The engine pictured here is a 16hp. Advance bought new in 1900
along with an Advance 36×56 separator and independent stacker. The
owner was John MacLean of Elkhorn, Wisconsin, who was a farmer all
his life and threshed for over 30 years. He died in 1950.
This outfit gave wonderful satisfaction as it was always kept in
good shape and I have known it to start on stack threshing at 7:30
could continue 0:1 until it was repaired as the Advance was the
only separator I know of that was nearly all double belted. When
silo fillers came into use John pulled the neighbors fillers for
$6.00 per day with this little engine. Then in 1912 he bought a new
Advance outfit- a 20 hp. engine and a 36×56 separator. This rig
also went over big although the engine was not as snappy and easy
to handle as the little one but she had oceans of power and handled
the largest International silo filler to perfection. When either of
these Advance outfits pulled onto your farm you were sure of a job
well done with no unnecessary delays or lay offs. Those were the
days of well threshed grain and plenty of straw which is in
contrast to the now so-called modern method of harvesting which
they call combining with your bins part full of colored grain and
weed seeds, and the chaff which is the best part of the straw left
in the field instead of in the straw stack where it belongs.
GEORGE BROWN, 403 Center Street, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
MORE ON KELLY-SPRINGFIELD-
Referring to Mr. Campbell’s questions in the March-April
edition of the ALBUM, regarding the Kelly-Springfield Road
Roller.
The following is some information that I obtained: The Kelly
Springfield Road Roller was formerly owned and operated by the
Kelly family, headed by O. S. Kelly. Sometime after 1916 it was
cold to the Greiners, who came from Buffalo, New York, and the name
was changed to The Buffalo-Springfield Roller Company, under which
name it operates today. About the first of the year the Greiners
sold their interest, but as far as 1 know it is still operated
under the name Buffalo-Springfield.
More about the Kellys: In 1881 O. S. Kelly purchased the
Rinehart and Bal-lard Company, which was formerly operated under
the name Pitts Threshing Machine Company. For a while Mr. Kelly
operated under the name The Springfield Engine and Thresher
Company, which was later changed to The O. S. Kelly Company. The
manufacture of engines and threshers was discontinued sometime
after the turn of the century. The O. S. Kelly Company is now one
of the largest manufacturers of piano plates in the United
States.
I hope I have more information and data on the O. S. Kelly
engines some-time soon. Trusting the above will be of interest to
you and readers of the ALBUM.
CHAS. C. JOHNSON, Mounted Route 10, Springfield, Ohio
BELL CITY THRESHER-
Have just received my Jan- issue of the ALBUM and of course have
read it from cover to cover and noticed some very interesting
articles. One of the articles by Mr. William L. Plowman, page 10, I
suppose interested me as well as attracted my attention by his
mentioning the Bell City Thresher. As it appears Mr. Plowman was or
is not too familiar with some of the manufacturers machines (no
harm meant), but would be glad to tell that the Bell City Thresher
was not manufactured at Peoria, Illinois, but at Racine, Wisconsin.
In a previous article by the writer, I have owned many makes of
threshers and engines including a 28×48 Bell City thresher complete
with rubber tires purchased in 1928. My oldest son went to bring
the thresher home on a truck but finding the machine so much
oversized, he was compelled to tow it home instead of hauling it.
Being on rubber with roller bearings it was no handicap to do this.
I believe it was one of the most complete and one of the easiest
draft machines I ever used. I pulled it with a Model U Allis
Chalmers, but at that it was a full load. Now combines have done
away with what we called threshing.
HARRY W. HINSON, Grafton, Illinois
