34/4/13 Walsh Garden Tractor Q. See the photos
of a Walsh garden tractor, Number D-7000. It was manufactured by
Walsh Tractor Co., Minneapolis, Minnesota. Can anyone provide
information on the proper color scheme, and when this tractor was
built? Is there a source for parts and manuals? Stewart R. Painter,
2402 Riverside Terrace, Manasquan, NJ 08736.
A. We know of no organized source for parts
and/or manuals, but can suggest using a GEM advertisement to assist
in locating what is needed.
34/4/14 Tractor Badges
We call them logos or logo plates or hood ornaments, but in the
UK they call them tractor badges. Regardless, we have a letter from
England for a company that makes reproductions for a variety of
tractors, especially for Ford, Fordson, David Brown, and
International Harvester. If interested, contact:
F. J. Williams Tractor Badges 22 Badgers Field Chipping Camden,
Glos. GL55 6EL England Or e-mail:
http://homepages.enterprise.net/tractorbadges.
34/4/15 Economy Engine? Q. See the photos of an
engine with an Economy decal, but it sure looks like a Cushman. The
nameplate reads: Engine No. 25-JK1814L, 775 rpm, 2?-3? JK. When was
it made?
I also have a Cushman Cub, s/n A25 75 Model R14, 2 HP, and would
like to know when it was made and the proper color scheme. Ted
Balko, Box 237, Blackduck, MN 56630.
34/4/16 Information Needed Q. What is the year
built for a John Deere engine, s/n 303373? What is the year built
for a 1? HP Worthington engine, s/n 46623, and the proper color?
Any information would be appreciated. William E. Greer, PO Box
1036, Lake Panasoffkee, FL 33538.
A. The John Deere engine was made in 1929. We
have DuPont 74713 Dark Green or Sherwin-Williams 4811 Dark Green as
a match for the Worthington stationary engines.
34/4/17 Replacement Gaskets Q. I am writing to
see if any readers know of a source that specializes in making
gaskets to fit any kind of parts. I am restoring a David Bradley
tractor and the transmission gaskets are in bad shape. Any help
would be appreciated. Paul H. Burkle, PO Box 1871, Waterloo, IA
50704.
A. It’s always nice to find die-cut gaskets
to replace old ones. However, ye olde Reflector has had fairly good
success in simply making the new ones out of gasket material or
even the pasteboard from an old cereal box. We just carefully tap
out the design to mark it, and then with the aid of scissors, Xacto
knife, and hollow punches, cut out the design. Punch all the holes
first, because sometimes they come close to the edge. Punching them
out later will likely tear the gasket and ruin your work. For head
gaskets, if you are lucky enough to find some asbestos sheet
packing, so much the better. Nowadays there is a
‘non-hazardous’ replacement for it, but we don’t think
it is as good. (I really wonder how many people have died from lung
cancer sniffing those old asbestos head gaskets!) For those
stubborn heads that like to blow out the gaskets, we have had good
luck with the following:
Take two pieces of 1/32 sheet packing and
one piece of metal window screen. Cut all this out carefully, and
sandwich this all together, using some thick aluminum paint between
the layers. Put it together, torque it up, and the screen provides
extra reinforcement to keep those thin sections of the gasket from
blowing out. For that matter, we have seen head gaskets tapped out
of an old cereal box, with a layer of grease on each side, and then
torqued into place.
If you don’t want to go that route, check the advertisements
at the back of this magazine–they’re always a good source!
34/4/18 Witte Questions Q. I have a Witte
headless engine, s/n 12293. When was it built, and where was it
shipped originally? Did Witte ever make marine engines? Harold L.
Mathieu, RR 2, Box 279, Chassell, MI 49916.
A.Your engine was built in 1914, but there is
no indication where it was shipped. We believe that Witte may have
built a few marine engines, but the effort was short lived.
34/4/19 Bantam Tractor? Q. See the photo of
what we think is a Bantam tractor. Can anyone supply any
information? We would like to restore the tractor to its original
state, so any help would be appreciated. Walt Walraven, 174 Knott
Rd SE, Adairsville, GA 30103.
34/4/20 Witte Information Q. What is the year
built of a Witte engine, s/n 47128? E. Charles McDuffee, 752N.
Georgetown Dr., Montgomery, AL 36109.
A. Your engine was built in December 1921.
34/4/21 Call of the West Engine
W. K. (Bill) Sherlock, Box 144, Maymont, SK S0M 1T0 Canada,
sends along some interesting material, including a photocopy of the
Call of the West engine. It surely looks like a Waterloo Boy, but
note on the adjacent page that ‘we cast and make our own
engines in Canada.’
34/4/21
34/4/22 Eli and Field-Brundage Update
John Davidson, PO Box 4, Bristol, WI 53104 would like to upgrade
his roster of Eli and Field-Brundage engines. If you have recently
acquired one or have not contacted John previously, please send s/n
and description of your engine.
John also sent us some very nice photocopies of tractors found
on post cards or ancient photos in flea markets etc. We’ll be
using some of these in our upcoming Catalog of American Farm
Tractors. Another interesting piece from John is a roster of
diesel engine manufacturers for 1932. There are some surprises in
the list, i.e., some companies we’ve never heard of before, and
which we have never listed previously. Once again, it points out
the fact that the internal combustion engine business is and was so
big that it seems unlikely that anyone will ever bring ALL engines
together into a single book, even with a lifetime of work.
A Closing Word
As we close out this issue in early February, we are busily
trying to also close out the work on our Catalog of American
Farm Tractors. We’ll tell you for sure that it far
surpasses any project we’ve ever attempted! That’s why the
book goes only to the 1950s or slightly beyond. We’ve become
nearly jaded by the sheer numbers of tractor manufacturers, and
we’ve been surprised at the number of companies for which we
have found information and/or photos. The new book will also
include an extensive listing of garden tractors, and this will be
of interest to a great many collectors. There will be lots of blank
spots, but perhaps our readers will be able to supply information,
catalog material, or photos that will be of help in subsequent
editions of the Catalog.
We feel occasional pangs of conscience, since we have not done a
single thing in our fairly decent darkroom ever since the photo
scanner and the photo printer have come into our office! And this
from someone who used to loathe electronic media!
Speaking of electronic media … we understand now that some of
the airlines are beginning to offer electronic check-in and
electronic baggage checking on international flights. What they
haven’t done yet is to come up with a reasonable price to get
to a major airport. For instance, our flight to England this summer
leaves from Chicago. It is about 200 air miles from the Eastern
Iowa Airport to O’Hare. The price ranges all the way from $ 133
to $530 for this flight, depending on which hoops one jumps
through. We haven’t sorted through all this yet, but our guess
is that not too many people can qualify for the $133 flight.
A while back we visited an antique show and saw a fairly nice
one gallon Rumely oil can with a phenomenal price tag. We honestly
doubted anyone would ever buy it at the price shown, but a couple
hours later we came by the same stand, and it was gone! It is
interesting that so many areas of collectibles have come out of the
engine and tractor business. Perhaps one of our most prized
possessions is an IHC Titan tractor yardstick/tank measuring stick
in mint condition. Another is a calendar from the New Era Gasoline
Engine Company that was given to us many years ago by the late
George Clark. If it weren’t for gas engines, there wouldn’t
be much of a spark plug collectors group, would there?
The purpose of the Reflections column is to provide a forum for
the exchange of all useful information among subscribers to GEM.
Inquiries or responses should be addressed to: REFLECTIONS, Gas
Engine Magazine, P.O. Box 328, Lancaster, PA 17608-0328.
