HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1980-07-31, Page 13Maybe it's time
you jumped
into something
more demanding
than a .car pool.
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F
Have over 80 examples
Antique en.
By MARY WARBURTON
Brian Triebner, R.R. 3
Kippen, has travelled as far
as New Brunswick to buy
gasoline engines and has
paid as much as $1,800 for
one. But these aren't your
average, everyday gasoline
engines that you'd put in
your car. They're collectors
items from the early part of
the century.
Brian and his father,
David Triebner, Brucefield,
together own about 80 an-
tique engines. You can't
walk too far in their barn
without tripping over one of
them. •
The problem with this hob-
by is that "it takes five or
six years of making mis-
takes before you know what
you're doing," Brian said. At
the first auction sale he went
to, Brian passed up a rare
engine which went for a
relatively small price. And
at a second one he bought a
very common engine for a
high price.
"As you progress you pick
and choose a little more,"
Brian said.
What you should look for
when buying an antique
engine is whether it has all
its original parts. It doesn't
matter how seized and
rusted it is if it's a complete
engine and a collectors item,
Brian said.
The. object of the serious
collector Is to put the engine
back as close as possible, to
its original condition. You
run into a lot of problems if
all., the parts- aren't there
because it's hard to get old
partsthat are no- longer
manufactured.
David Triebner said that
the most common parts mis-
sing are the carburetor, ig-
nitors and magneto.
Sometimes these parts can
be bought at flea markets,
but for a very high price.
Sometimes you* have to
make parts yourself.
Brian said that he .gets the
most enjoyment out of get-
ting the engines working and
then tends to lose interest
when' it comes to getting rid
of the rust and painting
them.
Brian said ` that 10 years
ago many antique engines
Six vie for Miss
re
I 1 .
Oitizans Haws, July 31, 1980
Page 13
ices fascinate futher;sin
were being sold for scrap at
$5. "Now you're lucky if you
can get one for $300 or $400,"
he said. Brian and his father
started . collecting engines
five years ago at the in-
fluence of a neighbour.
David said they wouldn't
sell any of their rare
engines., bait they do have
some duplicates 'they'd sell
if offered a good price.
Despite the fact that they
own about 80 engines, Brian
said, "We're just a nickle
and dime operation." This is
in _comparison to a fellow
they know in Toronto who
owns 250 engines.
Most of the engines Brian
and his father collect are
stationary. "There's not as
much to them and it doesn't
take as long to fix them,"
Brian .said. Stationary
engines are also easier to
take around to shows, since
they aren't as big.
Brian and, his father are
members of„ the Tri -County
Heritage Club which is bas-
ed in Ilderton. They attend
at least eight antique shows
each year, taking with them
some of their rarest engines.
One exception to their
collection of stationary
engines is the Happy
Farmer tractor. manufac-
tured around 1915. They
bought It for $1.800 and know
of only two others in On-
tario.
"They used to say that the
only happy farmer was the
one who didn't own one,"
Brian said. But he added
that just about all the gas-
oline engines were un-
reliable when they first hit
the market. This was
because they _ were *more
complicated an' engine than
people were used to and
usually the small gasoline
engines were put into large
steam chassis, therefore,
naturally there wasn't as
much power as farmers
were used to.
"It all depended on who
owned the engine and
whether they knew anything
about them," Brian said.
"They couldn't have been
too bad or they wouldn't still
be around today."
Nevertheless. the Happy
Farmer Tractor Company
from Minneapolis went out
Friedsburg title
KIM KIPPER
Merner's Meats
DEBBIE TAYLOR
Small World Travel
MICHELLE VERI
Dashwood Hotel
DONNA PROUT
Becker Farm Equipment
PAM BERGMAN
Rumboll Motors
Golden Glimpses
Another one of those blue
Mondays. but the heavy
rains no doubt• will be
beneficial to the gardens and
crops.
The Sunday school of the
Zurich Mennonite church
presented a musical playlet
on Wednesday evening under
the direction of Mrs. Ruth
Ann Steckle and Mrs. Pearl
Ann Martin. The
programme was very much
enjoyed by our residents and
refreshments were served
by the visiting ladies.
Some of our residents
attended' the card party for
seniors held at Vanastra
Recreation Centre on Friday
afternoon. They enjoyed the
card games and also the
social time that followed.
Residents who were out
visiting during the week
were Mrs. Arletta Hess,
Mrs. Eva Thiel, Mrs.
Margaret Pfaff. Mr. James
Clarke. Mrs. Mabel Jaques,
and Mrs. Florence Gould
who has returned after
attending her grandson's
graduation as an RCMP con-
stable in Regina,
Saskatchewan.
The sympathy of residents
and staff is extended to the
family of the late Mrs.
Rebecca Clarke.
Bingo was played on Fri-
day evening followed by
refreshments.
The members of the
Ladies Auxiliary of the
Home are reminded that
there will be an Auxiliary
meeting on Tuesday even-
ing, August 5 at 8:00 p.m. at
the Home. All ladies are urg-
ed to attend in order to dis-
cuss plans for the Bean
Festival.
The Sunday evening
chapel service was con-
ducted by Rev. Linn
Loshbough of the Exeter
Pentecostal church. Mrs.
Loshbough presided at the
organ during the service.
NANCY KOEHLER
Country Unlimited
of business in 1924.
The Triebners don't have
any steam engines and don't
intend to get any. They're
just too cumbersome and
you need big trucks to move
them around. Brian said. He
also said that they're
dangerous if you don't know
what you're doing. "If one
blows up it burns everyone
within 200 feet." he said. The
government's restrictions on
steam engine boilers are
getting stricter every year.
But still, the greatest de-
mand is for steam engines.
But the Triebners do have
some hot air engines. Hot air
engines were very popular
because they are very quiet
compared to gasoline
engines and .there is no
danger of them blowing up.
One of their most valuable
engines is an Ericsson hot
air pumping engine. They
paid $1,000 for it two years
ago and the value increases
20 percent each year. It's
purpose was to pump water
from a tank in the basement
upstairs to the kitchen.
Another hot air engine
they own may be one of a
kind. It's a Heinrici motor
engine and they bought it for
$750. It was probably used to
power a sewing machine or a
jeweller's tool. David
Triebner said.
The Triebners also own
some old Massey -Harris and.
John Deere engines that
were once used 'to pump
water, grind grain, saw
wood or chop corn stalks.
The Massey -Harris engines
are especially valuable
because they are scarce in
the United States.
Another valuable engine
they ol3tained at an auction
sale in the Niagara Falls
area is a 1903 Goold. Shapley
and Muir engine. This engine
is one of the few that has a
shield covering the crank
shaft. Brian said it was
probably used in a machine
shop. It is supposedly a 12
horsepower engine but he
said that many engines were
underrated at that time and
it is probably more power-
ful.
Brian doesn't only have a
couple of barns full of
engines, he also has a house
full of antique engine
publications from Canada,
England and the United
States. He uses them to help
date his engines and they
give him an idea of their
original state.
§the
'zeen o,,est
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