Monday, April 13, 2020

1906 Advance Traction engine, built in Battle Creek Michigan. 16 hp, can pull 55,000 pounds on a sled. Hidden during WW1 so scrap metal enthusiasts wouldn't turn it into battleships

5 comments:

  1. I didn't know Jay Leno had one of these. Also hadn't seen one with propane for fuel. Have you seen the story of a California real estate agent who was stranded on side of road with car trouble, but before the tow truck got there, Jay Leno pulled over to help.

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    1. I hadn't heard that! Very cool!

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  2. Dad was a Marine Corps Lt Col, soloed Pensacola 1936, flew DC-3s island to island WW2, F86's in Korea, shot down when I was 5, released after 18 months among the last group of POWs that crossed the 38th parallel.

    https://www.cbsnews.com/news/forever-lost-in-the-korean-war/

    Anyway, after MC retirement, Dad worked for Cannon Aviation, CLT NC, then Beechcraft, Wichita, KS.

    I can remember him taking us to the Kansas St fair. That's where I fell in love with 4-wheeled machines.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp_xgN-mBPk

    In KS, these tractors were used to plow the fields, 160 acres, a quarter section. The machine were so heavy that they plowed one side of the river one year, then when the river froze, were moved to the other side for the next year's crop.

    Or so I remember.

    Ricky

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    1. Wow... he had a remarkable, and terrible life! 18 months POW? Shit.

      Do you recall traction engines like this working the fields?

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    2. 160 acres, at that speed... must have taken days.

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