606 South Broadview Wichita, Kansas 67218
I was born in Oklahoma in April 1905 in what was then known as
Indian Territory. During my younger days, my father owned a
threshing outfit powered by a Port Huron engine; therefore, I more
or less grew up on a steam traction engine. As the years went by, I
was exposed to other makes of engines including a Russell and so
contention that all makes of steam engines were good engines. Like
cars, some liked certain makes better than others.
During threshing season I spent many nights sleeping on the
ground on a bed of straw with a blanket over it, waking up at
probably around 4:00 a.m., if I had been asleep at all, to start a
fire in the engine to get ready for the day’s threshing. We
would usually start around 7:00 a.m. and work through the day until
7:00 or 7:30 p.m. During the years there were several threshing
outfits at various times in our area powered by different engines,
such as Port Huron, Advance, Rumley, Russell, Minneapolis, Avery,
Gaar Scott and Reeves. I feel the Russell engine was one of the
best belt engines made. It had plenty of smooth, even power and
really ran nicely.
One day in March or April of 1914, my father and I were driving
into town in a buggy pulled by a team of horses, our only mode of
transportation. Down the road ahead of us I saw some smoking object
approaching us in the distance. As it got closer, I could see it
was a steam engine, and as we became closer it resembled a railroad
locomotive and turned out to be a new Avery 40 HP undermounted
traction engine. It had been purchased by Earl Lucas and his
brothers. They had just unloaded it off a railroad flatcar and were
taking it home by way of fording the river. I immediately fell in
love with this engine and saw it many times thereafter in
operation. They used it in the summer to pull a large sized Avery
separator, threshing wheat and other grain for themselves and
surrounding neighbors. They then used it to plow their wheat land,
and during winter months, when weather permitted, graded roads
pulling two road graders behind it. After several years of use, the
combines and tractors came into the picture and Mr. Lucas had no
further use of the engine. It sat for a few years and was finally
purchased by Mr. Robert Willits of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, one of the
finest men I have ever known. He replaced the plumbing, flues,
boiler jacket, water tanks, gave it a new paint job, and used it
for display and parade purposes for several years at the Mt.
Pleasant Reunion.. After his death, a few years back, his son Bob
sold the engine to the Mt. Pleasant Reunion Association where it
still operates. While Mr. Willits was alive and the engine still in
his possession, he several times let me operate it which I
thoroughly enjoyed.
Recently an item appeared in IMA stating that in its day, the
Case was king because there were more Case engines sold than any
other make, to which I would definitely agree. The article also
went ahead to indicate that more were sold because they were more
popular. (I want to think this man was somewhat out of touch with
reality.) My first reaction to his statement was that during that
time there were also more model T Fords sold than any other car.
One might say, well, what is the connection between a Case engine
and a model T Ford? I would have to say considerable. The model T
was good, dependable transportation and like Case engines, they did
not cost as much to produce and therefore could be sold for less
money, and a savings in dollars in those days was quite an
item.
The wing sheet construction used by Case made a very neat
installation, and Case did build a good looking engine. However, it
must be noted that sheets were also riveted to the boiler so it
would be hard to see where their use eliminated strain on the
boiler.
The Aultman-Taylor and Frick engines used a frame work to
support the boiler; however, the boilers on these engines still
supported the crankshaft bearings and cylinders. If one wanted an
engine where the boiler was totally independent and supported no
engine or gear mountings, this being left to the main frame, the
answer would be an Avery undermounted engine.
Tom Terning, his wife, Lois and son, Aaron of Valley Center,
Kansas, for several years have operated a real good Steam Show over
Labor Day with several engines under fire and powering different
equipment, such as sawing lumber, plowing and threshing wheat. It
would well be worth anyone’s time to visit this show and get an
idea of how different engines worked and what they powered 60 or 70
years ago. Aaron Terning is 12 years of age and quite a steam
engine man in his own right. He gave a nice performance on the
incline ramp at this year’s show.
In the early part of 1982, Tom acquired a 40 HP Avery
under-mounted engine. He asked me to take charge of it which I was
very happy to do. Last year we used it some on the lumber mill,
some plowing and pulling the separator threshing wheat. This year
again we plowed with it and then spent several hours pulling
Quentin Base’s restored Avery Separator threshing wheat. We
found the engine ran very nicely with plenty of power, a good
steamer, and very easy to fire. It has been written that the 30 and
40 HP Avery undermounted engines were one and the same. Again, I
must say, (the man making the assertion just hasn’t done his
homework, because there is a definite difference in the two.) It
was also asserted that the Avery Company therefore cheated the
buyers. Come now, if at that time I was to buy a 40 HP Case engine,
would I be getting something like half that? Or, take the 65 HP,
would I be getting one actually rated around 25 HP, and so on down
the Case line? So who was cheating who? It would be rather
difficult to convince men with the experience of Earl Lucas or
Robert Willits they were getting a 30 HP engine instead of a 40 HP.
These men certainly had many years of first-hand experience and did
know their engines.
At last year’s show I was approached with the offer of a bet
that a certain engine could outperform the one I was operating. In
response, I walked away since at this date this kind of exhibition
would at this time in history prove nothing. All engines today are
very old and brittle, and cannot operate to capacity. Therefore, to
put them into competition would prove nothing and could be
disasterous. Just suppose it resulted in a stripped gear or other
damaged parts; where would one obtain replacements?
As I see it, engines in existence today supply a certain
pleasure to those who own and operate them and those who are
interested from a historical standpoint, that just can’t be
supplied from any other source, and when the present ones are gone
there will be no more. Men like Tom Terning and many others should
be lauded for their effort, time and considerable cash output for
making it possible for those of us interested in this activity to
experience many hours of enjoyment.
Let me close by, again, saying, I feel all steam traction
engines were good engines.