by Richard Lorenz on August 10, 2010
September 18 is the day at the Wilder Days Festival in Mansfield, Mo.
I know it has been hot, really hot. It has been hard to get in gear to work on the restoration projects but there is still time to gather up the pieces and bring them bring to Sho-Me Your Wheels in September. We won’t be giving prizes for the pretty and pricey but we will have some drawings. Just bring what you have and enjoy a good day with good folks, have you ever seen a better bunch of folks than collectors of junk (items of the past) ?
Last year we hampered by the weather but hopefully this year we will have a nice day. We had some nice cars in spite of the weather and one tractor and a gas engine. Our community has Ag and Timber as our major resource and employment which gives us a wealth of equipment from the past, some of us are still using it, so bring your old farm and logging equipment and share your experiences, good and bad. This what Sho-Me Your Wheels is about. If you don’t have something to bring come anyway, I am certain you will see something you used or owned once, it will bring back memories, mostly the good ones. See you Saturday September18th behind the square.
by Richard Lorenz on June 23, 2010
Duke is my 1941 or 42 Lincoln SA 200 welder, the same age as me, I feel like we are twin brothers.
There was never a better welder made. If you don’t believe it, try to buy one from someone who knows the difference. I bought this welder from my good friend Doyle Cox. So, Duke is new to me even if actually vintage equipment.
It was not running at the time because of the water pump seal leaking.
I found that you just don’t go buy a pump seal for a 1941 Hercules IXB engine at your local parts store. I could have gotten a boiler pump seal from Grainger’s Industrial Supply and made a new shaft but I have an old Motor Manual for trucks that also covers Hercules engines and it shows that not all IXB’s had water pumps.
The ones without pumps percolate like a coffee maker. Doyle found an elbow from an engine without a pump, so now I can make coffee and weld at the same time. Lincoln had a reason for using engines with water pumps but I will be welding for only short periods of time. I have used it to weld on my baler on a 90 degree day and had no problem.
When I was young my Dad had a 10 20 McCormick Deering tractor that was designed to percolate, on hot days we kept a milk can of water at one end of the field. It was 30 years old and still working.
When we first tried to start the welder, it has a hand crank, it turned a little and abruptly stopped. Mud dobbers had gotten inside the timing cover while the water pump and magneto were off. After taking it apart and cleaning out the mud dobber nest I decided to clean the whole thing up and paint it. Before the water pump started leaking Doyle had tightened the babbitt bearings, ground the valves and installed new rings, so now it not only looks good, it runs good. I still need to fine tune the governor a little, when the governor is working properly these welders are a dream to use.
I hope to have duke at Sho-me your Wheels at the Wilder Days Festival on the square lined up with a lot of other fine mechanical items.
