R.R. 13, Box 209 Brazil, Indiana 47834
Since acquiring my ‘Jumbo’ steam engine a few years ago,
I have been doing research on Harrison Machine Company. A lot of
research.
I started with material that was readily available, namely Floyd
Clymer’s Album of Traction Engines, and Jack Norbeck’s
contained only one illustration of a Jumbo engine, while
Norbeck’s book contained several.
Number of Harrison Machine Co. ‘Jumbo’ Steam
Engines Sold From 189801937
Year
#Sold
Year
#Sold
1898
65
1918
15
1899
30
1919
2
1900
58
1920
0
1901
58
1921
1
1902
64
1922
4
1903
43
1923
11
1904
45
1924
4
1905
54
1925
10
1906
37
1926
4
1907
49
1927
15
1908
33
1928
4
1909
25
1929
5
1910
25
1930
2
1911
24
1931
3
1912
26
1932
0
1913
32
1933
0
1914
37
1934
2
1915
31
1935
0
1916
2
1936
0
1917
21
1937
1
Total Engines Sold From 1898-1937: 842
The above information was documented in a letter from
Lee Harrison Jr. to Hans J. Andersen dated December 15, 1947. Note
the decline of engines sold from 1916 to 1937. Harrison Machine Co.
lived and died with their steam engines; they never attempted to
convert their production to gasoline tractors.
Old style Harrison 16 HP ‘Jumbo’ serial #1616 owned by
Pete Burno of Wisconsin. This engine was built around 1895. It is
equipped with high wheels characteristic of a ‘Jumbo’ and a
square head tank. Note row of rivets extending around boiler barrel
starting at the front edge of the dome, which show older two piece
boiler barrel construction techniques.
The information in Norbeck’s book is a good example of the
old adage ‘Don’t believe everything you read.’ The
statement that Harrison Machine Works produced 839 engines I found
to be highly unlikely, as the 17 HP Jumbo I own is Serial #2127,
and Louis Kuntz’s ‘Little Princess’ (which was rescued
from an island in the Missouri River), was Serial #714. There is a
difference of 1413 engines.
New model Harrison 20 HP ‘Jumbo’ serial #2341 owned by
Fred Mita of Leroy, Michigan. This engine was built in 1930; later
‘Jumbo’ engines were still equipped with a head tank; round
instead of square and the high ‘Jumbo’ wheels. This engine
is shown every year at the Buckley, Michigan show.
Since then I have been tracking the whereabouts of existing
Harrison Machine Company Jumbo engines in order to set the record
right about the number of engines the company produced. I have seen
a portable Jumbo which is Serial #294, and a 20 HP Jumbo, which is
Serial #2345. (The last engine Harrison produced.) Harrison built
their first engine in 1874, and their last in 1935.
In 1882 alone Harrison built 125 engines during the calendar
year. Even the U.S. Government purchased a Jumbo on June 23,
1909.
I would appreciate any information on Harrison Machine Company
Jumbo engines or equipment. I am in the process of compiling a list
of Jumbo owners along with serial numbers, to help determine what
year an engine was produced if the owner is unsure or does not have
any documentation.
