THE COOPER STEAM TRACTION ENGINE

catalogue: ‘It is well known to the trade generally, and to
many users of farm engines, that we were the first firm in this
country to make a successful Traction Engine for agricultural
purposes. The first built by us were made in 1875, and they were a
success from the start.’ Whether or not they were the first, a
history of the engine should prove interesting. I am well aware,
that in at least one isolated case a lone mechanic somehow
connected his farm engine to the drive wheels, but nothing came of
it, and the records do not show any more being attempted, until
1875.

The C. & G. Cooper Co., now a division of Cooper Industries
doing nearly a half billion dollars of business a year, is one of
the oldest companies in Ameica, having been started in 1833. They
began making stationary steam engines in the 1840’s, in sizes
up to 28 x 48 and 225 HP. By 1850 they were building portable farm
engines in several sizes up to 12 x 18, – 40 HP. They started
building tractions in 1875, show them in their 1876 catalogue, and
in the season 1876-77 built and sold over 100 of them. By 1880 they
were producing them at an annual rate of over 500. This continued
into the 1890’s when they found large Corliss engines more
profitable, and discontinued all farm engines. We have no records
as to how many traction engines they produced but the figure must
be well over 5,000. Several years ago we tried through every known
channel to locate even one to bring back to the shop where it was
built, and were successful in finding exactly one. It had been
reconditioned by a very capable mechanic in Michigan, and we were
successful in buying it. It is in perfect operating condition, and
I personally have driven it. Considering that the last one was
built more than 80 years ago, it is not surprising that few ever
heard of the Cooper, nor is it surprising that all but this one
have apparantly been junked.

The engine was patented in 1876, and was subsequently licensed
to two other manufacturers of farm equipment. It used a bevel gear
drive on the flywheel side, and used ratchets on the driving wheels
to permit turning corners. They eventually built six sizes, from 6
x 10 at 8 HP to 8 x 14 at 18 HP. No one had figured out how to
steer it, so two horses were hitched to the front end purely for
guiding it, while it pulled the load. In the 1881 catalogue they
state that they had patents on ratchets, pawls, and a differential
drive, and later they changed over to the differential. In the
early catalogues they mention that some difficulty was experienced
with the front end of the boiler lifting up when pulling a heavy
load, and indicate that the horses being attached helped hold it
down. The reason for this deficiency is easily seen in the earliest
photographs as the main drive axle was too far forward. This was
corrected and it was placed behind the firebox. It is interesting
to note that Mr. Cooper was so proud of this engine, he had Currier
make a painting of it, including the horses. When the first so
called ‘self Steering’ was first applied we don’t know,
but it shows up for the first time in the 1883 bulletin. It is
interesting to note that the first ‘self-steered’ engine
had a center crank, and spur gearing, having eliminated the bevel
gearing. But in the same catalogue they also list the bevel gear
drive engine with horses to steer it, stating that ‘many still
prefer horses to guide it’. In the 1885 catalogue, they list
the bevel gear drive engine ‘self-steered’, have moved the
main drive shaft to the rear of the firebox, and for some reason
make no mention of the center crank engine. This is difficult to
understand, since it appears again in the 1887 catalogue. Also in
this catalogue they list the bevel gear engine, both self steered
and horse-steered. In the 1889 catalogue the center crank engine is
again eliminated, and they settled down to the bevel gear drive
with self-steering. That is the type we have in this engine brought
back to the shop, so it was built after 1885, we believe in
1886.

We mentioned above that Mr. Cooper had Currier make a painting
of the engine in 1875 or shortly thereafter, horses and all. After
‘self-steering’ came out he was not proud of that painting,
and stored it out of sight, where it remained until 1950 when we
discovered it and had it restored. It hangs today in our main
offices.

Ralph L. Boyer

Some background on the author may be interesting. I am a former
employee of C. & G. Cooper, later The Cooper Bessemer Corp.,
having come with the company in 1926, retired in 1964. I grew up on
steam traction engines on the farm, hence the interest. I was
educated at Ohio State University, and held several engineering
positions with the company, the last 15 as Vice President and
Director of engineering. All steam, even the Corliss engines, were
gone before I came, and my life was spent on Diesel and Natural Gas
engines, Compressors, and finally on Gas Turbines, the latter going
up to 30,000 HP. But one never gets steam out of the blood, and I
have been a regular at attending steam reunions, considering myself
also as an ‘old-timer’ now.

The company has grown enormously, and the name has changed
several times to better suit the business. It is now listed on the
New York Stock Exchange as Cooper Industries, headquartered in
Houston. It has many plants and divisions, Cooper-Bessemer being
only one unit. It in turn is a part of Cooper Energy Services, Inc.
Cooper built  Corliss engines from 1868 to about 1920, Natural
Gas engines for pipelines from 1910 to the present, and gas
turbines from 1959 to the present.