Metamorphosis: From Steel Yard to Show Grounds
Inspired by a Model Froelich, Idaho Man Builds His Own
November/December 2003
D.J. Baisch
 |
Head-on view of D.J. Baisch's 1892 Froelich replica.
|
This project came about quite by accident, and was prompted when
I received a model of the famous 1892 Froelich tractor (generally
considered the first gasoline-powered tractor in the U.S.) a number
of years ago as a present from my family.
RELATED CONTENT
American Gasoline Engines...
Capitaine Adopted the Lamp Heating System...
Excerpted from Gas and Oil Engines...
Mystery pump info request...
A straight-forward method for making antique engine cart wheels....
I am disabled (the result of a bad head injury and a couple of
other accidents), and I only have one good arm, one good eye and
little or no short-term memory. For me, restoring old machinery is
good - if sometimes frustrating - therapy.
An old cut of John Froelich's original tractor. Compare this
with the photos at left and below and it's clear how faithful
D.J.'s replica is to the original. Froelich's success with
this tractor led to the creation of the Waterloo Gasoline Engine
Co., Waterloo, Iowa.
Inspiration
A few years after receiving the Froelich model, I purchased an
early 1900s Fairbanks-Morse 6 HP Type T vertical engine, and while
restoring it an idea hit me. I looked at the Froelich model, then
at the vertical FM. I went back and forth between the two a couple
of times and said to myself 'I can do this!' The project
was born.
The project, in case you haven't guessed, was to build a
replica of the 1892 Froelich tractor. The FM engine was a perfect
choice, as it looks very similar to the 16 HP (some sources say 20
HP) vertical hit-and-miss Van Duzen originally used by John
Froelich in 1892.
After a lot of measuring and scaling I decided I could recreate
the Froelich at a 12:1 scale. By allowing for the difference in the
width of the FM engine and the model engine, and by fudging a
little here and a little there, I knew I could make it look right.
The first thing I decided to hunt down were the gears I would
need.
Rounding Up Parts
I'm a machinist and welder by trade, and I used to run a
machine shop where I dealt with all the equipment dealers around my
home in Idaho Falls, Idaho. I checked with all of them, but
didn't have much luck. I was just about to give up when I
stopped at the local John Deere dealer and, lo and behold, in a
dumpster out back was a complete set of gears almost identical to
the ones used on the Froelich, including a small Siamese gear for
speed reduction.
With gears in hand I did a lot more measuring, and I discovered
the spur gears presented a unique problem because of their size.
The gears are hardened steel, and the bores in the gears are about
3 inches. They weren't going to fit the drive shaft I wanted to
use, so I machined bushings for each one, sizing them down to fit
the drive shaft. With a 50-ton press (and a little Loctite added
for extra security) I pressed them into the gears and then keyed
them to the shafts.
Page: 1 |
2 |
3 |
Next >>