37 tractors, models and steam engines
as they operated on the brake. It was indeed a very popular event
at the Pawnee Show.

Before writing further about the Pawnee Show, a few facts are
here written for clarification about the Prony Brake. Much is said
against the Prony Brake while at the same time those saying it
praise the Baker Fan.

Here are some truths of the matter:

1) The Brake fits to all sizes of steam engines, tractors and
models. The Brake can be run at any speed (RPM) whether loaded or
unloaded. The Brake can be operated at very light, medium or heavy
loads at any RPM. Therefore, at whatever the combination of speed
and load, the horsepower measurement is accurate. It proved so
again at Pawnee. (The only error we witnessed was that of one model
engine we measured at 17 ¹/₂ HP and the owner
had pulled 18 HP with it on a small model Brake. This difference
was due to energy loss to move the mass of this big brake compared
to a small model brake.) The tractor or engine owner who does not
want to work his machine, except on a light load, can do so whether
it be 5, 15, 20, 100 plus or at any horsepower. The Prony Brake can
put on a very interesting pleasant show of varying loads and come
quite close to simulating the loads of a threshing machine, saw
mill or other varying load and show engine performance doing that
kind of work. The Prony Brake can be used to measure accurately the
HP and fuel consumption as is done at the Nebraska Tests for
tractors, and it can be used for measuring steam and water
consumption as was done at Winnipeg.

2) The Baker Fan does not fit to any engine or tractor size
except by rare chance. Even though many fans have two pulley sizes,
many of the tractors and steam engines ‘lug their guts out’
as they try to turn the fan and can never get up to normal
speed.
Models can’t even begin to get up to speed on the average size
fan used and therefore a model size fan is often used. Even then
those model fans do not fit to the tractor or steam models to let
them perform at light or chosen load, except by chance. Large
engines and tractors spin the average size fan more easily and
often a larger fan is built for those larger power plants. Then
they too only match by sheer chance. One of the main points about
the fan is best stated by quoting the conversation of two men at
the show as they were watching the Baker Fan in operation. One of
them said, ‘What are they measuring?’ and the other said,
‘Absolutely nothing’. Obviously there are those who simply
want to ‘measure absolutely nothing’, and that is their
privilege. Also it is the privilege of those who don’t mind
overloading their tractor or engine on a fan when they lug
continuously and can’t get up to normal speed of their engine
(gas or steam).

3) Personal likes and dislikes are the privilege of everyone and
should be respected. The above points and data in 1 and 2 are
engineering mechanical facts that exist regarding the Prony Brake
and Baker Fan.

Returning to the Pawnee Show of 1986, the Prony Brake exhibit
turned out to be a well liked event. That brake worked perfectly.
It is surely the finest heavy duty brake in the entire country,
thanks to Harold Ottaway and his brother Herb, who built it for the
Wichita Show. They used very heavy steel, shafting and wheels plus
a high degree of accuracy. It is truly first class! For the 1986
Pawnee Show large steel beams were supplied by Lyman Knapp and put
under the brake where the original wooden planks had rotted. Others
cleaned up the brake, installed new wooden blocks and painted it to
look like new. The aircraft tachometer with special pulleys and
belt were reinstalled to give accurate speed readings. Also this
brake has both the water inlet control as well as a water pick up.
It is a pleasure to see the water pick up work so smoothly that a
sustained load of 125 and more HP can be carried steadily for an
hour or more and yet have no water spray. The system works well and
water temperature in the brake can be kept to operating
temperature.

Here are listed some of the data from various Prony Brake
measurements taken during the show:

