6668 Bunch Road, Terre Haute, Indiana 47802
After being stung by the Hit & Miss Bug I purchased two
cement mixers, in the fall of 1996, one equipped with a Stover
CT-1, the other a CT-2. Upon inspection, one mixer was beyond
repair and the other was in a little better shape. The engines were
removed and the best mixer was stored for future consideration.
During the winter I restored both engines and the summer months
were spent fine-tuning and upgrading my prizes.
In my enthusiasm I told my wife, (OP She Who Forgets Nothing),
that I wanted to display my engines at the Newport (Indiana) Hill
climb in October. As time for Newport drew closer; my second
thoughts started to grow. I knew that total humiliation was at hand
and must be avoided at all costs. How was my junk going to look
next to the veteran’s displays of several engines? Alas,
Ol’ She Who Never Forgets Nothing reminded me that my goal was
to show the engines at Newport. Wasn’t that why I worked all
year on them?
‘Besides,’ she said, ‘nobody will probably know you
anyway.’ That was a big confidence booster. With those words of
encouragement ringing in my ears, arrangements were made. Two
friends were drafted to help, the truck was loaded and off we
went.
The day was great, the weather was beautiful, the crowd was
large and my engines looked and ran good, no humiliation here! I
was amazed at the number of people who were interested in these old
relics from the past. The questions were unending. One boy of about
ten years old asked the question of the day, ‘What do you do
with them?’ I gave him the usual answer, pump water, shell
corn, mix cement, etc, etc.
After returning home in glory from my first show, his question
kept gnawing at me. Being restricted to what could be hauled in a
pickup, something had to be found to do with the Stovers. Repairing
the mixer was out. What would I do with several tons of cement?
While browsing through some good rusty iron at Steam Corner,
North of Rockville, Indiana, I came across a 20 inch whetstone. The
idea hit me like the crank off the CT-2. Here was something that
could be done with one of the Stovers, sharpen axes. The stone was
purchased, pulleys were acquired at a Boonville, Indiana swap meet
and ax heads bought at yard sales.
The photos show the end result. The total cost was less than
$100 and my two friends have something to do at Newport this year,
besides eating everything in sight!
