1906 15 Avenue S. Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada T1K 0X2
The interest in Old Iron is flourishing in this part of the
continent too, and I thought readers would be interested in the
model Rumely as per the picture at right. This model was made by
the late John Stewart of Maple Creek, Sa skatchewan. Thanks to an
agreement between John Stewart, Jr., and my brother Jack, also of
Maple Creek, we have become temporary custodians of this gem of a
unit. I did some bits of restoration and had fun showing it off at
the three pioneer machinery shows in this area during the past
summer.
Readers will no doubt recognize the McCormick-Deering model M
engine. Mr. Stewart replaced the one flywheel with a belt pulley,
took the spokes out of it and bolted the rim to the other flywheel.
The water jacket was sliced off, oiler tube installed, remaining
jacket covered and water piped to forward cooling tank. With the
exhaust taken forward like the real ones, it really does sound like
authentic Rumely. Power travels via clutch tensioned V belt to
bevel gear box, to small car transmission, to cut down small car
rear end. I admire the thought and engineering that went into this
unit. Also, the authentic steering system gives your right arm a
good workout herding it down the Parade of Power route.
We think replacing the rubber tires with authentic looking steel
wheels would be a definite improvement, but we haven’t quite
had the nerve to tackle the job. My other excuse is that I’m
more interested in crawler tractors; I have completed restoration
of a 1950 D2 Caterpillar and I am now restoring a 1938
McCormick-Deering T-20.