A.Gas Tractors

I.H. Model 8-16 owned by Paul Martens of Fairview, OK

8 readings taken measuring 24.6 to 27 actual belt HP

I.H. Model 8-16 owned by Paul Martens of Fairview, OK

7 readings taken measuring 20.9 to 24 actual belt HP

The Big Bull owned by Dale Wolf of Cushing, OK

8 readings taken measuring 8.2 to 12.2 actual belt HP

John Deere 1939 Model A.R. Owner not listed

5 readings taken measuring 24.4 to 30.2 actual belt HP

John Deere Model G owned J. R. Grossman

5 readings taken measuring 30.5 to 37.4 actual belt HP

John Deere Model G owned by J. R. Grossman

4 readings taken measuring 39 to 42 actual belt HP

Eagle tractor owned by Ivan Burns of Edmond, OK

9 readings taken measuring 13.6 to 21.6 actual belt HP

Rumely 20-40 owned by Chuddy Attebury of Blackwell, OK

9 readings taken measuring 21 to 36.6 actual belt HP

Caterpillar 30 owned by Scott Kuhn’s of Shawnee, OK

8 readings taken measuring 31.5 to 58.5 actual belt HP

John Deere 1931 A.P. owned by Paul Lieber of Pawnee, OK

3 readings taken measuring 33.0 to 37.5 actual belt HP

John Deere 1931 A.P. owned by Paul Lieber of Pawnee, OK

6 readings taken measuring 24 to 38 actual belt HP

John Deere 1931 D owned by Joe Holtsclaw of Bartlesville, OK

9 readings taken measuring 20.6 to 40.1 actual belt HP

Rumely Oil Pull 30-50 owned by Dale Wolf of Cushing, OK

10 readings taken measuring 25.8 to 41.4 actual belt HP

John Deere 1937 A.R. owned by Jim Kelly of Pawnee, OK

7 readings taken measuring 20.8 to 33 actual belt HP

Caterpillar 1928 30 owned by Scott Kuhn’s of Shawnee, OK

7 readings taken measuring 41.9 to 48.5 actual belt HP

Avery 40-65 owned by Kenneth Kelly of Pawnee, OK

5 readings taken measuring 44 to 47.25 actual belt HP

Avery 40-65 owned by Kenneth Kelly of Pawnee, OK

6 readings taken measuring 30.4 to 50.1 actual belt HP

B. Model Steam Traction Engines

Advance Rumely owned by Larry Hendricks of Arkansas City, KS

7 readings taken measuring 6 to 12.6 actual belt HP

Advance Rumely owned by Larry Hendricks of Arkansas City, KS

7 readings taken measuring 6.7 to 12.8 actual belt HP

Advance Model owned by Lewis Woods of Mustang, OK

6 readings taken measuring 6.9 to 9.1 actual belt HP

Freelance Model owned by Lewis Woods of Mustang, OK

3 readings taken measuring 7.7 to 8.1 actual belt HP

Case y2 size built by Tom Terning owned by M. H. Griffin of
Sedwick, KS

9 readings taken measuring 11.9 to 17.1 actual belt HP

Advance Rumely owner unknown

8 readings taken measuring 6.5 to 9.3 actual belt HP

M. Rumely Double Cylinder owned by John Sum bull of Kansas City,
MO

9 readings taken measuring 7.7 to 17.9 actual belt HP

C. Steam Engines

Minneapolis 28 owned by Floyd Kelly and operated by Floyd Kelly
Jr. of Pawnee, OK

14 readings taken measuring 52.9 to 83.8 actual belt HP

Floyd plans to restore this engine to original working
condition.

Case 65 owned by Kenneth Kelly of Pawnee, OK

23 readings taken over a considerably long run, measuring 33.6
to 73.5 actual belt HP

Nichols and Shepard 30-98 owned by David & Henry Martens of
Fairview, OK

10 readings taken measuring 96.2 to 112.7 actual belt HP

Canton Monitor owned by Lyman Knapp, Blackwell, OK

4 readings taken measuring 15.7 to 18.4 actual belt HP

A lovely restoration job by Lyman of a very early and unusual
engine.

The McMillan ‘Elgin Watch’ Case 40 owned by Chuddy
Attebury of Blackwell, OK

8 readings taken measuring 28.1 to 65.8 actual belt HP

This excellent performance is closely comparable with records
from Winnipeg for the Case 40 at its best.

Nichols and Shepard 30-98 owned by Martens Bros of Fairview,
OK

7 readings taken measuring 75.25 to 102.3 actual belt HP

The valve setting on this engine had slipped and during the run
it slipped further. After it was adjusted, the following run was
made.

Nichols and Shepard 30-98 owned by Martens bros. of Fairview,
OK

3 readings taken measuring 117.1 to 121.0 actual belt HP

Case 110 owned by Kenneth Kelly of Pawnee, OK

6 readings taken measuring 85.1 to 134.2 actual belt HP

This engine was operated by the excellent engineer Don Messing
of Lodgepole, NE. The governor speed of the engine was slow and it
Was adjusted to exact factory specifications. Also the boiler
pressure was the safe pressure as determined by testing and safety
regulations. Therefore both the boiler pressure and engine speeds
were not excessive and the entire performance throughout the tests
were standard and not ‘hot rod’ performance.

Case 110 owned by Kenneth Kelly of Pawnee, OK

26 readings taken measuring 69.6 to 135.1 actual belt HP

This was a very long run of some 50 minutes or more and Don
Messing handled the engine beautifully. Running well below standard
steam pressure during the time 6 readings were taken at 112.2 to
126.9 HP and steadily increasing load, Don very calmly and
efficiently brought the pressure up to standard as the 8 readings
of 130.5 to 135.1 were taken. The loads were then very slowly
dropped as Don slowly added water and eased the fire. The entire
engine was not under stress in this manner from either load or
sudden temperature changes.

Case 110 owned by Kenneth Kelly of Pawnee, OK

6 readings taken measuring 126.9 to 148.6 actual belt HP

It is here noted that this performance is taken from a longer
test operated and managed similarly to that described in the test
before it.

As always the 110 is a favorite of the crowds and it’s truly
a pleasure to see in operation. This 110 Case is well restored
mechanically and beautifully so by the late Cecil Kelly. The big
1987 Pawnee Case Event will surely bring many to see this fine
engine perform along with numerous other Case and other makes and
models.

It must be noted however that the 30-98 Nichols & Shepard
engine owned by Henry and David Martens of Fairview, Oklahoma did
an out standing job indeed. The 12 x 12 cylinder of the 110 Case is
1357 cu. in. displacement while the 30-98 Nichols and Shepard
9³/₄ x 12 cylinder is 895.94 cu. in.
displacement. This is a very considerable and large advantage for
the 110 by 51.45% more displacement than the 30-98. The 30-98
Nichols is equipped with the link valve gear and 110 with the Wolf
gear. No comment is made here as to which is the better one, except
to say that likely most people favor the Wolf, right or
wrongly.

Based on performance with comparable steam pressure, the Case
110 at 148 HP and the Nichols 30-98 at 121 HP, the 110 produced
22.3% more power while it had 51.45% larger cylinder size. So, we
must in reality salute the 30-98 Nichols & Shepard owned by
Henry and David Martens of Fairview, Oklahoma as the best performer
of the show.

We shall follow this article with one on drawbar horsepower and
how easy it is to measure in the field or at a show. Then we shall
follow with an article on the effects and importance of
‘hooking up’ a good valve gear on a steam engine.

See you at the Pawnee Show 1987.