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This engine was on my "want list" for
many years. It is a 1/4 scale version of a Case 65. The engine was built by a fellow in Rivers Meet, Michigan and was placed on ebay for sale after his death. This is is an example of something you would want to take great care in buying without first seeing. Quality of machining by people differ quite a bit. The wife of the builder had a neighbor place it on auction. They did not receive any bids, so I called and told them I might be interested after viewing it. I drove all night on a Labor Day weekend to see it. Upon arrival, I found the lady had fallen and was in the hospital. Her nephew had met me at the house to see it. |
| It showed lots of wear and tear from being shown
at at local engine festivals. That is a good sign, as a poorly running engine just looks good and that's about it. So, I decided to buy it as it was cheaper than ones I had looked at over the years. Here is a picture after I spent one Winter refurbishing and painting it. The castings for the engine are from a well known dealer called Tom Terning. The builder did take a few liberties from the plans, but all made what I think is a better running engine. I have shown and run it at several festivals. |
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I did build a trailer to ride behind the small
Case, but I wanted it to do something else for the shows. So I bought plans from the "Baler Man" and spent another Winter building this 1/3 scale baler. Here it is before getting it all dirty. This is a hand tie baler meaning as the bales come through and are separated by blocks (leaning against wheel) one has to poke wire or twine through grooves in the blocks to tie the bales. This was the way it was done in the old days before automatic tie machines were built. |
| This is my first test run with the baler powered
by an electric motor. It is a messy job, but it worked flawlessly. You can see a block in the holder ready for the next bale. The blocks are fed automatically into the baler when you lift a lever on the side of the holder. |
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Here we are at the Burlington, Indiana festival baling straw. The fellow tending my engine is Norm Baskin who also built a baler. Another friend, Darrell Motte, is oiling my engine while I do some pictures. You can see a bag of charcoal in the foreground. I burn a combination of wood and charcoal. You have to have a little smoke to look right and that takes some wood. I carry a maximum pressure of 90 psi and that seems to do all that I want it to do. |
| Here is Norm's son, Tom, operating my baler. Since he runs his dad's baler, he is very good at it. At the shows, everyone pitches in and helps each other out. It is a lot of fun. |
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