5923 Paloma Needville, Texas 77461
Hello! Here is a picture we took of a 6 HP Witte, 1919. This
engine has been in the Krebs family of Willow Springs, Texas, since
it was purchased new.
The Krebs family settled here six generations ago. The entire
town or ‘berg’ (whatever you prefer), consists of a store
that Mr. Krebs keeps open just so Willow Springs will not die. At
one time there was a one-room school t and a cotton gin. The school
is gone and so is the gin and his son lives on the property where
the school was. I admire this man to keep this old store open just
so the town will not die!
This Witte engine was bought by Mrs. Krebs’ grandfather in
1919 and he used it for sawing wood around his farm. The engine was
kept inside a shed for its lifetime. I restored and brought the
engine back to life for him.
Mr. and Mrs. Krebs and I think it looks good. The engine is in
excellent condition and it runs as good as it looks. I know some
engine folks who will refer to this engine restoration as
‘Custom’ as I do recall there was an article about a Maytag
engine in a 1993 issue of GEM. So for those folks, we will refer to
the restoration as ‘Custom.’ We know, without anyone
telling us, these are not the original colors.
