HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1974-09-19, Page 19•
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fornostalgia.
09041401iWatt billed as iii4o-3
on for Huron Pioneer %troth-
ButraOre than steam thresh,
showed up, at Blyth fair
on September 6.
Men, women, and children,
Mors, housewives, enOneers
deiraPlY mechanically-Mhided
n came from different parts of
tario, mainly the western and:
southern* areas, from farms,
small towns ,and cities like
Hamilton and LOndon,
With them, on trucks and pick.
111$ cane a smorgasbord of ma-
chinery from bygone days, all
restored and in miming condi-
tion.
For some the machines were
net show Pieces. Therm* them
. •
r` •
every day. To others they were a
reminder of the days hen they
were Young, the first tilactor one
saw. Still others find recreation
in working with•machines (work-
ing models, they called them)
and then there are the peoplewho
just enjoy owning and restoring a
piece of machinery that helped
make this country what it is.
ITAN—This chain -driven International Harvester was the first make Mr. Hotson ever
w. His father owned one, and when Mr. Hotson saw one in a farmer's shed, he asked to
y it. It took seven years before the farmer would let him have it.
DR,1,4;4A,
, And With them came the his- handles and billed al one YOU
tor), or the machine*, where they„,903;k• hit your thumb with),
were made, when and *let they MUM and even an..infantry Is
were for. People sat around sue hand chain saw.
and discussed the working of the "I cut a post with it last night to
machines, made suggeStions to show the guys it .works," 'said
each other, Some even brought'Rss
spare Parts on trucks and Made Then a farmer stopped by and
them available, for sale, to their bath started discussing a late 17th
colleagues century brace, The farmer had
They kept the machines run- 'one with wood on it. He lived
Wag, most of the thne. Some even 'nearby. "If you bring it, I- would
demonstrated how the machines like to look at it," Allacyle said.
work 10 a shed in the mid- That's how he builds his collec-
dle of the fair grounds, a steam tion.
engine operated a saw, just as the But the threshing machines
owner used it every day to make stole the show with their steam
a living. , engines, much like railroad
Then came the parade, a sight *Wines except for the wheels—
to see. Each machine made its „kap ones in the Wick, small ones
own noise, Winging back the in the front. •
memories of early days when it Most of them require at least
reigned on the farm, powering a two persons, one to operate
collection of pulleys in a factory power levers and gears, one
or a generator to help man on '*imply to steer. The steering
quer nature. 'Mechanism is awkward and
They , passed by the grand- requires energy and skill. The
stand, rumblhig, looking awk--", tightening of muscles and the
ward. They stopped. The make, gloved hands, the concentration
the year and the owner of each -Of the men were evidence of that.
machine was announced: John All the tune the flying wheels
Deere, Waterloo, Rumley Oil churned away, fast when the
Pull, International Harvester, levers moved, slowly when levers
Mount Forest Harvester, Model Steadied; sometimes fast when a
T, 1918, 1920, 1941— log touched the saw, but always
Youngsters were perched on Istraiall wood. "It, is cheaper to
them, just as their forefathers oPerate," said Bob Lowe of Ches.
had done, or wished they had, 10. "Fifteen to 20 gallons of oil a
when they first fell in love with Oar is'a lot cheaper than gas and
those machmes, never it doesn't take much overhaul -
they would own one and be inti" • •
(hiving it in 1974He was sitting close to the
Machines that were not mob4
were elini-on- OW.*
tiiieks. Aed
White, who described himself as '
"an announcer in these shows"
gave the history of each.
There was a steam engined
boat named. Soo \Ann, built by
Harry Lovell of lion& Forest,
that does 10 knots easily.
The simple tools that men used
with their hands, sweating in
sheds, injuring their fingers and
thumbs as they worked the fields,
the bricks and the wood, were not
forgotten.
Russ Allacyle of Hickson
brought his family collection of
hand tools. They ranged from
chisels, hammers -(one with two
inion
levers while his brother Don fed
the wood into the fire Om "There
ob5ervis a loterotwoastes9 abeenSaWMusingthis
' ill,"he
Wood burta,r, �tcourse you have
know how to run it and make
the spare parts. It's too old you
see. Can't get, spare parhr any.
111°Meanore."while, the 1932 Waterloo
("Because it was made in Water,
loo") chugged away, spouting
steam, the flywheel, running a
belt into a shed where a crowd
gathered, watching logs being cut
into usable timber.
George Segall* of Watford,
halfway between Sarnia and Lon-
donstoodbeside his 1923 traction
engine. He owns two of them and
uses them to tim a sawmill.
"I use them because I have
.them, Iknow how they work and I
need them," he said, as as
hewere talking about a Ford
"I've been working with steam
engines for 47 years," , he ' oh."
- served. "When I was a kid they
used them for threshing and
would move them from place to
place on the farm. They even
used them for plowing out west,"
he said, pulling a valve to blow
the whistle. "They even used
them for pulling road graders."
Like Mr. Lowe, Mr. Searson
sai the engines are cheap to
?operate and they work well if one'
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HAND MACHINE—Itssoundcouldn't be he/in:1'am
rumbling and whistling of threshers, snorting Of trL
and sputtering of water pumps. But itwas heard onte, in tt
woods, because, as Mr, Aliarcyletold !OeintlUisitive'VIsitheet.
it was once an army Issue'hand,c •
4
A SHOWPIECE—Once a feedmill and sawmill power
house, this rear -mount traction engine is now just a show-
piece, although in perfect running condition. Burt Baty, his
brother Don and sister Marie drive it to its position in the
parade.
Lowanf Chaslay Cleft) sits close to the levers
r bon (centre) feeds the fire box with WOOd.
Mr. Lowe uses the machine to run a sawmill because "it is
cheaper than gas" and burns all the waste from the mill.
NEVER MOVED—It was never meant to move but if It had
been meant to, it would have travelled thousands of miles.
Th tt ftlYWP'‘""1 moved at 75 ravoilitIonak por minute and onCi!
turned 47 pulleys, each connected to a machine at the Sher-
lock Manning Plano Co. Ltd. In Clinton. It's now a show-
piece owned by three Clinton men.