Tractors and engines take center stage in Belpre
Photo by Jeffrey Saulton Dave Wilson, right, and Jonathan Wilson, both of Petroleum, start up an antique tractor at the 18th annual Pioneer Antique Power Association show at Howes Grove Park on Saturday in Belpre.
Photo by Jeffrey Saulton A 1929 Rumley Oil Pull tractor was made to run on gasoline to start and then continue burning kerosene. It is called Oil Pull because oil is used to cool the engine.
Photo by Jeffrey Saulton Two Ford Model A cars were converted to use as tractors using kits that were sold to turn Ford Model T and Model A cars in tractors. They were also made for Chevrolets of the era.
Photo by Jeffrey Saulton Rick Butler uses an aluminum can crusher made with a gasoline Maytag washing machine engine and a pumping mechanism used in a wind mill.
Photo by Jeffrey Saulton Dave Wilson, right, and Jonathan Wilson, both of Petroleum, start up an antique tractor at the 18th annual Pioneer Antique Power Association show at Howes Grove Park on Saturday in Belpre.
Photo by Jeffrey Saulton A 1929 Rumley Oil Pull tractor was made to run on gasoline to start and then continue burning kerosene. It is called Oil Pull because oil is used to cool the engine.
Photo by Jeffrey Saulton Two Ford Model A cars were converted to use as tractors using kits that were sold to turn Ford Model T and Model A cars in tractors. They were also made for Chevrolets of the era.
Photo by Jeffrey Saulton Rick Butler uses an aluminum can crusher made with a gasoline Maytag washing machine engine and a pumping mechanism used in a wind mill.
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BELPRE -- Antique engines and tractors took center stage this weekend during the 18th annual Pioneer Antique Power Association show at Howes Grove Park in Belpre.
The event continues today from 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Pat Tornes, of the association, said the show in Belpre attracted more than 60 exhibitors Saturday showing vintage engines and tractors that ran on everything from steam to gasoline. One tractor built in 1929 powered by kerosene after the engine was warmed up by gasoline.
"Most of our farm tractors here today are gasoline powered while there may be some diesel engines," he said. "Most were built before diesel was common. We also have a few hit and miss engines, they were used to power a lot of things because they didn't have many electric motors then."
Tornes said while this is the club's only show, members show at many different shows in West Virginia and Ohio. He said some have traveled even further away for the shows.
Paul Tingler, a member of the Wood County Flywheels, showed off a machine made out of a number of everyday mechanical items for a dizzying display.
"There are 54 door knobs on that belt," he said. "On this side we have a sewing machine, a vegetable slicer, a cherry pitter, a hand-cranked grinder and a meat saw. This side has a meat grinder, a sausage stuffer, a coffee grinder and a golf ball return in addition to the dancing lady."
Tingler said the machine was built in the 1960s and he acquired it in the 1980s. Recently he restored it and began showing it this year.
Nelson Logan, of Marietta, was showing his two tractors made from Ford Model A cars.
"You could order kits through the Montgomery Ward and Sears catalogs to make them," he said. "You would strip everything off the car and then add the wheels and axle and convert the car into a tractor."
Logan said there were factory made kits like the ones ordered from the catalogs and others made their own tractor from Model T trucks, Model A and Chevrolet cars.
"They called those doodle bugs," he said.
The kits sold by Montgomery Ward and Sears were made by the same company but with minor differences. Sears called their version the Thrifty Farmer Tractor Unit and in 1938 it sold for as little as $93.50 for a Model T to $106.50 for a Chevrolet.
Rick Butler, of Reno, was showing his aluminum can crusher. It was powered by a gasoline engine from a 1920s Maytag washing machine and the crusher part had been a water pump in a windmill.
William Arnold, of Marietta, brought his Rumely Oil Pull Tractor to show made in 1929. His grandfather bought the machine for $100 in 1962 and today he said it is worth much more despite not being in mint condition.
"This is one of the later models near the end of their production in 1930," he said. "The reason it is called oil pull is because is actually cooled with oil, not anti-freeze and the radiator is under the smokestack."
Arnold said the tractor starts with gasoline and when it warms up it runs on kerosene.
"Back when this was built the kerosene was different, it was a lot oilier and cheap compared to gasoline," he said. "It had to be hot to burn like diesel. At one point all tractor companies made some models like it, they called them 'all fuel.'"