SOOT IN THE FLUES

My friend Marvin Bules, Pond Creek, Okla., gave me the picture. As
to the size of the engine, I’ll leave that up to Lyle
Hoffmaster and Gary Yaeger. She was a dandy outfit when ‘Steam
was King.’

I was born about three miles east of where the picture was
taken. Jefferson, Okla., was our mailing address. The first steam
traction engine I rode on was a 20 HP Russell, which came by the
farm in 1934. The engineer stopped to take on water. Times have
sure changed.

Dad and I got stuck in the sand road, which was Highway 60 just
east of Pond Creek, Okla. The car was an Essex. Criminals
wouldn’t walk two dusty miles to rob or rape if they knew
they’d be welcomed by five barking, unchained dogs and a
double-barrel shotgun.

The second picture shows Pete Rose of Garber, Okla., on
Keck-Gonnerman double rear-mount number 1636. This picture was
taken Nov. 13, 1983. I owned 1636 at that time.

The third picture shows the Advance Rumely Dealers School. This
picture was taken at the Rumely factory in La Porte, Ind., in 1917.
Pete Rose worked for Rumely, and Pete is visible in the first row;
the man to far right on the end. Pete moved to Enid, Okla., as a
serviceman for Rumely. Pete was the first president of Oklahoma
Steam Threshers, Pawnee, Okla. In the hobby years, Pete owned a
Rumely steam engine and a Rumely Oil Pull tractor. Pete Rose lived
to be 100 years old.

20th Century Engine
Fritz Amlie, 6608 Sleepy Hollow Rd., McFarland, Wl
53558-8418, writes in requesting information:

I would like any information on Rev. Miller’s 20th Century
steam engine from Boyton, Pa. I have Jack Morbeck’s book on
steam, but 1 have never seen one of these engines.’

(We have some photos of 20th Century engines, and Jack Norbeck
did a nice write up on the company in the May/June 1999 issue of
IMA, featuring some extensive out-takes from 20th Century catalog
literature. If anyone out there knows more, please contact Fritz. –
Editor)

Geiser Return-Flue
Mike Rohrer, 12025 Steven Ave., Smithsburg, MD 21783,
sends in some great blueprints from his collection of photos and
factory material this month:

Here are some blueprints and a photo that I have in my
collection showing a return-flue traction engine that was built by
the Geiser Manufacturing Co. in Waynesboro, Pa. This engine was
built in 1897 and was first displayed in the Waynesboro centennial
parade. The building in the background of the photo was the main
office for Geiser, and it is still standing today.

G.A. Anderson designed the engine, he was the designer for the
Anderson-style engines for Geiser. As far as we know, there were
only four of them built.

Keck-Gonnerman
Alan Derting, 1425 Everett Lane, Hopkinsville, KY 42240,
writes in this issue:

Just received the latest Iron-Men Album. Gary Yeager and Larry
Creed photos along with Reeves discussion with some Reeves men –
this is good stuff.

Enclosed is a photo of my favorite fireperson. Is that correct?
We ran this 22 HP double-simple Keck-Gonnerman engine all day for
four days planning wood on a 105-year-old, four side, square-head
planer. In weather near or below freezing it takes all of this
engine to start the planer rolling. Those babbit bearings pull hard
until they are warmed up. The double starts it off so nicely
without the belts slapping and slipping and coming off the pulleys,
which is what they do with a single-cylinder engine on these cold
starts. We run about 140 to 150 lbs. steam with pop at 160.

We ran nearly 10,000 feet of tongue-and-groove, mostly pine, and
then got into the oak. We had a lot of down time adjusting the
planer – there are enough adjustments to make it talk Chinese if
you know what you’re doing. Planning all four sides at once, a
15-inch aged oak board is quite a pull – the shavings pile up
fast.

Advance Rumely Dealers School

The Reeves people, in their great wisdom, (hello Lyle, Gary and
Melvin) knew that for a double-simple they had to use a bigger
boiler, as we all learned from the discussions with Lyle Hoffmaster
and Gary Yeager and Melvin Pierce in a recent issue of Iron-Men
Album.

22 HP double-simple Keck-Gonnerman engine running a
105-year-old, four side, square-head planer. Over the course of
four days the engine planned 10,000 feet of pine and oak.

This double Keck does fine with the same size boiler as the
other 20 HP and 22 HP Keck engines, until you start pulling hard
for a prolonged period of time. If we don’t stop and clean the
flues and have everything working perfectly, after about four hours
of work the job of keeping up pressure becomes real work. A
double-simple takes more steam than a single-cylinder with a
similar HP rating.

The smoothness of how it pulls and runs is the plus side to the
trade off. This smoothness of pull is of course a main reason why
the Reeves engines were the best plow engines. The smooth power
doesn’t tear up the drive train, or loosen bolts, etc.

When we were planing that pine my wife sat and knitted between
firing, as she is doing in the picture. Sometimes George (age 7)
opens and shuts the fire door so that the door stays shut. The
harder the pull the more important it is to keep that door shut,
especially when it is 25 degrees F outside. We actually ran for two
hours on one day in the snow. This was fun and the snow did not
bother the belt at all. When we got to the 15-inch wide dry oak
there was no time to knit. If the flues had not been cleaned after
lunch it would have been very difficult to keep up steam.

Rohrer Photo #1, Blueprints and a photo of a straw burning 20 HP
1897 Geiser return-flue traction engine built by the Geiser
Manufacturing Co. in Waynesboro, Pa.

The more I learn about Reeves steam engines, the more I like
them. Of course all steam tractors are awesome, but some are more
awesome than others. This just points out two of several reasons
why Reeves are the best. And this I have learned by experience, not
just opinion. Mow there is a challenge!

#2 and #3: The photo shows the Geiser when first displayed in
the Waynesboro centennial parade. The building in the background of
the photo was the main office for Geiser. It still stands to this
day.

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