Batavia, Iowa
The old Advance Separator needed a lot of repair. I found a
32-52 Case that the owner had quit threshing. So I got in touch
with him and bought it for $100.00. It had a near new Garden City
Feeder on it. I put on a new Weigher and a fourteen foot feeder
bottom.
About this time I bought a HartParr 18-36. I pulled grader with
it one year, then traded it in on a 20-40 Oil Pull. I was pulling
grader with the 20 steam and the 20-40. My oldest brother used the
gas and I used the steam. We had up to six townships in one season.
My oldest brother kinda wanted to get his feet wet, so I bought a
new 32-52 Advance Rumely separator and put it on this 20-40. After
a couple of years he got married and he took the all Rumely
outfit.
Then I found that Mr. Brandt had a 30-60 Aultman Taylor Tractor
that was in pretty good shape. So I put it on the grader and left
the steamer to home. I found that Mr. Brandt had a 22-45 Aultman
Taylor in not too bad a shape here close by. Up to now I had paid
all this machinery was worth but I bought this 22-45 for $150.00.
And along about this the Farmer Threshing Co. was selling out here
and there. I went to a sale and they had a 50 Case 36-56 Case Sep.
and in extra good shape. They started to try and get a starter and
a friend of mine said ‘Start it Roll. Start it at fifteen
dollars.’ I thought he was crazy, but I started them on fifteen
and got it for thirty-six.
Well, then I had my feet wet, I might as well go on. So I got
the separator, a 36-56 all complete which made a seventy-one dollar
outfit. And the first job I threshed came to Ninetynine dollars.
And by this time I had three sawmills, so 1 needed the engine. I
ran this outfit for two years and sold it for $350.00. About this
time it looked like we were going to have a big clover crop here in
our part, so I went over to Bushnell and Mr. Brandt had a lot of
second-hand hullers. I picked out one of the large Rumelys.
I put the 22-45 A.T. on this huller and hulled over $3,000.00.
The next fall I sold the huller for $900.00, just what I paid for
it. By now the road grading was all changed over to the countys, so
I sold the 30-60 A.T. All I had left was the 20 A.M. and the little
A.T. and the old Case, so along came a construction company and
they got the A.T. 22-45 to make a roller out of. Then I found a
25-45 Oil Pull Rumely and I threshed to its dying day. I junked the
separator and sold the tractor.
In the early 40’s I bought a saw mill mounted on a heavy old
separator truck. It was a four block mill top saw. I put on an
edger. 1943 I took just the no power to Winterset, Iowa to saw for
the Wheeler Lumber Bridge & Supply Co. They had an old 60 Cat
and wanted me to use it for power. I didn’t think much of the
idea, but we put it on and was I surprised.
After 350,000 foot of all kinds of logs hard and soft I got the
mill home day before Christmas, and I brought the old 60 along. And
I also bought the little 30 Cat that they did all the skidding
with.
In the spring of 1944 I took the mill and both Cats to
Farmington, Iowa to start sawing for a Mr. Hoenshell of Birmingham,
Iowa. In the fall of 1944 the boss bought a tract of timber at
Tama, Iowa. So it was 175 mile move and it would be right past
home. So gets the mill home for a few days and in that time I put
on an extension mandrel and built in a cable log turner and put the
hired help to cleaning and paint. When I took it on to Tama it sure
did look nice. We got started to the fore part of May in 1945. The
Forestys Cruse on this timber 250,000 feet-but the boss kept buying
more and when we got done along in September 1947 we had a little
over a million feet.
I brought the mill home in the mean time I had sold the mill I
had at home. So I set up and in a short while I cut enough nails to
build a house and in all this running I done very little rep on
both the 60 and 30.
In the spring of 1948 the boss went to Bridgewater, Iowa and
bought another tice of timber. So I hated to go away from home one
hundred fifty miles to saw again. For by now the wife and I was
left alone. We have a girl and boy-girl 41, boy 37.
A good friend of mine of Ottumwa, Iowa came along one day and we
got talking and before I knew what was going on I was out of the
sawmill business. Well, then what are going to do. I had moved
several houses and had quite a few timbers on hand so I gets some
old truck rear ends and hunted me up a good welder and made me a
sturdy set of wagons. And I use a old K 6 IHC Truck and what a
business I have built up.
I sold all my steam engines and about ten years ago they started
up an old Steam Engine Get Together at Mt. Pleasant, Iowa and it
has turned into a big thing. So I goes out and finds me a 20-75
rear mounted double Nichols Shepard. So if you come to Mt. Pleasant
I will be there.
