Leonardsburg, Ohio
About seventy years ago my father bought a used Huber engine and
separator together with a Victor clover huller. It was the first
traction engine in this neighborhood and right there, by firing
while threshing and sometimes steering on the road, the trend of my
life may have been set. So you see why this renewal.
The engine was one of the first built. The cylinder was low down
in front of the right hand driver with the crankshaft crossing
above the standard Huber boiler. The throttle, accessible only from
the ground, was down near the steam chest so the only control while
standing on the deck was by the reverse lever, which moved in a
vertical plane through a circle with the center notch being at the
top. The governor belt was always left on, but at that it could
give a rabbit pointers on taking off. Being a young boy I was not
allowed to tackle it, but steering it and trying to keep the front
wheels on the buggy track in the dust was, I felt a big thing. My
experience includes the entire era of threshing every year since,
as I did it until the combine took over three or four years ago, a
span of nearly 70 years. Hence my interest in your publication.
Many things tragic or comic, are in memory. The changes to come
are to be built upon those of the past. Best wishes.
