As we prepare our March/April issue for the printer, there is a
blanket of snow outside the window. We had had such a mild fall,
that winter didn’t seem to be ‘on the way’ this year,
but at last it has arrived!
We have lots of letters for the column this time, and a great
number of pictures, as well. We are grateful to all of you who have
sent us material, and urge those of you who haven’t, to do
so!
And now, on to our letters:
The American Welding Society, 550 N.W.. Le Jeune Road, Miami.
Florida 33126 sends us news of a recently published book that might
be of general interest to our readers.
‘The American Welding Society has just released the latest
edition of Weld perfect: The Easy Guide to Perfect Welding
by Darrel McGuire. Weld perfect was written to help give
people practical knowledge of welding and simplify some of the
technical language used by the profession. Color illustrations and
charts are used to explain the variety of welding applications, and
the book includes a chapter on the importance of welding safely.
Other chapters include information on shielded metal arc welding,
flux cored arc welding, gas metal arc welding, submerged arc
welding, filler metals, and metallurgy, as well as useful
appendices on common welding symbols and definitions of welding
related terminology.’
‘Weld perfect’ author Darrel McGuire has had a
long and distinguished career in the materials joining industry.
McGuire began his welding career as the son of a contractor,
working on construction sites as a teenager. Today, he is Senior
Welding Engineer for a Fortune 500 company in Wisconsin. McGuire
wrote Weld perfect, with the idea to ‘keep it
simple.’
‘Copies of Weld perfect can be ordered by calling
AWS customer service at (800) 334-9353, Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. to
5:00 p.m. ET, or through the Society’s website at www.aws.org.
The list price is $18.00, $12.00 for AWS members. Discounts for
bulk orders are also available.
‘Celebrating 80 years of service, the American Welding
Society is the largest organization in the world dedicated to
advancing the science, technology, and application of welding. AWS,
headquartered in Miami, Florida, serves over 48,000 national and
international members. The 1999 AWS Annual Convention and
International Welding and Fabricating Exposition will be held April
12-15 in St. Louis, Missouri. Additional information on AWS
programs and publications can be found on the AWS website.’
HERB E. BECKEMEYER, 1123 County Road 900 E, Champaign, Illinois
61822-9623, writes, ‘Thanks for the nice remarks you made about
me in the last issue of the Album. Pictures enclosed are a few that
may be of interest.
‘Picture #1Threshing on an Amish farm near Arthur, Illinois,
in August 1997. Something I have always wanted to do.’
‘Picture #2Taken the same time as #1. What is a team of
horses worth? $16,000 I was told! I admire horses and the people
who handle them, but they’re not for me. I had all the horses I
wanted when I was a young kid home on the farm!
‘Picture #3John Schrock and Herb Beckemeyer, taken at
Wauseon, Ohio, and a Gaar-Scott 25 HP engine owned by John Schrock.
Now there are two experts, I want all to know! (HA! They think they
are?)’
‘#4 Picture Is of one of the 19 tractors my wife thinks I
have. How come a guy can say it’s white and the wife invariably
says its black! Anyway, it’s a 40-62 Huber waiting to be
cleaned and painted. That is to be done this winter.’
‘I’m closing with a bit of ‘good’ advice to all
who may see or read this. Be nice to the next person you meet
because they are having a tough time of it also!’
DON BRADLEY, PO Box 151,Forsyth, Montana 59327, has this to say,
‘I am enclosing some pictures. One is of my 110 Case. You ran a
story on it back in your July/August 1981 IMA. I am also including
a picture of my 50 Case, which I have owned for 53 years. I even
made a living threshing and sawing with it in the 1940s.’
We received a note and two pictures from TOM CURTIS of 3073
Jamesville-Pompey Road, Pompey, NY 13078, who told us:
‘These are pictures of our 1920 50 HP Case steam engine,
serial number 35000, pulling five 16-inch plows at the Pageant of
Steam in Canandaigua, New York, in 1998. Since it was burning coal,
the fire was hot so there isn’t much smoke. The engine had 150
lbs. of steam on it at the time; it put on a good show, as did the
other engines we had his year. Our engine has been in our family 35
years and is owned by Tom and Ed Curtis of Pompey, New
York.’
We are happy to hear from RANDY E. SCHWERIN, Rt. 2, Box 178,
Sumner, Iowa 50674. He says, ‘Thought it was time I contributed
a little to the magazine, so here goes. I have these photos to
share of my latest acquisition in the steam power department. This
is Advance engine #11501, built in 1909. It’s a 22 HP engine,
mounted on Advance’s good coal-burning boiler, equipped with
the standard 22′ drive wheels and 2’ Waters governor. I
bought it in the spring of 1998 and had it hauled home in July.
John Schrock and I removed the boiler tubes (which were the
original ones and still in good condition). We found the interior
of the boiler in remarkable condition outside of the usual
accumulation of scale lying in the bottom of the barrel and
water-bottom. We installed the new tubes and steamed it up the same
day and, I must say, for an engine that had not turned a wheel in
over 30 years, it sure took off and ran like a champ.
‘I think this style traction engine was one of the handiest
to work around that there ever was. Very simple and well-built with
the Marsh reverse. I carry 125 p.s.i. and it has plenty of power to
do all I need with it, and it has that good typical sharp Advance
‘bark’ to its exhaust. It’s sure a joy to hear
run!’
‘What I find most interesting about this particular engine
is the fact that I’ve been able to learn all of its history
back to and including its original owners. It was bought by the
Nice brothers of North Powder, Oregon, in 1910. The Nices were
custom thresher men for many years, and usually had about a 60-day
run. They wore out two 32′ x 56′ Advance-Rumely wooden
machines with this engine. They also used it on a well drilling
rig. They then bought a 36′-60′ Advance-Rumely steel
machine to use with the 22, and it’s thought that this machine
still exists. I had the pleasure of talking with one of the Nice
brothers’ sons, Malcome, about their threshing business, and
although he is 83 years old and nearly blind, his memory is very
vivid with many fond memories of the old engine and threshing crew.
Another family member, Glenn O. Nice, held an annual threshing bee
in the 1950s near North Powder.’
‘Owning a steam engine can be a history lesson for sure.
Having the privilege of owning an Advance ‘Banner Boy’ with
such a colorful past is just icing on the cake!’
