What is the oddest machine you have worked on or operated

[gatornapper]

BTW, 40 years ago I used to restore old Massey Ferguson tractors and flip them - oldest I did was 1939 if I remember correctly. Gas engine.

 

[Dennis Mohn]

Did you ever get the enjoyment of working on the CTL gear?

CTL gear ?

 

[ArlyA]

Speaking of gas fueled tractors, can anyone tell me why the 20's till about in the 1960's, gas tractors were so common?

 

[Fxfymn413]

This is a 1906 Howe horse drawn gasoline powered pumper I bought at auction that I am restoring. Originally equipped with a four-cylinder Rutenber Dual Ignition engine built by the Western Motor Company in Logansport, Indiana it was re-powered with a Model T engine at some point. The pump is a positive displacement piston pump rated at 250 GPM.

As the world entered the automotive age some fire departments were reluctant to give up the horses used to draw fire apparatus. In rural areas fire pumpers were either hand operated pumps which required a pretty large group of physically fit individuals or steam powered. Because they were used so infrequently steam powered pumpers were slow to build up steam as they could not be kept fired or supplied with steam by a building's boilers as they were in cities. So, apparatus builders came up with a gasoline driven pump pulled by horses and in later years many of these were converted to be pulled by cars.

Sadly the previous owner let it sit outside for a number of years so it is pretty rough.

 

[smileymtn]

In 1982 I worked for a skinflint multimillionaire contractor and we started a new job for NYS dot. From the boneyard we brought in a 1921 Caterpillar sheep'sfoot roller. As we unloaded it the engineers stood around saying what is that thing doing here? The boss said that's our roller for deep compaction. They said you have to use vibratory rollers. The boss said the specs don't say that, just that we have to meet compaction specs. They got out their books and found out he was right. We ran it and it absolutely did bring compaction up to specs. It was strange to see that old beast roll back and eventually raising itself up out of the loose gravel and riding on the tips of the spikes on rock hard gravel. We did eventually bring in vibratory rollers after they were finished on another paving job.
I couldn't find a photo of one to post but it looked like a giant tow behind padfoot roller with longer spikes being pushed by an antique Cat tractor.

 

[pmsmechanic]

Hmmm. The oldest machine.... I rode on a steam engine as a kid. Does that count?

What does count is that I have the 1947 IHC KB-1 that I learned to drive in as a kid. My dad had it restored and it became mine when he passed away. It gets driven and repaired on several times a year.

 

[ttour]

I have worked on a 1909 Model T Ford once

 

[Farmerjonathan]

I wonder how well that cool primitive sweeper would work Doing lighter snow removal with tire chains?

When I attended Purdue in '84-'86 they had the Hustler front mowers with brooms on them for sidewalks. Not as hard on the concrete or machine, complete removal if they got it groomed off before someone walked on it.

 

[Skeans1]

CTL gear ?

Cut to length like wheel harvesters/forwarders.

 

[hhydro]

I've worked on/operated a number of odd machines included a plutonium powered Mars rover but the most amazing for its time and terrifying to operated was the John Deere 55H sidehill combine. On a steep sidehill one of the big front wheels would be up as high as the operator platform, the other as far down as the water from the high dive. It wasn't so bad traversing the contour but the turns where where you really put your faith in the JD engineers when all the leveling process was in motion moving one wheel up and the other down. The power steering on our old machine (it was old in the late '60s, don't know when it was made) wasn't great and cranking the knob on the wheel would give you blisters. The machine's nickname was The Green Hornet.