Anna, Ohio
As I was looking through the last issue of the Album I noticed
old HUBERNo. 1118thatwas built at the Huber shop in Marion, Ohio in
1887.
As I also saw my Album was expiring I thought it was a good
thing to give you the information you asked for on this old Huber
engine and send you my check to keep the Album coming, as so far I
haven’t missed a one since its beginning.
First, this old Huber according to Huber records is a 12 HP
engine built in Marion, Ohio in June of 1887.
In May of 1957 this engine was sitting besides this old wood
shed where it had set for some forty years without any care or
thought of ever running it again. When it was run to this spot it
was left for worn out and beyond any repair. The hand plates were
left in main fire flue left pretty well loaded with wood ashes and
the stack was left uncovered.
After some forty years in the weather with the ashes doing its
job of destruction inside the boiler and weather on the outside Mr.
Lenner of Carey, Ohio bought this engine and delivered it to my
shop to have it rebuilt. Picture shows how I completely demounted
this engine and started a job of reconstructing. A job that quite a
few old steam men who visited me while I was dismantling said it
was impossible to ever make a rusted pile of junk like the Huber to
run again.
My answer to their claims was to come back next spring and you
will see a 12 HP Huber under steam running here where it is now in
pieces. Next June it was. I will say it was a big job as the boiler
alone the base of any engine was nearly gone. On the outer shell
there was a hole 12′ x 18′ that all the metal had washed
away. On the inside where the picture shows it was like a screen;
metal full of small holes, the balance thin as paper. I melted 45
lbs of Hobart welding rods inside the boiler to put it back in
shape to be safe for 125 lbs of pressure.
The axles were badly worn along with the gearing which I made
new ones to replace them. The engine took a new crankshaft, the
cross head slides had to be rebored as they were badly rusted away.
The governor fell apart when I took it off. The fire front castings
were in bad condition so had to be re-worked Piping and flues along
with grate bars had to be replaced.
Besides the above troubles I had plenty others that took a lot
of time and patience to finally get it back to the engine you had
in your Album.
The other picture of a small Huber is a 6 hp traction engine
that I built from the ground up out of all sorts of parts. The
boiler is a 6 hp Huber portable, No. 7524 built in 1905. I got it
in Washington, Pa. Just a boiler, no fittings or engine.
The engine is a 5 x 6 piston valve off a steam shovel. The
gearing is all cut steel. The bearings on all shafts including the
engine are of ball and roller type. I built the coal and tool box
also the head tank. All pipes are of yellow brass. This engine
weighs 3 tons under steam.
Comp. length is 131′, it is 69′ wide, and 91′ to the
top of the cab. The band wheel is 8 x 24′. I carry 125 lbs. of
steam on this engine which gives me all the power I need.
Last Labor Day, Mr. Miller of Bellefontaine furnished his Frick
hand feed with drag stacker separator size 20′ x 34′ along
with a load of oats to try this engine in the belt. It did a good
job pulling the machine and the Separator did a good job threshing
and cleaning the grain.
After the threshing I hooked the Huber to the baler and baled
the straw and by the way this outfit worked I know that it will
thresh all the grain I will ever get to thresh.
The 16 HP Huber and 28×48′ Supreme thresher wont be needed
just to play with.
